GreenSelector.com ? How to have a green baby shower

Throw a green baby shower and make my six?DIY?baby care recipes. (Credit:Super*Junk?via Flickr)

It?s taken me years to get my home (and body) less toxic. One anxiety I?ve had about the upcoming birth of my first concerns the not-so-eco-friendly (yet extremely thoughtful) gestures of love I might receive from friends and family ? aka plastic toys containing lead and cadmium or a onesie coated in flame retardant chemicals (PDBEs).

Think ahead and you can steer well-intentioned loved ones in an earth-friendlier direction. Host a ?green? baby shower!

Make my simple baby care recipes

Feeling ambitious? Organize a workshop-style shower where guests make two or three nontoxic?DIY?baby care recipes. You can whip up enough to share and keep some for yourself! I like to give baby shampoo, powder, and butt balm to friends or family leaping into parenthood.

Ask for baby products free of the Dirty Dozen

Are you tired, nursing swollen ankles, and managing back pain (and not game to host a workshop)? Ask guests for baby products free of the?Dirty Dozen.

Petrolatum?is a common ingredient in baby products and best avoided. It?s used as a barrier to lock moisture in the skin but this petrochemical can be contaminated with cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The European Union considers it a carcinogen and restricts its use in cosmetics.

Reuse and coordinate a useful group gift

Coordinate a useful group gift or collect used baby clothes and comb online classifieds for necessities. I asked family and friends to pass along hand-me-downs or donate towards our eco-friendly crib and used stroller fund.

Asks guests to walk, take transit, or carpool

Sure, you?ll want to avoid plastic or paper disposable baby-themed party decorations but here?s another doozie:?A University of British Columbia study?found a correlation between poor air quality and low birth weights.

Between 2001 and 2006, the number of low weight births increased by 17 per cent in Greater Vancouver. Babies born under 2? kilograms have higher risks of serious health problems. When the women studied lived within 50 metres of a highway, the incidence of smaller newborns went up by 22 per cent, regardless of the mother?s socioeconomic status.

Do your part to improve air quality and think twice about how you get around, all the time!

Sincerely,
Lindsay Coulter, Queen of Green

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Source:?davidsuzuki

Source: http://www.greenselector.com/blog/green-blog/how-to-have-a-green-baby-shower/

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