So what are some of the things you should look out for?
Take time to look at the ingredients in your baby toiletries. Natural ingredients are ingredients that are of this planet and have been created using less intensive refinement and production methods than harsher petrochemicals. Not only are naturally derived ingredients better for your little ones skin, but they have less of an impact on our environment when they get washed down the plug hole.
Organic ingredients take it a step further by ensuring the way that the natural ingredients are farmed is in the most eco-friendly way. There are strict guidelines and standards that are designed to protect the environment that tell farmers what they can and cannot do. Organic farming does not use artificial fertilisers and develop fertile soil by rotating crops and using compost. Organic farmers grow and raise a variety of crops and animals on their farm and rotate them around the land over several seasons which helps prevent pests and disease and makes the land more fertile. This is called biodiversity. Biodiversity is good as it encourages and supports wildlife through more hedges, wider field margins and rich grassland.
Look out for certifications which will help you understand what is natural and organic and what is not. Earth Friendly Baby for example is certified by the largest organic certification organisation in the world as a natural and organic cosmetic.
Many of the ingredients that make natural products cleanse, foam and bubble are derived from palm oil. Watch out where companies source their palm oil from as palm oil plantations can be responsible for deforestation around the world. Look out for certification such as the RSPO Green palm that ensure palm oil is sourced ethically and adheres to strict environmental guidelines which helps protects rainforests and the habitats of species such as the orangutan.
The packaging your baby toiletries come in is also important when considering the environment. Plastic is one of the most frequently used materials in the world today and its popularity is a huge problem. We now use twenty times more plastic than we did fifty years ago. However, you can do your bit by ensuring used plastic is recycled into new ones. This reduces the use of fossil fuels like oil, uses less energy, make less rubbish and release less bad gasses like carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. 94% of our local councils in the UK recycle plastic bottles by either collecting your recycling bin from your house or at local recycling centres so it has never been easier to recycle!
Make sure the toiletries you buy for your baby can be easily recycled, or even better, have been recycled already. Earth Friendly Baby use’s bottles that are made from plastic that has been used before like water bottles. These bottles have been collected, cleaned, recycled and turned into pellets and then reused to make other things like Earth Friendly Baby shampoo bottles. We love that this gives our Earth Friendly Baby packaging their unique green tint. Green bottle = Green planet.
