Mother & Baby Magazine

How to…become a greener mummy


Children grow so fast, it seems that no sooner have you replaced their clothing, they no longer fit! Use sites like http://www.efreeko.co.uk/ or http://www.freecycle.org/ where you can swap clothes for free and just pay the postage costs. (They do adult clothes too!)

2) Make kids' birthday parties eco-friendly
From organic tableware to biodegradable decorations, ethical reusable party bags filled with wonderful sustainable wooden toys and re-usable pretty party bunting, visit https://www.littlecherry.co.uk/ and you can finally say no to disposables, plastic bags and easily broken toys

3) Stop using plastic carrier bags
Reduce your plastic bag usage in no time at all with a re-usable shopping. They fold up really small in your handbag, so you can always keep a spare one handy. Try this cute one from Traidcraft and you'll be helping women in Bangladesh at the same time as the environment.

4) Choose wooden toys over plastic
Pick those made from sustainable wood over nasty plastic toys. Not only do children love the feel, they don't contain nasty toxic phalates, which can interfere with the endocrine system, don't break as easily and don't cause harm to the environment when they are finished with. Read all about why wooden is better than plastic.

5) Buy your child recycled schoolwear
M&S has developed a range of kids' clothes for school made from recycled plastic bottles. The range launches in 20 stores and online during the peak back-to-school period in mid August. Prices start from £7. And if that's not enough of an incentive, M&S has also announced it will donate 5% from the sales price of its back-to-school range during August to a campaign with Save the Children to raise £500,000 to enable 20,000 children in western Uganda to go to school.

Fancy more tips on being a green mum? Come along and chat to our eco-expert online, Wednesday 22 August at 8pm.

With thanks to Lucy Brindley ofLittle Cherry