Eco Show and Tell

By Sofya Firsakova and Shiri Atsmon

When you have young children, it’s completely natural to choose whatever works best for your family. However, nappies, baby clothing, wet wipes and other products are unnecessarily damaging for the earth. As an example, an average of 20 wet wipes are found per 100 metre of beach in the UK and create sewage-related blockages that enter the environment. As they grow, we find ourselves buying so many new (and often expensive) clothes for our children. There are ways to keep our children well taken care of, with a more gentle environmental footprint. We have put together a blog describing a number of approaches that could help you make the journey more sustainable and kind to the planet. 

The slides below display the scale of the problem.

A Quick Overview 

Our bundles of joy need a lot of stuff and create too much waste

Facts

1.4 million wearable school uniforms are thrown away each year

On average, 128,000 babies are born in London every year. If each of them used at least 4,000 single-use nappies over 2.5 years, 512 million nappies would be wasted over that time

An average of 20 wet wipes were found per 100 metres of beach surveyed across the UK. Wet wipes contribute to 94% of sewer blockages, which can lead to damage to properties and can result in sewage-related litter entering the environment.

In total, 61% of children’s toys are un-played with. That’s 27 toys going neglected at any given time. On average, 35% of toys are neglected or forgotten within a month.

What steps can you take?

Baby Essentials 

Look for brands that are transparent about their manufacturing processes and are sustainably sourced. For example, opt for glass or stainless-steel feeding bottles and bamboo plates and utensils for feeding. Nappies, though a necessity, are a significant contributor to landfill waste. The eco-friendly alternative to these are reusable cloth nappies. If you live in a participating London borough, you can even apply for a £70 reusable nappy voucher through Real Nappies for London, which helps with the upfront cost of cloth nappies or a trial laundry service. Keep in mind that even biodegradable nappies still go to incineration in Barnet, as there is currently no local biodegrading facility.

Clothes

Babies outgrow seven clothing sizes in their first two years! Bundle and Dotte are some of the clothing swap options available, not only saving money, but also 6% of the CO2 and 96% of the water usage of buying new clothes. Thelittleloop is a great option for buying pre-loved children’s clothing from the UK’s best brands, but you can also download Vinted to buy and sell preloved clothing.

Toys

In total, 61% of children’s toys are un-played with. With 56% of parents thinking that high street prices for toys are too high and new purchases coming with excessive packaging, acquiring second hand ones is the obvious choice. Subscriptions such as Whirli allow you participate in a circular economy by borrowing toys for however long you like, then send them back and swap them for something else if your child loses interest. If you prefer to buy, choose second-hand toys and remember to pass down those your child has used to family and friends, instead of throwing them away. 

If you’d be interested in creating a space where kids can explore and borrow toys, organise a toy swap with your parent friends. However, if you’d like to do this on a large scale, why not start your own toy library? A toy library can take many forms, but at its heart, it’s a practical way to share play opportunities with your community while making the most of your resources. Think about what scale the project should be on and stock it with safe, engaging second-hand toys. Create simple guidelines as well as a way to track loans and energise your project with community promotion, local partners, and dedicated volunteers who share your excitement. Find a step by step plan to follow on Shareable’s site here!

Parties 

Children’s parties can be joyful and sustainable. Instead of buying single-use decorations and tableware, consider hiring a local reusable party kit through the Reusable Party Kit Network which connects you with kits full of washable plates, cups, and more to cut down on waste. When it comes to party bags, ditch any plastic trinkets and instead add in a slice of cake or reusable alternatives such as a second-hand book or seeds. The Eco Party Bag online shop sells a range of sustainable party bag fillings. These simple swaps can help keep celebrations fun while protecting the planet.

Schools

There are many schools who are actively trying to reduce their waste, including food waste. We’ve collated a list of charities that help schools achieve their waste-reduction (and other ecological and nature) goals, which we would appreciate if you can share with your school’s eco lead, headteacher, geography teacher or any other relevant contact. Find it on our site by pressing on this link! You might also find interesting free printables on this list so do check it out. 

School Uniform

1.4 million wearable school uniforms are thrown away each year and on average, swapping uniforms save families up to £348.55 a year due to the costs of buying new uniforms. To encourage your school to get involved in a uniform exchange please get in touch with North London Waste Authority on wastepreventionteam@nlwa.gov.uk. By emailing, your school can acquire posters to advertise the location and time of your exchange shop from as well as get labels for the containers you will use to collect the school uniform donations. Learn more about the School Uniform Exchange here.

Tune in to our very own zero-waste webinar. Fast forward to minutes 1hr10min where we discuss celebrations and parties in more detail.