When our first child was born, one of the things that amazed us was how much stuff came into our house with the new baby. Stuff we bought, stuff people gave us, stuff to feed, clothe, diaper, clean, soothe, sleep, entertain the newcomer to the house. Stuff we needed and stuff we didn’t, stuff we wanted and stuff we didn’t. And most of this stuff includes packaging, especially when it’s delivered by the spiffy people in brown uniforms out of a truck.
Carbon footprints might be nigh-impossible to understand, but garbage footprint is not. We were making a whole lot of garbage, and reining it in is hard. We’re still trending downward with garbage, but making less of it is important, especially for a family. We want to teach our children to be good stewards, and we want to be good stewards ourselves. Garbage, especially plastic garbage, is going to be around for a long time. So what is a family to do?
- Try cloth diapers. They’re easier than we thought they’d be.
- Same goes for cloth napkins and cloth wipes (e.g. washcloths). Easy and fun.
- Start a compost – its easier than you might think – and as Master Gardeners like to say “Compost Happens!
- Recycle. If curbside isn’t an option, let the kids collect bottles and cans.
- Buy quality. You might pay more, but it will last longer.
- Better yet, make it at home (or from someone else’s home). It will cost less, and have more meaning.
- Think about trying to give it away before you throw it away. Hand-me-downs, Freecycle, Goodwill, Salvation Army to name just a few.
I’m sure other people have specific suggestions that would be worth leaving in the comments.