1. CLOTH WIPES
I put this one above cloth nappies, because whilst I thoroughly think everyone should give them a go I realise they can be a bit intimidating and sometimes it’s something you try when you’ve found your new parent groove a bit. Reusable cloth wipes on the other hand are something you should 100% have waiting in that nursery ready for arrival. They’re also something you might just not have thought about if you only ever see people using disposable wet wipes. My favourite ones are the Grovia Terry Cotton ones, but I have a few kinds. They sit on my nappy caddy next to a little dish of water and I actually found them easier to clean up newborn poop with than wet wipes. Once used, I just chuck them into a wet bag that hangs off the wardrobe door for our cloth nappies and they are all washed together. I still keep disposable wet wipes too and particularly use them with older baby poop if it’s a messy one.
2. REUSABLE WIPE POUCH FROM BEN & ELLIE
I use disposables wipes when out and about, but hated buying little 10 packs as they seemed so wasteful and also didn’t want to have a brick size bulk pack in my nappy bag. Which is why I LOVE this little pouch where I can just top up from my bulk pack with a more reasonable number of wipes. You can absolutely pack it with pre-wet reusable wipes too which is obviously the real green win but you do you!
Available direct from their website or via Petit Tippi
3. HAAKAA REUSABLE MILK STORAGE BAGS
These were only launched a fair bit into my breastfeeding journey but will absolutely be on my wishlist for no2. Depending on your pumping/freezing needs it may not be feasible to only use these as they’re a bit of an upfront cost but as always any small green step is a steep worth taking so even if it’s just for some, that’s better than nothing. I found I sometimes I had milk that got used before being frozen and that felt like a completely unnecessary waste of a single-use bag.
Available direct from Haakaa
4. BUY PRE-LOVED
Normalise sharing. Normalise the “it takes a village” community culture. This is a part of that.
It also ticks a range of other boxes: a) financially beneficial (I truly would not have been able to afford buying all the quality baby items I have brand new), b) encourages circular economy vs buy & toss, c) sees the circulation of well-made quality items amongst numerous families vs individuals all buying cheaper goods that aren’t made to last and thus thrown away quicker, d) encourages us to value and look after what we have so it can be passed on and made useful again. We have a few things we’ve lent to people while we’re in-between babies, and hopefully by the time they’re done with it we’ll be on to another one (who knows!). It’s a complete win – fewer things for new parents to buy, and fewer things sitting in storage under my couch! Hong Kong in particular is a great place for this, as no one has extra space to keep anything longer than necessary so make use of community Facebook and WhatsApp groups as well as dedicated pre-loved shopping specialists like Retykle
5. AND CLOTH NAPPIES, OBVIOUSLY
This is the only one on my list that may require a bit of research, trial and error. But as always I want to remind you that none of these eco-choices, and particularly not this one, are an all-or-nothing affair. If you manage one cloth nappy a day, you’ll save 365 nappies from landfill in a year and I think that is incredible and worth celebrating and even if everyone could try just one a week that would be awesome. So I want you to go into it with that mindset. Just give it a bash, do what you can – every little bit is a little green win. If you’re based in Hong Kong I can highly recommend attending a cloth nappy workshop at Petit Tippi which will give you a great overview in the various choices and help narrow down your options (there are a whole bunch of different styles and brands!). I would also try not buy too many pre-baby (I needed to tell myself this more!) As different styles fit different babies better and you never quite know which your favourites might be. Also, I found nappy + t-shirt the perfect summer baby wardrobe here in hot Hong Kong, so be mindful of the styles you’ll buy and how they work with your little one’s wardrobe (I’m a big fan of the Capsule Wardrobe remember!)
