It's in our hands: Less plastic on babys’ changing tables

A baby needs around 6,000 diapers and around 25,000 wet wipes, until it is potty-trained at the age of two and a half years. With a few tricks, each of us can help to reduce fossil-based synthetic materials on baby’s changing table.

Things do not have to be perfect all the time. This is also true for the baby equipment in the kids’ or bathroom – after all new parents have a lot to do and never get enough sleep. Here are five tips for less plastic on baby changing tables.

Tip 1: Waste separation is not enough!
Right at the start: you do not really need a changing table in the classical sense of the word. Lots of parents prefer – for reasons of safety - to change their kids on a soft cover or a changing mat on the floor. Various washable models are now available. Nevertheless, if you still prefer to have a classical changing table, you could also get a second-hand one! With a little bit of luck you will find the model you prefer within your group of friends and acquaintances, at the flea market or in online small ads. Buying secondhand saves resources in terms of production and packaging and takes the load off waste disposal companies– and it also saves money.
Tip 2: Conscious decisions
When it comes to the equipment used on or around the changing table, you can save resources and reduce the mountains of plastic waste by your choice of material and applying the secondhand principle: care utensils like hair brushes, nail scissors, soap dishes and face cloths of natural materials, washing basins instead of plastic baths and lots of other small decisions all add up. Since many things are only in use for a short time, they can ideally be given to someone else and used again.
Tip 3: Babycare - less is more!
Baby skin requires special care but don’t overdo it: a high-quality vegetable oil like almond or calendula oil for the bath, a care cream and a cream as protection against the wind and weather in the winter, an ointment containing zinc for baby’s bottom form solid basics. In drug stores next to conventional products, you will find a selection of brands which combine sustainability and baby care and which are often without paraffin, toxic substances or artificial additives. Current test results are available at Öeko-Test.
Tip 4: The diaper question
The 6,000 diapers in the course of a baby’s life mentioned at the beginning, highlight the fact that the selection of diapers is definitely one of the most important things in terms of environmental protection. And yet around 90 percent of Germans use disposable diapers – an increasing number of young parents are, however, turning to reusable fabric diapers (new or secondhand) or alternative concepts such as a „diaper-free“ approach. Ecological-disposable diapers are now available. They are made partly of replenishable raw materials and are particularly well suited to babies with a sensitive skin. If the decision is hard, you can ask yourself the following: what is important to you? What is your everyday life like? Are you on the move a lot? Do you know parents who have tried alternative ways and who can share their experience with you? Whatever you decide to do: it has to suit the parents and the child – and yes, it is totally okay, to try out something else after a few months!
Tip 5: The right wet wipes
Wet wipes are above all a mostly essential helper in the case of baby care. Whilst baby’s bottom can be cleaned at home with a face cloth and water, there are still a number of situations where wet wipes are unbelievably practical. However, consumers should peruse the shelves of their drug store with greater care. What a lot of them do not know: many conventional wet wipes contain a lot of plastic. Very often, the packaging does not contain a great deal of information about the raw materials in the wipes. Sometimes only small pieces of information help, such as „bio-degradable“ or „material of FSC® / PEFC™ certified material“, to be able to make an eco-friendly choice in the selection of your baby wipes. Wet wipes where the nonwoven is made of VEOCEL™ fibers, are free of plastic, guaranteed to be of botanic origin and bio-degradable. You will find a list of reference products here.

Less plastic on babys’ changing tables

A baby needs around 6,000 diapers and around 25,000 wet wipes, until it is potty-trained at the age of two and a half years. With a few tricks, each of us can help to reduce fossil-based synthetic materials on baby’s changing table.

Tip 1: Waste separation is not enough!

Tip 2: Conscious decisions

Tip 3: Babycare - less is more!

Tip 4: The diaper question

Tip 5: The right wet wipes

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