Finding eco-friendly alternatives these days isn’t as difficult (or as expensive) as it used to be. In preparation for the arrival of our son, we knew that we wanted to continue living green with the next chapter of our lives. We’re three months into it and in honor of Earth Day, we thought it would be a great time to share our experience and ways that we saved money through living green. Hopefully, you’ll give these a try!

Cloth Diapers

We bought a variety of brands (4 to be exact) and it’s changed our world in the best way! In a previous post, I talked about menstrual cups and how much I love them and so I was interested in cloth diapering. To be honest, my Italian mother-in-law was against them because she thought that they would be impractical and very inconvenient to use, but we were intent on giving them a try. We bought Charlie Banana, Petit Lulu, Bambino Mio and an assorted 4 pack (as our initial trial starter kit).

They are super easy to use, but it was a bit of trial and error the first few diaper changes (just like it would a regular diaper). We bought the velcro and snap versions in various patterns and styles. After adjusting the snaps to fit your baby, it’s just as easy as putting on a normal diaper. When taking off and cleaning your baby’s dirty diaper (depending on if you’ve purchased an all-in-one or two-in-one diaper) you put them into an impermeable or wet nappy bag until it’s full and then you toss them or disassemble the diaper (depending on the style) into the washing machine.

Keep in mind, the final step would be slightly different once your baby is eating solids, but for now, he’s still breastfeeding so this is what our current washing situation is. One last thing to consider is that they are a tad costly upfront, however, over time you’ll see the benefit and return on investment in choosing cloth diapers. Also, they’ve been so handy during COVID-19, it’s been one less thing we’ve had to worry about.

I can go into more detail about my favorite cloth diaper brand in a future post and break down the differences if you’re interested, just let me know in the comments below!

Converting Furniture

Stokke Sleepi Bed & Tripp Trapp Chair

Shmoney. The Scandinavians man, they’ve got s-t-y-l-e and it all costs a pretty penny, but like, so worth it! We have the Stokke Sleepi Mini in Natural along with the conversion kits to fit him until he’s around 10 years old. Everything is made from wood!

Buy Used or Borrow (no shame game)

As mentioned previously, baby stuff is craaazy expensive! They grow so darn fast, that it just seems like constant spending and all the “old” (not so old) stuff piles up. Let me fill you in. Sooo, you know how we got the Stokke Sleepi Mini bed (plus all the conversion kits) and Tripp Trapp Chair? We bought them USED! We were SO lucky to find a family selling all the parts (a-l-l of the conversion kits) plus the chair in “like new” shape. Not only did we save a fortune (the Mini crib alone costs $700CDN) but we also cut down on waste from packaging (that might not seem like such a big deal, but it is).

Also, 80% of his closet is filled with hand-me-down clothes that are a year old (that are used or not even used, the tags are still on) from friends of ours. They also gave us their bottle sanitizer and baby wrap carrier.

Other essential items we bought used are:

Yoyo stroller by BabyZen

armoire and dresser drawers (from Ikea, we found them in the section where they sell the floor models), everything was in perfect shape! Needless to say, we saved major coin!

Toys & Sustainable Materials

We bought a rubber pacifier from Chicco and started him on it almost immediately and he loves it.

All of my nursing tops, bras, and dresses are from Boob Design. They’re made from organic or recycled cotton and carry the STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® and/or GOTS label.

I’m currently obsessed with wooden toys from Little Dutch Baby.

Got this from Anthropologie, they’re ceramic handmade hooks to add a little personality and colour to his room.

Nursery Decor

Decorate your nursery based on your personality. What does that mean? A good place to start is in your closet, take a look and notice the colours and patterns you’re generally attracted to. Try to decorate the nursery to compliment your style or colour scheme, rather than having an entire themed room of stuff you can’t use in any other room as baby gets older (the same thing goes when buying baby furniture or wall art).

Bear’s room still has a way to go, but we’ve got the essentials.

Did you find any of these suggestions helpful?

Big hugs,

Clarice