Green Parenting Starts in the Nursery

By Melanie Norall

With the “green parenting” movement growing in popularity, pregnancy is a great time to start making eco-friendly changes in your home.

Pediatrician Alan Greene, M.D., author of Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Baby Care, says pregnancy is a time when expectant parents start looking seriously at how to best protect their newborns from harmful exposures, as well as how to improve the world that their children are born into.

“I see people getting interested in protecting the environment when they have kids more than at any other time,” says Greene.

Where to begin? The baby’s room is a great place to get started.

There are green options for just about everything in the nursery – from the paint you choose for the walls to the clothes you put in the dresser. Here are just a few suggestions from Raising Baby Green:

The Green Nursery
Bedding – Traditional mattresses may contain high levels of harmful chemicals, so look for an organic wool or organic cotton mattress. Organic fabrics are free of bleaches, dyes and pesticides, so they make a great choice for crib sheets as well.

Paint – If you’re repainting the nursery, choose eco-friendly paints, such as low-VOC (volatile organic compounds), natural or milk paints. Avoid high-VOC paints, which pollute the air, water and soil, and could be harmful for baby.