Reusable nappies:
Modern cloth nappies are easy to wash; just rinse them in the loo and chuck them in your washing machine at the end of the day. Cloth nappies have changed and so have the washing machines. They are simple, easy-to-use products that in my experience contain the dreaded “poonamis” better than disposables.
No more pins – velcro and domes are here to stay! They make cloth nappies super easy to put on and when they come in loads of funky colours and prints, you won’t want to take them off!
Modern cloth nappies mean you have loads of fabric choices including – bamboo and hemp (great for sensitive skin), cotton (durable and super absorbent), microfibre (fast drying).
Plus you can save a fortune!
Check out my website for more information.
BYO bags to the supermarket:
Reusable bags just make sense! Once you have seen the amount of plastic bags flying around in a landfill it is quite disturbing!! You may have recently seen the whales and giant turtles that have died and had stomachs full of plastic bags. They look like jellyfish in the water so they eat them thinking it is food. Past generations never used plastic bags but we seem to get one in every shop we go into.
Reusable or paper straws:
Plastic straws are in the top 10 marine debris waste items. They are hideous things that are creating such unnecessary waste! Get a few stainless or glass straws, they’re great to pop into the car or use compostable paper straws for kids’ parties.
It’s super easy to find options from awesome Kiwi distributors!
Waste-Free Lunch Boxes:
Why should a school or daycare have to deal with all of our single-use packaged items every day?
Schools all over the country are working on being waste free. With all of the amazing lunch box options available these days, reducing lunch box waste is so simple! Get a bento lunch box that means the food doesn’t need to be packaged – Buy food in bulk and pack it straight into the lunch box.
Also, in talking with a number of schools, they are concerned about the high sugar foods we are giving our kids. When my friends and I were kids, lollies and chips were only for birthday parties – but now they are day-to-day products.
Scale it back and give the kids real foods that are not processed, like fruit, sandwiches, and a home baked biscuit. That’s all we had and we were fine!
Want to Learn More?
If you are keen to learn even more, come to one of the various workshops that I run all over New Zealand. You will also walk away with a bag of goodies to get you started from your local council.
It is time to open our eyes and stop living in a bubble pretending everything will be OK. We only have one planet and we need to look after it, otherwise, where will our future generations live?
Originally published here.
Kate Meads was recently labeled New Zealand’s own waste-free warrior and is a very humorous and motivating speaker.
Kate has been working with the general public and councils for over ten years now. In the early days, her role was to promote the use of modern cloth nappies and promote waste-free parenting options, however now she facilitates seminars and presentations on reducing food waste and other waste topics. Drawing from her own experiences as a typical modern day consumer, Kate shares her stories and insights to create a greater awareness of the choices we are making and the impacts they are having. If we all do nothing because it seems like we are not making a difference, nothing will ever change and we have to question what legacy will we leave our future generations.
Head to the Waste Free Parenting website to find out more. You can also follow Kate on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
