Going Green in the Kids’ Department
It’s easy to be wasteful when you have children. You want to give your kid everything and make sure they aren’t deprived of a single comfort. With all the clothes, toys, and other accessories people buy for their offspring, raising children consumes a massive amount of resources. This is one of the reasons why I’m against procreation. However, this baby clothing trading company makes me feel better about all those rugrats crawling around. Plum, a website described as “Netflix for baby clothes”, allows parents to essentially rent clothes for their baby and return them when they’ve outgrown them. Now, the question is will parents go for this hand-me around system? Unless the plan is super affordable I think Plum will only appeal to super green-minded parents, since parents are notoriously protective of their children. A lot of mothers would not trust rented baby onesies. I’m an adult now and my mom scolds me for shopping at thrift stores. This baby thing is a start though, and it would be great if we got the same sort of recycling at every point through children’s development. Just think of all those plastic toys that kids get for Christmas and are played with a year before they get trashed or shoved in the attic forever. It’s a slightly more depressing version of Toy Story. However, some progress is being made and in another unlikely field. Grow Books Press is a publishing house that makes compostable children’s books. In an industry where millions of books reach bookstore shelves only to be sent back to the publisher and thrown in a landfill, it is a breath of fresh air to see a more responsible business model.
