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Going plastic-free with your family

Welcome to the second week of the Plastic-Free Challenge! This week we’re focusing on reducing plastic use related to kids, clothing, and pets.

Using less plastic with kids

Whether you are a new parent or have many years of experience under your belt, you know that raising a family can add to your household waste. Parenting can result in a lot of gear and convenience products, but by sticking to the basics and choosing secondhand, durable and natural materials, you can limit the amount of plastic waste your family creates.

Gearing up for a new baby

With huge “essentials” lists and lots of baby products in stores, you might be tempted to buy many new plastic items to make sure you have covered your bases to care for your new family member. Try to stick to the basics and repurpose existing items for your baby’s needs. For example, consider using:

• Your existing food processor or blender instead of a baby food processor
• A backpack, messenger bag or purse instead of a diaper bag
• “Free and clear” laundry detergent for the family instead of a separate baby laundry detergent
• A regular dish rack instead of a bottle drying rack

Cloth diapering

Another large opportunity to avoid plastic trash and save money is to use reusable cloth diapers for your young child. There are many resources in the Twin Cities to provide information and guidance. Some options to ease your barriers are to buy used cloth diapers, use a combination of cloth and disposable diapers, or sign up for a diaper washing service to reduce your laundry burden. Local organizations such as the Minnesota Cloth Diaper Bank and Do Good Diapers have resources if you want to learn more. Plastic-free food and snacks

Life can be hectic in a busy household, and single-serve, plastic-wrapped snacks might be something you grab to fuel your family and save time. Try cutting back by swapping some snacks for unpackaged fruits and veggies, buying snacks from the bulk section at the grocery store or repacking your own single portions with reusable Tupperware or refillable squeeze pouches. Pack lunches for your school-aged children in reusable containers, too. Older kids can help choose and bake or prepare the snack foods they enjoy.

Toys

Plastic toys may be hard to avoid, but you can reduce the total amount you provide for your kids. Choose fewer, more durable toys and opt for natural materials when possible. Consider rotating the toys you keep out to increase their novelty, swap with friends and family members or join the Minnesota Toy Library. You can also let the creativity flow by repurposing items found around your home, including boxes, scarves, paper, and much more. When toys do break, see if you can extend their life by repairing them.

Clothing and kids’ accessories

Babies and young kids grow quickly and often don’t wear out their clothes, shoes and accessories before they no longer fit. This means gently used items are plentiful at secondhand stores, garage sales, online sale sites or from friends and family. The same is true for sports equipment or other specialized gear. Use your community networks or check Hennepin County’s Choose to Reuse directory or Ramsey County's Reuse and Donation resources page to find stores, local events and sales for new-to-you kids’ items. Washington County has a Reduce and Reuse page with resources as well. 

Learn together

Help your children build healthy habits around plastic use. Talk to them about plastic waste, explain what you are doing as a family and discuss how they can support your goals. The Plastic Pollution Coalition has a helpful blog that includes many useful resources.

Take action

If you want to reduce the number of plastic products and amount of waste associated with raising children, choose these actions in the kids category: Make the change to cloth diapers Avoid new baby items Make thoughtful toy purchases Discover together

Challenge tips

Have a broader impact with your individual actions

One way to make a bigger impact is to start conversations and advocate for larger changes.

Sharing your experiences with others can have a ripple effect. Talking about your plastic-free efforts with your family and friends can help them think in new ways and consider what actions they could take in their lives. You might become a resource for people in your social circle. Consider posting about your actions on social media or offering to help avoid single-use plastics at a social gathering.

Make the most of the website

Make the most of your Plastic-Free Challenge experience by using these tips for interacting on the challenge website:

• Check out your team dashboard! Get there from your dashboard or from the list of teams. You can see the impact your team is making, what team members are saying on the feed, a list of all your team members, and even challenge another team to a competition.
• There is a general feed where you can see comments, questions, and reflection question answers that people have posted. Look at updates from everyone, your team, or actions like yours.
• If you want to invite your friends and family, we have easy resources to share on social media. You can get sample social media posts and download graphics from the resources page.

Catch up on previous challenge emails

Thursday, January 16: Tips for getting started and encouraging others to join
Friday, January 24: Selecting actions to work on during the challenge
Friday, January 31: The Plastic-Free Challenge starts tomorrow
Monday, February 3: The problem with plastics
Wednesday, February 5: Types of plastics
Friday, February 7: Effectiveness of plastics recycling