You want the best for your baby. And you want the best for the earth. The good news is it’s possible to care for your little one with products that are safe for baby skin as well as the planet.
Say hello to sustainable baby products!
In this article, we’ll discuss what to look for when shopping for earth-friendly options and then go over five sustainable baby products that your family can start using today.
Before we get there, let’s lay the foundation: What are sustainable baby products?
What Are Sustainable Baby Products?
“Sustainable” is a word that’s thrown around a lot, but what exactly does it mean? Simply put, something that is sustainable can be maintained.
We believe that sustainable products are made, used, and disposed of with minimal damage to the earth we love and the people who live in it. That includes extracting the ingredients and materials as well as making, transporting, using, and disposing of the product.
The best sustainable products keep the environment in mind in addition to the people who are involved in the process. We’re talking about products that:
- Use renewable resources
- Use minimal energy
- Can be disposed of responsibly
- Are made with ethical labor
- Promote fair trade
That said, let’s take a look at how to find the best sustainable baby products.
Sustainable Baby Products: What To Look For
B-Corp Certification
When you find a product that’s made by a company with B-Corp Certification, you can rest easy.
B-Corp is a demanding international label awarded to brands that demonstrate superior economic, social, and environmental performance and develop their activities with a positive impact on society and the environment.
Companies that hold this label have passed a rigorous examination based on standards for governance, employees, community, environment, and customers. They operate with the B-Corp motto in mind:
“Do not seek to be the best company in the world. Rather, seek to be the best company for the world.”
Here at Mustela, we are proud to call ourselves a B-Corp company and believe that belonging to the B-Corp community strengthens many of our basic commitments.
We create products that show respect for the environment with 100% eco-design and 100% responsible plant supply chains. We guarantee the naturalness and safety of our products, which contain an average of 95% ingredients of natural origin and exclude questionable ingredients.
We also seek to benefit everyone involved with our brand — employees, partners, producers, distributors, customers, and the like. Because of this, we’ve implemented a fair trade policy that protects the environment, producers, and their country of origin.
Organic Ingredients
Choosing products made with organic ingredients is an excellent way to care for both the earth and your family. When an ingredient in food or a skincare product is labeled “organic,” that means it’s grown (or raised) without the use of chemicals or pesticides.
This is good for your family’s skin since those ingredients don’t have the chemical residue that their non-organic counterparts have. And it’s good for the environment because pesticides can do a number on soil, animals, plants, and water.
Recycled And Recyclable Material
As we mentioned, the entire life — from creation to disposal — of a sustainable baby product should be earth-friendly.
Look for products that are made with recycled materials and are recyclable after their use, too. If you can’t reuse and upcycle the packaging after you’re done with it, the recyclability factor is even more important.
Biodegradable Formulas
Last but not least, we recommend choosing baby skincare products with biodegradable formulas. A biodegradable formula is one that can be decomposed (digested) naturally by microorganisms after its use.
For products that are released in wastewater, biodegradability is an important part of leaving a positive environmental impact. (Good news: All Mustela cleansing gels are biodegradable.)
With this information about sustainable baby products under your belt, we’ll wrap up by mentioning five products for your little one that we think you’ll love!
Sustainable Baby Products For Your Little One
Certified Organic Water Wipes With Cotton And Aloe
For ultra-soft, recycled baby wipes, look no further than our Certified Organic Water Wipes with Cotton and Aloe. They’re designed to gently cleanse your baby’s skin, leaving it soothed, soft, fresh, and moisturized.
What makes them good for the earth and your baby’s skin at the same time? Our plastic-free wipes are fragrance-free and composed of 99.8% ingredients of natural origin, including organic cotton, organic aloe vera, and filtered, purified, and softened water.
Our organic aloe vera is grown in the highlands of Mexico and comes from farms that meet fair-trade requirements. The organic cotton we use is 100% recycled from the textile industry and part of a circular economy and anti-waste approach.
Speaking of recycled material, the packaging contains up to 10% recycled plastic from industrial scrap and is made without a plastic lid, reducing our plastic use by 47%. Finally, the wipes themselves are biodegradable and made with compostable fibers.
Keep in mind that these wipes are also safe to use on eczema-prone baby skin. They’re even certified by the National Eczema Association and safe from birth on.
With all of this goodness packaged inside, they’re the perfect wipes to use on your baby’s face, hands, diaper area, and whole body!
Certified Organic Cleansing Gel With Olive Oil And Aloe
Our Certified Organic Cleansing Gel with Olive Oil and Aloe is a gentle, sulfate-free hair and body wash that keeps your baby clean and takes care of their skin (and the earth) at the same time.
The olive oil used in our organic products is sourced from family-owned olive groves in the South of France. There, the olives undergo a cold-pressed extraction process to maximize potency and skin-nourishing properties.
In addition to being certified organic, our cleansing gel is designed to be environmentally conscious inside and out. The formula is biodegradable and the packaging is made from sustainably sourced sugar cane.
Use this gel to gently cleanse your little one’s skin without stripping it of its natural oils. And keep in mind that it’s gentle and safe enough for babies’ delicate skin but also effective enough for big kids and adults, making it perfect for the whole family!
Certified Organic Hydrating Cream With Olive Oil And Aloe
A lightweight and restorative lotion for both face and body, Certified Organic Hydrating Cream with Olive Oil and Aloe is another sustainable baby product that’s ideal for the whole family.
Our formula is carefully crafted with 99.6% naturally derived ingredients, including organic aloe vera, organic sunflower oil, and organic olive oil — powerful natural emollients that work together to keep skin moisturized, soft, and supple.
And, like all Mustela products, it’s free of questionable ingredients like parabens, phenoxyethanol, and phthalates.
The formula is biodegradable, the bottle is recyclable, and we’ve ditched secondary cartons. Plus, this product is EWG Verified which means that it avoids EWG's ingredients of concern and is committed to full transparency.
Certified Organic Micellar Water With Olive Oil And Aloe
If you’ve never used micellar water on your little one, you’re in for a treat. Our Certified Organic Micellar Water with Olive Oil and Aloe gently cleans your baby’s skin, and there’s no need to rinse it off, making cleanup a cinch!
It’s carefully crafted with only eight ingredients, 99.7% of which are naturally derived. And, like the other products we’ve mentioned, this EWG Verified product is made to be environmentally conscious inside and out.
Here’s one more hint about using our organic micellar water: While it’s gentle and safe for babies’ sensitive skin, you can borrow your little one’s micellar water to take your makeup off, too. Talk about a two-for-one product!
Diaper Cream With Olive Oil And Aloe
The last sustainable baby product we will mention is our Diaper Cream with Olive Oil and Aloe, a talc-free and easy-to-apply formula that moisturizes and calms your baby’s bottom.
Made with 99.7% naturally derived ingredients, including aloe vera, sunflower oil, and olive oil, this EWG Verified cream is fragrance-free, dye-free, and leaves a moisturizing layer on your baby’s skin. This soothes and diminishes redness at every diaper change.
Sustainable Baby Products: Good For The Earth And Your Family
You’ve read about what sustainable baby products are and what to look for when shopping for them. Keep your eye out for B-Corp certified companies, organic and natural ingredients, recycled and recyclable materials, and biodegradable formulas.
Now, all that’s left to do is get busy using and enjoying products like Certified Organic Water Wipes with Cotton and Aloe, Micellar Water with Olive Oil and Aloe, and Diaper Cream with Olive Oil and Aloe.
Our EWG Verified products are good for your baby and the earth. It doesn’t get much better than that.