Mommy Monday: How to stay green while stocking up on extra baby items.

Wooden high chair we bought
for my parents house.

I try my best to be green. But like most people I could work even harder to use less water, not waste so many paper towels, recycle even more, line dry cloths instead of using a dryer and the list could go on and on and on. However, one thing I am consistently pretty good about is buying gently used items instead of buying all new. Of course sometimes you can't always find what you want, so you might have to buy new. But if you can, buying used items can save not only money but also help to shrink down your carbon footprint.

I am a very lucky gal and got a lot of very nice/new items when my baby was born, from a lot of really nice people in my life.  However, now that I do have a son I don't always want to haul all that stuff around from place to place when I am visiting family. We have a fairly small car (better gas mileage!) but it can't always fit everything in it. So having similar items to what we have at home at the grandparents house is much more convenient than hauling these items around.  

A few years ago when my niece was just a few months old - my brother, his family,  my husband and I decided to stock my parents' house with some much needed baby items. And what better way to do that than to find used items. So one morning we hit the garage sales, and what do you know, we found an adorable wooden high chair, a vibrating bouncer and a Bumbo seat. My brother ended up taking the Bumbo to his house but the highchair and bouncer have come in super handy. I think we got all the items for around $25.00. Babies grow out of things so quickly that a used item is worth the bargain price tag because they usually have only been used for a short amount of time. Also now we don't mind if something gets dirty or breaks because it wasn't expensive.  

It is hard to be green all the time, but deciding to buy consignment, when possible, can help reduce your carbon footprint (and may help to counter those times when you leave the water on a little longer or grab an occasional extra paper towel). So next time you are looking to stock the grandparents with all that baby stuff - try buying used.  It might just save you a buck or two and help us consume more and buy less! 

Cheers from Momma Missy

Used bouncer we found at a
yard sale for just a few dollars.