Thank goodness it’s not as hard to be environmentally conscious as it was, say, for our friends who had kids ten years ago. These friends may now be flaunting the fact that their kids are sleeping through the night. Well, you can just flaunt right back, so to speak, with your eco-friendly, chemical free, sustainably manufactured baby carrier. Yeah, I wouldn’t wait for them to turn green with envy either (pun intended).
What Makes a Carrier Earth-Friendly?
- What it’s made of: 100% cotton, organically grown, sustainably farmed. Natural fabrics with certified non-toxic dyes. Few to no synthetics. You won’t find natural dyes, however. Moisture on cotton makes vegetable dyes, in their current formulas, impossible. But dye-makers developed Low Impact Fiber Reactive Dyes, which are certified by all major countries and organizations of chemists as being safe. Minimal use of plastic on the carrier itself. Minimal and reusable packaging. Look for a carrier bearing the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification, which is the EU approval for all-natural dyes.
- Who makes it: Despite the “buy local” movement that’s become so central to the way many earth-conscious families shop and eat, buying a baby carrier made in the U.S., Canada, or the UK is nigh to impossible. (Perhaps Al Gore, self-proclaimed godfather of the internet and star of the blockbuster An Inconvenient Truth can get busy bringing green manufacturing back to the States.)
- Does it have wearable comfort? By this I mean does the carrier put you and baby in natural, comfortable positions consistent with the body’s anatomy? Is the fabric allergen-free, synthetic free, soft to the touch.
And the Green Medals for Most Eco-Friendly Goes to…
The Ergo
Cool story, actually. Company head Karin Frost traveled to India in 2007 to the textile mill that has made certified organic cotton fabrics since 1996.
ErgoBaby ensures that beneficial pests are used, rather than pesticides, that crop rotation keeps the soil fertile, and that the company’s footprint is minimal. The carrier itself is beautifully made, and just slightly more expensive than the conventional Ergo. The organic models
Because this company began to evolve in 2001, designer Frost was able to incorporate a company vision that includes best practices for humane working conditions and fair pay for facilities in China, where the Ergo is manufactured, and in India, where the textiles are made. Workers have hour-limits, mandatory lunch, nap, and holidays, may not work more than six days per week, and must be 18 years of age. Bonuses, clean facilities for eating, bathing, and living are all part of the company’s factory locations.
DIDYMOS-baby
. Austrian-made, with 100% organic cotton from Peru and Egypt, this company’s slings are so green, buying one feels almost like buying carbon offsets. The company’s story, like Ergo, is one of new mom (twins in this case) design, and success through thoughtful development of business practices that do no harm and do some good.
The DIDYMOS website, in itself, is worth the read, if you have an hour. That’s right. Sixty minutes. The history of the company is an engaging read, as are the rationale for choosing jacquard weaving and German/Austrian manufacture. In discussing India as an option, company founders explain a litany of injustices, from unchecked use of chemicals to the government of India, denying its own people clean drinking water by siphonying it off for companies producing textiles there. Startling it was to learn that Indian families spend 1/3 of their income buying bottled water.
The DIDYMOS-baby is a wrap-style carrier and the DIDYMOS-sling features a simple metal ring for easy adjustment. Both retail in the $140 range.
Bottom Line
If I wasn’t totally sold on organic cotton, I am now. Looking into organic carriers highlighted for me the collateral damage of inorganic, uncertified cotton weaving. From dirty water to illness from pesticide exposure, conventional cotton in baby carriers and clothes carries with it dangers too numerous to mention here.
I’d rather buy my kids a few good articles of clothing that will last. And in the babycarrier department, both of these eco-friendly babycarriers are also known for their endurance. One DIDYMOS customer boasts her carrier is the one she was carried in as an infant. As for ERGO, they are the Honda of baby carriers – they have the highest resale value. In my moms’ group forum, there are six “seeking used Ergo” messages for every “Ergo for sale” message.
Eco-Friendly in baby-carrier-speak means sustainable and human production of a 100% organic cotton product with nontoxic dyes and little to no negative impact on the environment. Oh, and there’s the convenient truth that these are the two most comfortable carriers out there.
