Welcome lovely readers to Your Eco Roots. Here I hope you will find some quiet in the noise that is currently the roaring sustainable market. I will write reviews about products we use as a family (and personally) which will link to where you can buy them if you are interested. I will also share general musings about our day-to-day life as (trying to be) sustainable parents.

Our clothing

Where possible we buy clothing made from organic materials (we love organic cotton, organic bamboo and wool). Obviously, from an environmental point of view but also to protect our daughter’s delicate skin and ensure no nasty chemicals are on her clothing.

If you went through our laundry basket (I would advise against it!) you would find the majority of items in there are made from wool. We are obsessed with wool (especially merino wool). The benefits are endless, and we just love it. The only drawback I have encountered is that finding organic wool clothing has proven very difficult, so this is a compromise for us. 

I have written a blog on how to wash wool clothing which you can read here

You can read my reviews on clothing by heading to my ‘review blogs’ below.

• Our Blogs
• Reviews
• Sustainable fabrics
• Tips

Some of the brands we love

Our parenting style

We try to practice ‘gentle parenting’, but to be honest if anyone says they 100% nail it then this isn’t the place for them! I want this blog to be raw and honest. Parenting is hard, and when you choose to try and live/raise children to certain values, it becomes even harder. The pressure is immense sometimes. It is about trying and doing the best you can, with your values in mind.

TV. I wish TV didn’t exist. I don’t want my daughter watching TV all the time, but in this day and age to fully ban it, in my opinion, isn’t the right answer. We moderate how long our daughter watches TV for and what content she watches. But I have to admit, that 30 mins in the morning whilst she watches Paw Patrol (her current obsession) is a godsend. Without that I can imagine getting to bedtime and the breakfast dishes are still in the sink!

One thing we always try to do without fail is eat breakfast together as a family everyday. This varies between porridge with fruit or eggs and toast during the week, then Saturday is ‘daddy pancake day’ and Sunday is full English breakfast. In order to do this (during the week) my husband and I get up at 6am every day and our daughter gets up at 7am. We are out of the door to work or preparing to walk the dog by 7.45/8am most mornings. Weekends are more flexible, and we have breakfast whenever we wake up!
This is one of my favourite traditions and I really cherish this moment every morning.

Our diet

We aren’t vegans or vegetarians, but we respect and understand those that follow such a diet. We are an everything in moderation family, and where feasible, everything organic. We try to cook from scratch as much as possible. Again, we are not perfect and when out and about our diets waver (on purpose). If they didn’t, I think we would lose the sense of enjoyment you get from food, and the social aspect it brings as well. Being too strict takes away the fun. Food should be exciting, delicious, and healthy. Again, watch this space for more blogs specifically on what we eat. I might throw in the odd recipe as well!

We do our main weekly shop from Abel and Cole

Nappies

I always knew I wanted to try reusable nappies and when our daughter was 6 months old, she was in full time cloth. I would have started earlier but she was born prematurely, and we were all over the place with house moves etc and it just didn’t feel right. Starting on my terms allowed me to enjoy the process more as it wasn’t so stressful. We had a routine and felt settled, so it was the right time for us. Again, this goes back to my point of ‘you can’t be a perfect eco parent’. Just do your part and what works for you. Every little helps!

Our daughters sleep

Our daughter slept through the night from the age of about 4 months (7pm to 7am). Not all nights, but we were getting a fair few. By 6 months it was most nights. I am not a cocky individual (ask anyone who knows me), far from it in fact and I of course believe this could be coincidence and we got lucky. However, I also feel that a lot of what we ‘practice(d)’ and the products we use(d) made a difference. Have a read of one of my blogs where I go through all the natural materials and bedding we use. Read here.

When writing this, our daughter is 3 years old and during the week sleeps from 7pm – 7am and during the weekend 7pm – 8am with no wake ups (apart from the odd one when she is ill, or needs a wee!)

Your Community

This blog page isn’t all about me, it is about ‘us’. The eco parent community, sharing tips and supporting each other. If there is something you want me to write about, or you have any questions please let me know. I would love to hear from you. I am also open to posting your own stories and reviews if you want to feature them.
yourecoroots@gmail.com

That’s enough from me. Please, enjoy my blog page and give me a shout if you have any questions.

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