My husband and I didn’t register anywhere when we got married. Mostly because we had been living together for long enough that we already had everything we needed. But also, because anything we needed we could just buy ourselves. And we knew that. It didn’t feel right to ask our friends and family for things.
We aren’t huge consumers and try to only have things that we need. When we see our stuff accumulating, we make an effort to gather it up and donate it to those who need it more.
I was so happy to know that everyone wanted to shower our little girl with love and gifts. But there are so many people who can’t afford the things they need for their families. There are so many families in horrifying conditions and circumstances. Abused animals. Abused environments. Abused basic human rights. So, if we were going to ask for anything, we wanted to ask for them. They need your help far more than we ever will.
THE BABY REGISTRY THAT GIVES BACK
With that in mind, I built a baby registry that would afford people the opportunity to donate to causes that mattered to us. I chose to use Babylist.com for the registry, because I could customize it with anything I wanted.
I put together a list of charities people could donate to and companies that support certain causes (all compiled under the “General” section of the registry). They have the option to symbolically adopt an endangered animal in baby girl’s name. They could buy her some new onesies, and for every one they bought they gave one to a child who needs it. They could send money to young survivors of human trafficking so they can go to school and access decent health care. They could support local no-kill shelters, diaper donations and foster children.
I would love knowing that our daughter came into the world with such an enormous karmic advantage. And as a parent, my intention is to make a big emphasis on helping others and giving to those who have less than us. By showing her these gifts and telling her about the donations made in her name, she’ll already feel more invested in the cause.
The rest of the registry is just everything I had been saving over the past few months. Guests were welcome to shop from there as well. I put a lot of effort into researching and finding quality items that I felt good about her using. I tried my best to find conscious and sustainable companies and products. Some are things we’ll need, some are things I just couldn’t help but want because they were so cute and little!
Here is a link to check out the final baby registry. Some things can be found under “Reserved and Purchased”. I am only sharing this as an example for anyone else who wants to create something similar for their baby registry. I am putting together another post on all the brands I have fallen in love with since having a baby. Through months of research, I have discovered so many brands and companies that truly give back and do their part to create safer, more sustainable products.
It doesn’t take much to make a difference. I know that just by sharing my own baby registry with friends and family, they were inspired to pay it forward. That is what pushed me to share it here on the blog. One small act of kindness can go a long way.
What are some causes and products you think I should add to the list?
awesome post