Chris Payne - How He's Reducing His Family's Carbon Footprint

As the Triplet Dad of Four, social media influencer Chris Payne regales his followers with the trials and tribulations of juggling a full-time job with parenting toddlers. As you can imagine, being eco-friendly can be a challenge, but he explains how it just got easier…

Are you more environmentally aware since becoming a Dad?

Yes definitely! When we had Sullivan, we became aware that some products we used (especially nappies) weren’t biodegradable and were just ending up in landfill! After the girls arrived, it was scary to see how much waste we were producing as a family! We have made as many small changes as we can to reduce our carbon footprint, but it’s a work in progress. 

 What are the main challenges?

I work full time shifts and Katie also works 30 hours a week - so our to-do-list is huge! It’s always tempting to take the easy, “go-to” option, but we try to do all we can to be eco-friendly by recycling and making frequent trips to the bottle bank. We also buy as much fresh food, which isn’t wrapped in plastic packaging, as we can.

Why are you now using Pura products?

Pura clearly cares about the environment - as do we! We are using Pura wipes (and nappies when they’re available) because we are keen to reduce our carbon footprint while still using a quality product! When the girls were small babies, we were getting though over 200 nappies a week - which is when it really hit home how much of an impact we were having on the environment. I honestly didn’t know that there was plastic in baby wipes, and I love the fact that Pure wipes are made with plastic-free, biodegradable, plant-fibre cloth.

Are you doing anything else to be “greener” as a family? 

We put all our food waste in our green bin to try and reduce unnecessary space in landfill and we have switched to using bamboo toothbrushes, bowls and plates for the kids. We also use eco-friendly, natural cleaning products within the house.

I think toys are a big issue because of both the plastics they are made with, and also the packaging they come in. We often buy the kids wooden toys, or items that are made from sustainable sources, to try and be greener but, as always, cost is always an issue. We do what we can!