If you have a new mom and/or dad among your friends or family who’s very much into health, sustainability, and humane lifestyle choices, he and/or she have their work cut out for them! The world is full of harmful things—from pesticides to genocide, sweatshops to deforestation, harmful plastics to harmful diapers—that can harm not just baby, but also mom and dad and the world around them. To really help out such couples (and to help any couple, if you feel so inclined), you can create a safe product registry for them to use.

To start your registry, you might want to think of all of the things the new baby will need. From changing tables to binkies, blankets to baby food, this will be a heckuva long list. If you’ve had kids before, you already know what’s needed; if not, check out a baby registry or website for a general guide.

Next, look up each type of product and find out which ones are the safest, most eco-friendly, and most humane. One of my new favorite search engines is The Good Guide, though you can also look things up at Responsible Shopper or your favorite research engine.

Plug in your first item—say it’s baby bottles. Instantly, you’ll get a ton of feedback—much of it, I’m afraid, very negative. Your best bet may be to go with Baby King products for health impact, though Johnson & Johnson, oddly enough, seems to have the better environmental rating.

If you do choose to use Good Guide, you can also peruse their Guide to Baby Accessories, which will come in handy while you make your chart (or notebook, or whatever you’re making your log from). Searching by product type, brand name, category (such as bibs, accessories, general care, etc.), and other features are also available.

You will probably find it as ironic as I do that many brands are not simply great all-around; Gerber in particular has many “best” items as well as “worst” ones. The parent(s) will have to simply use their discretion when this happens; many people prefer to boycott entire companies who present problems or unethical practices. Oftentimes, people also don’t need all of the things listed on general baby registries; find out which ones are simply not needed. For example, we had no need for hangers, an armoire, a changing table, or many other things that people either told us we needed or gave us. Our bed and a simple set of drawers we already had functioned fine for these purposes.

If you really want to sleuth around, you can also try calling the companies or searching the web for more information. This depends on the amount of research you’re willing to put into this project. It’s already a hefty endeavor; however, your friends will likely be touched that you spent so much time and energy into your meaningful gift.

Once you have your research complete, you’ll probably want to add a “concrete” baby gift in with it. Be sure it comes from the list you created; it would probably seem a bit hypocritical to give a health problem-causing bottle of baby lotion, not to mention unsafe!