Kristie McNealy, MD

Having a baby and raising a child can be an expensive prospect.  With the economy in a recession, many families are tightening their belts.  Yet concerns about health and the environment have many parents wondering how to go green, keep their kids healthy and still not break the bank.

Fortunately, there are at least a few ways that you can reduce your family’s carbon footprint, produce less waste, stay healthy and save money – all at the same time.  While most of these choices require a little more time commitment than the alternatives, the benefits can certainly outweigh the inconveniences in many families.

• Opt for the breast instead of formula. While there are certainly times when breastfeeding isn’t an option, for most moms, breastfeeding is the best and healthiest option for feeding their baby.  By breastfeeding instead of purchasing formula, you save money and you don’t have all those formula cans to add to the land fill.  In addition to the health benefits of breastfeeding for both mom and baby, you reduce your baby’s exposure to BPA and other chemicals in formula packaging and baby bottles.  Even if you purchase BPA free bottles, you really never know what we’ll find out down the road about the safety of other plastic formulations.  You also avoid concerns about chemicals like melamine which have recently been found in infant formula manufactured not only in China, but also in the US.
• Invest in cloth diapers and wipes. Disposable diapers and wipes make up a pretty significant portion of the trash produced by growing families.  By opting for cloth, you will incur some extra laundry duty, but you’ll significantly reduce your trash output.  Using extra wash water can be a concern in drought prone regions, but setting your load size properly and using a high efficiency washer can reduce this impact.  You can also cut back on electricity usage by line drying, and reduce the impact of detergent by buying eco friendly options, and using the smallest amount of detergent that will get your diapers clean.  Cloth diapering can be as expensive or cheap as you want to be, but unless you’re buying super expensive designer diapers, you’ll probably still be saving money over disposables.  For the most cost conscious families, cloth diapers can be sewn for pennies out of repurposed clothing, sheets and other fabrics which you can find around your home or at thrift stores.  Personally, I spent about $140 on cotton prefold diapers and diaper covers, and I have plenty of diapers for two kids, doing wash about every other day.  For us, that is equivalent to the cost of about 3-4 months of disposable diapers.  If you’ve gone so far as to start cloth diapering, the next logical step is to use cloth wipes, which can be bought, or can be made for practically nothing out of old towels, baby washcloths or flannel receiving blankets.  In addition to saving money and reducing waste, you also avoid exposure to the chemicals used to manufacture disposable diapers, and the absorbent material, which often comes in contact with baby’s skin.
• Make your own baby food. While jarred baby foods are certainly convenient, by making your own baby food, you have complete control over what goes in it.  You can reduce waste by eliminating all those baby food jars, and by using coupons and shopping sales, you can often score awesome deals on frozen organic produce and other ingredients to save money.  If you have the room, you can even grow your own fruits and veggies, and use those to feed baby, and the rest of your family.
• Cook from scratch. When your baby is older, you can continue to provide healthy, natural foods and save money  by cooking from scratch.  Cooking from scratch allows you to utilize locally grown, organic ingredients, while avoiding common filler ingredients like corn or soy if your child has a food allergy.  By combining sales, coupons and by buying commonly used ingredients in bulk, you can slash your grocery budget while keeping your whole family healthy.

These are just a few of the ways that growing families can save money while improving their health and reducing their impact on the environment.  Leave a comment sharing your favorite tips for going green while saving money.

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• Cloth Diapering: Getting Started
• It’s Not Easy Being Green – Or is it?
• Other Uses for Cloth Diapers
• Advantages of Cloth with Convenience of Disposables