Green Post #3 Breastfeeding is Green!

I know a lot of you who read my blog breastfeed your children. Now you can pat yourself on the back for being green! Yeah!

Breastfeeding is green because in order to do so you do not use any resources other than your own reusable breasts! How cool is that! Formula use requires consumer waste from the containers it uses and also fuel to deliver the product across the country, not to mention all the energy used to actually make the formula.

Most of you who read or know me, know that I am a huge fan of breastfeeding--and you also know that I have had problems nursing my children. I have to supplement Graham's feedings with formula in order for him to gain the weight he is supposed to gain. Some people choose to use formula from the get-go and there are ways to be green when it comes to bottle feeding too!

Instead of using plastic bottles, which pose a risk for plastics to leach into the milk, use glass bottles! Glass is much more recyclable than plastic and is much safer for the baby. I recently read an article that reminded me that every single bit of plastic EVER made still exists and will still exist a long time after I die. That is scary!

Glass bottles are getting more popular but they are still hard to find in most markets like Target and Walmart. I found our glass ones made by Evenflo at Babies R Us for a very reasonable price. Less than $5 for 3 4 oz. bottles. Born Free makes glass bottles in addition to BPA free bottles and sippie cups but they are much more expensive. The Evenflo bottles are thick glass and if you warm up your baby's milk in the microwave (we serve ours cold from the fridge water dispenser) you don't have to worry about plastics leaching. I have kept the glass bottles in the diaper bag and haven't been worried about them breaking. I wish that I had bought more of the Evenflo glass bottles when I went to Babies R Us. I only bought 3 4oz. bottles and 3 9oz. bottles. I was hopeful at the time that I wouldn't need to supplement for long or for many feedings during the day. Babies R Us is inconvenient to get to for me so I have also bought some plastic ones too. But I kick myself all the time for making the plunge and getting more glass bottles.

Medela and Lansinoh also have BPA free bottles but they too are hard to find. This site has awesome information on BPA free baby products and companies. Evenflo and a few other companies are in the process of discontinuing their plastic bottles for BPA-free ones. I am glad that companies are willing to change their products to meet safer standards for our children. You can also call the companies whose products you use and tell them to stop using BPA!