It costs more to buy "ethical" baby products

Nice post. I buy green for most of my daughter's necessities. Another way that goes hand in hand with being green, and that could easily lessen the cost as well, is to USE less things in general. We watch our consumption of things like bath products, and we always recycle what we can, which is easy for us since we just throw recycleables into a bin and put it at the curb every Tuesday. We only buy the organic food that is prone to more pesticide exposure, and buy from our farmer's markets to help the local economy. We use cloth diapers on our infant and happen to LOVE it. It's not a matter of being lazy - it's actually very easy to use cloth, and sooooooo much cheaper! It seems daunting, but after you take the initial plunge it's quite easy. Take it from us, living green need not be difficult!

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Kristin,
I am sure as those of us that choose to buy organic food for our children increase in number, the price will come down.

For now, Nolan is very fortunate to have a mom that pays a little more for his long-term health! Someday he will know how lucky he is! Lynne

Lynne Eldridge M.D.
Author, "Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time"
http://www.avoidcancernow.com

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I saw this report too -- and I was also struck by the inappropriate use of the word 'ethical' rather than environmentally conscious. I also thought it was amusing that the owner of the 'ethical', environmentally friendly baby shop more or less came straight out and said he was making a big profit off 'those people' (he meant 'rich') who shopped there. With a 33% or more mark-up on 'unethical' products, we've a long way to go before average earners, especially in the UK, can afford to use these services.

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I don't know about organic agriculture. But I do know something about organic milk. It takes seven years to convert a farm to an organic dairy farm from a standard one. That means that supply is not able to keep up with demand at this point. Especially with demand increasing as quickly as it has been. So I would actually expect prices to continue to rise.

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I've found that by combining environmentally-friendly products with environmentally-friendly and healthy behaviors, I actually spend less than my more conventional friends. A lot less.

However, I admit that I don't buy organic clothing. The cost difference is too much and I'm not convinced the benefit is that great. On the other hand, I buy only cotton clothes and leather shoes (except for the rare purchases of suits and nylons for business meetings), and use them until they are nearly falling apart, at which time I donate them to benefit someone whose own clothes have already fallen apart. So I guess I get some green points for that, or at least not too many demerits.

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I agree with silver. When demand goes up, so do prices. It's when SUPPLY goes up that prices come down.

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Jumping a lot between the US and the UK I actually find organic and fair trade stuff less expensive in the UK. In my experience there is a much greater mark up in the US. I always put this down to there being a bigger demand in the UK.

Basics, especially, like organic dairy products and eco-nappies, run at a much lower price in the UK.

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