All the moms that have ever or will ever breastfeed have a lot to be proud of including treading a little more lightly on our planet. Breastfeeding is not only great for mother and baby but also for mother earth!

The use of formula makes a huge negative impact on the planet by consuming energy, taking up space in landfills as well as polluting the air, water and ground. The production of formula uses hundreds of resources to create the final product including paper, metal, ink, pesticides, land, fertilizers, animals, water, fuel, crops, etc.

Feeding a baby formula costs about 2,000 USD annually. That equals a lot of packaging and cans that must be recycled (hopefully) or ends up in a landfill. Additionally bottles, nipples, liners etc. are not reusable. I don’t think many mothers would feel comfortable buying used feeding equipment at a yard sale or on EBay! So these things all add up to a ton of unnecessary waste which is not a burden placed on the shoulders of breastfeeding mothers.

Breastfeeding is also kinder to animals. Image that you have just had a baby and as soon as your milk has come in, you are separated and hooked up to a gigantic, probably uncomfortable breast pump. In addition, you do not get to graze in a field or breathe fresh air for more than an hour a day if you are lucky. This is the plight of dairy cows that reside in cruel factory farms that supply milk for infant formula. Beside the horrific abuse that animals suffer, factory farms are responsible for a great deal of environmental degradation. Soy based formulas are also often the product of industrial agriculture.

Breastfeeding is a natural sustainable resource and no doubt the best infant food in the world. It does not require the use of fertilizers or pesticides, growth hormones or antibiotics which would ultimately be passed along to baby.

Breastfeeding mothers are also helping to decrease global warming by not supporting the formula industry. The transport of formula through vehicles as well as the energy required for manufacture, involves burning unsustainable amounts of fossil fuels that contribute to air pollution and global warming.

Many women are scared to breastfeed their children due to the fear that environmental contaminants present in all of our bodies will be passed through breast milk to their infants. While research indicates that in fact the build up of chemicals found in the body are expelled in breast milk, professional consensus is that breastfeeding is still the best infant food. It is ironic that the fear of chemicals drives many away from breastfeeding while formula production (which also contains contaminants) creates the very toxins we are trying to avoid.

For more information about chemicals in breast milk read Tainted Milk by Maia Boswell-Penc. You can read my review here