The High Cost of Green Products

A reader writes The Green Guide:

I have received my print copy of the GG Top Product Picks and found it useful, but I have to say that some of its suggestions carry price tags that shock. Those whose incomes below upper middle class are not going to be able to buy these products. I understand that producing "organic" has higher costs, but if I were a young mother looking for products for my baby, I would feel very discouraged. The number of companies producing nontoxic items is growing, so perhaps in time prices will come down, but even as I send them baby gifts from Hanna Andersson and Gaiam, my nephew and his wife shop Target.

Perhaps in another issue you might point out product sources with lower price tags.

The Green Guide responds:

Thanks for your letter. We are very conscious of the high price of organic products and understand your frustration. On the one hand, our product issue is geared towards holiday shopping, a time when people are willing to pay a little more for a high quality product. On the other hand, we do want the issue to be useful to our readers year-round, so we try to find affordable, lower-priced alternatives. Sometimes these alternatives exist, and sometimes they don't. For instance, when it comes to baby clothes, it's rare to find organic cotton outfits for less than $15. To date, the least expensive organic cotton baby clothes we've found are sold by American Apparel (www.americanapparel.net), which sells t-shirts, tanks and one-pieces for $12 and up, and Maggie's Functional Organics (www.organicclothes.com), who makes unadorned one-pieces for $14. Even low-priced retailer Wal-Mart sells organic cotton baby outfits for $17 and up. The companies we feature have the additional benefit of supporting fair labor practices, something Wal-Mart can't always ensure.

But buying high-priced, brand-new eco-friendly products doesn't have to be the only option for environmentally conscious people on a budget. You might encourage your nephew and his wife to get seek out hand-me-downs, either from friends and relatives or groups like Freecycle.org. Used clothing and furniture do come with a certain stigma attached, but they're ultimately the best use of the earth's resources and healthier for their child. Cheap particleboard and composite-wood furniture sold at big-box retailers often offgas formaldehyde, which is used in glues and resins and can damage a child's health in the long run, whereas used furniture has much lower levels of formaldehyde and will pose less of a health risk. Getting involved in green living groups with an ethic for sharing, like the Holistic Mom's Network (www.holisticmoms.org), can help remove some of the stigma surrounding used goods.

We do make every effort to provide our readers with practical advice and products they can use, and we appreciate your input. Readers like you keep us on our toes and remind us to keep digging deeper to find ways around the high costs of organics.