Mother's Milk is Green

The Earth salutes Betsy Hoffmeister, a West Seattle resident and mother of two.  When Betsy talks about feeding her children local produce, she's not talking about bringing home locally grown apples in a hemp grocery bag from the farmer's market.

Betsy, a La Leche League leader, has reduced her carbon footprint by having breastfeed her two children, Isaac and Rebecca, "thus avoiding many, many years of formula feeding," she wrote to us recently.

Betsy also applies the same kind of discipline toward her laundry.  She dries her family's clothes on an indoor AND an outdoor clothesline. In rain-blessed Seattle, that's truly showing the Earth some love.

MOTHER'S MILK IS 'GREEN'

Since time immemorial, breastfeeding mothers and their infants have shared the profound benefits of this symbiotic relationship. Breast milk provides the infant with all the nutrition she needs to protect her until her immune system matures. For the mother, breastfeeding releases hormones that help her relax.

But it is only in recent years that our growing awareness of the Earth has led us to look at this oldest of bonding rituals from an environmental perspective.

Writing for Mothering magazine, freelance writer Wendy Correa called breastfeeding the "most overlooked means of contributing to the health of our planet." She characterized breastmilk as "a renewable natural resource that is the most ecologically sound food source available."

Breastfeeding can also save on health care costs.  Breastfed infants are less likely than formula-fed babies to get sick and typically require fewer doctor's visits.

The fact that a growing number of American women are beginning to breastfeed may be an indication that the message is getting out.

RECORD NUMBER OF MOTHERS BEGIN TO BREASTFEED, BUT...

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 77% or a record number of babies born in 2005-2006 were breastfed, surpassing the US government's goal of 75% for babies ever to be breastfed in 2010.

Unfortunately, not all mothers stuck to it; the rate of breastfeeding at six months of age dropped to a little more than 30%, which is below the government's 2010 goal of 50%.

Breastfeeding can be painful, difficult and frustrating. Many well-intentioned mothers who begin nursing switch to formulas out of desperation when confronted with so many obstacles -- especially when she is exhausted and all her baby wants to do is feed, feed, feed.

That's why we need persistent mothers like Betsy, and a strong support system, including organizations such as La Leche League International, so that nursing mothers can be inspired to continue breastfeeding.

BRINGING PERSPECTIVE

Consider for just a moment the hazards we can avoid by nursing our babies.  It may help put things into perspective.

            -- Artificial baby milk production contributes to deforestation and soil erosion, whether it's for cow milk- or soy-based formula.
-- Manufacturing formula contaminates the water, air (methane gas), requires transportation of raw materials and consumes energy, but that's not all.

Perhaps Betsy, who also lives with two chickens and a big vegetable garden, put it best when she said:

"Breastfeeding is green. My milk comes in the perfect container -- formula comes in cans and bottles which need to be produced and discarded. My milk is always the right temperature -- formula needs to be warmed. My milk is in cute packaging -- baby bottles are made from plastics that are shown to leach dangerous chemicals."