Eco equals expensive...?

How many times have you been in a store and walked by a display of "ecofriendly" or "organic" products and wondered if they are really worth the price? They all cost more than your normal brands, and it's hard to be sure if they really are more ecofriendly than your regular products. How can you balance your desire for being better to the environment with your desire to stay on a budget? Here's how.

First, you need to prioritize what you are willing to pay more for. This varies from person to person. My family, for example, buys organic for most of my son's food. We get organic milk, oatmeal, crackers, and mac and cheese. We made these decisions after reading a lot of articles about hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics, and decided that these were the best items to insist on organic. When it comes to cleaners, we've bought everything organic/ecofriendly since before our son was born.

Next, how do you know what brands are best for you? You need to do research. I know, more work, but it is worth it in the end. With food, we researched the different organic standards and check the products we buy for what organic standards they meet. With ecofriendly cleaners, it gets a bit trickier. CHECK YOUR INGREDIENTS!!!! This is where you can get tricked by some of the companies. You shouldn't be able to find anything that is related to a petrochemical in the product. Some companies say that their products are ecofriendly, but really all they did was manufacture it with solar or wind power, or they use a higher recycled content container, and they charge you more because it is the ecofriendly alternative of their products. This is known as "green washing".

Now comes the savings. Once you have decided on the standards you are going to insist upon go shopping. See what brands are available in your area. More and more stores are starting their own store brand organic lines. In our area, that is Meijer and Kroger. We've found that while they are still more expensive than the regular food products, they are less expensive than the name brands, plus you can really save when they have store brand sales. Create your list of brands, and then make a list of prices of these items at each store you shop at. It's tedious at first, but you will soon know who has the best prices on what items, and (better yet) when a sale is really a good deal. Now, go home and go to the website for any name brand organic/ecofriendly products you saw and liked and sign up for their e-mail lists. Most of these companies will have printable coupons, and a few snail mail coupons. Also, if you are on their e-mail list, some will have specials if you buy directly from their website. Our favorite organic mac and cheese, Annie's Homegrown, sometimes has case sales on their website. Compare your local unit price to the unit price for the case, you may be able to save some big bucks.

I know, there are so many other organic/ecofriendly areas that I didn't cover, like clothes, sheets, and appliances. It depends on your priority levels. You can find good deals, but you have to keep in perspective the pricing. Remember, there are a lot of standards that have to be met to get certified. This tends to mean that the raw materials are in a more limited supply, and cost more to produce. I have found some product tend to be better made because of this, but again, it depends on the manufacturer. Check customer reviews to see if others have found the lifespan of the product balances out the added expense.

It's a tough balance, but you will find your level. It took us a while to figure out what products really worked, were ecofriendly, were a tasty organic alternative, and the company was as responsible as their products. Start small, make a change a month, and just keep what works. Don't drive yourself crazy, just have some fun exploring your eco-alternatives. Let me know what you find!