Go Green Baby! Save Green Mommy!

Going green doesn't cost more! Sometimes it costs a lot less...and when you make things yourself, from laundry detergent to baby wipes, you can be sure to avoid the questionable chemicals that might put baby at risk.

Here's 5 ways to go green and save green with a little one:

1. Breastfeed if you can. Your breastmilk is the perfect food for your baby. It's also by far the least expensive. Added benefit? You might be able to quit the gym—it's a great way to naturally lose that baby weight without dieting. Why pay for what your body is making free? Plus mom?s breasts are always BPA free.

2. Clean green by making your own cleaning products. Baking soda is a great tub and toilet scrub. White vinegar (one part to two parts water) is the best all purpose and glass cleaner there is! (Don't use on marble though, it'll stain). Olive oil will get wood gleaming and clean.

3. Choose cloth diapers: 30 to 50 million disposables go into landfills in the United States each year. SAP (Super Absorbent Polymers), the gel that's inside of standard disposables and even some greener options, may be contributing to lower sperm count in adult males. Babies who are cloth diapered 'graduate' to the toilet much faster, plus you'll save a wad of cash.

4. Forget Baby Wipes: No need to go crazy with a chemical concoction for baby's sensitive skin. Commercial baby wipes are great—for getting rust off your car (I have actually tried it with great success) but way too strong for most babies tender tushies, and may even cause diaper rash. A simple solution of water with a drop of lavender oil will do fine. Use cotton balls or pull apart an old sheet and launder along with the cloth diapers to be really frugal and green.

5. Purchase organic cotton clothing—and pass it on. Organic cotton may cost a little more, but it's finished naturally, without any of the chemicals that later wash away and strip the life out of a garment, so what you buy is what you get, and keep. Plus, conventional cotton is one of the most pesticide laden crops in the world, so you're keeping farmers families safer, and your kids future cleaner as well.

Lynda Fassa is Planet Green's babies and family expert. She's the founder of Green Babies organic cotton baby clothes and the author of Green Babies, Sage Moms: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Your Organic Baby, and the forthcoming Green Kids, Sage Families: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Your Organic Family, both from Penguin NAL. Read her previous posts here. Green Babies is a registered trademark of Green Babies Inc.