s/o How crunchy are you?

[Anonymous]

This isn't really my argument and I don't care if anyone else is crunchy or not, but I'll address some of these:

Most of your examples are entirely a matter of opinion as to whether or not they are cheaper and/or healthier.

Homebirth - if you have insurance, cost doesn't matter. If you have complications, your entire cost scenario is out of the window. As to healthier, my opinion (not fact) is that my blissed-out epidural was a lot healthier for me than 6 hours of agony pushing would have been.

Baby wearing - what are you saving on? Stroller? Ask your back whether this is healthier. I think that babywearing led to having less "baby containers" (swings, etc) around the house, so it may have saved some money. My back and arms have only gotten stronger after two solid years of carrying my child around, I think that's a plus

Breastfeeding - agree on both counts

Co-sleeping - again, what are you saving on? Cost of crib, sheets and laundering same? You do realize they will need to get their own bed eventually, right? As to healthier, my babe began to sleep through the night only when moved to his own room, so it was definitely healthier for me to not get up five times a night. It was cheaper to forgo the crib altogether and only buy a toddler bed from Ikea when the time came

Vegetarian - cheaper ok, not sure if healthier. Opinion not fact. Not all meats are bad, and not all vegetables are good.

Organic food cheaper, ha!

Cleaning products - "incredibly easy" is matter of opinion. Why buy and lug loads of vinegar, find containers and waste time for mixing that could have been used for napping or watching another House MD episode? Once you have bought one jug of vinegar and have a couple empty sprayers, you invest 5 whole minutes of "mixing" with water and you are good for months of cleaning spray.

I don't recycle because I can't be bothered to sort my garbage, so the easier part is not true. It's a lot easier to just have one trash can and toss everything into one container.

Having a car is entirely a matter of philosophy, I personally think it is hard to limit your life to the radius of walking distance, to have to avoid high heels and be forced to rub against random people with their germs and aromas in metro, but that's my philosophy. Don't sell opinion as fact. But you can't argue that for most people who live in a city, it is cheaper not to have a car to maintain, gas to pay for, etc.

I use both paper towels and cloth towels, and both have advantages. Cloth towels have to be laundered plus they get grotty real fast. Again, crumpling up a paper towel and tossing it into the trash can is easier than walking a gross mound of towels to the laundry room, washing and folding. Cloth is definitely cheaper, especially if your family tends to use a lot of paper towels, but I'll agree that it's not easier than paper.