As I was breastfeeding my toddler for what felt like the umpteenth time yesterday, I started to try to think about the postive aspects of nursing forever and ever amen. This is what I am going to try to focus on instead of trying to figure out why this baby just does not want to be weaned. (Her favourite thing seems to be chanting ”na na na na” while trying to jump onto my chest from the floor.)
Here are five reasons breastfeeding is good for the planet:
1. It produces no garbage.
2. It doesn’t have to be shipped from a factory, burning fossil fuels and creating greenhouse gases.
3. It doesn’t require the production of bottles, bottle liners, nipples, or formula containers.
4. Breast milk is a renewable resource.
5. It requires no energy (except for what the mother’s body uses to make all that milk, but hey all those calories burned by breastfeeding help that pregnancy weight come off!)
I feel like I’ve been nursing a baby forever — well, for a good part of the last eight years anyway. Since my first baby was born, I’ve noticed that more and more women breastfeed, and they do it publicly without having to drape themselves in sheets and blankets to hide what they’re doing. Although my hairdresser still tries to get me to go into a different room to nurse the baby if she wants a snack while I’m getting a haircut. It seems some of the older customers aren’t so into breastfeeding in public.
This week, a Montreal neighborhood began handing out stickers to local businesses that welcome breastfeeding mothers. I hope that means an end to places that expect women to nurse their babies in the bathroom. How gross is that?
You can read more about the new stickers — like the image you see above — in a story from La Presse here.
