Why is it products that are "green" or "natural" or "ecofriendly" are more expensive than other kids?

Question

Slowly but surely I'm trying to use as many ecofriendly/green products as much as possible in my life. Sometimes though, I'm really discouraged by how expensive they are, especially with things like rising food/gas/etc. prices. Is it because they know people want these types of products? I would have thought chemically produced products would require more processing and therefore would make them more expensive. I guess unless it's because they come from cheaply produced mass production which can also make them unsafe...

Answer 1

Numerous reasons.

1. Green products take into account all the costs of production. A product that creates alot of pollution may be cheaper monetarily, but it doesn't take into the costs associated with production.

2. Environmentally sustainable companies are usually smaller and do not have the advantage of an economy of scale.

3. Environmentally sustainable products tend to be produced locally or at least by people being paid a living wage, rather than by a sweat shop worker making poverty wages. This raises prices

4. Finally, environmentally sustainable products are not federally subsidized like many "cheap" products are. The true cost of things like fast food is much higher than it is due to farm and petroleum industry subsidies.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

DOn't know about all, but I just read about this one. You know the new light blubs that look curly-Q like a pig's tail and are supposed to use less energy - they have a dangerous amount of mercury in them and so some eco-friendly stores will raise the price to cover the cost of recycling them. It's the price we pay - the world we have put ourselves in.

Answer 4

Wait...you buy KIDS!?!?!?!?!?!?!? what kind of sick person ARE you? FREAK!!!

Answer 5

It takes longer to produce, lower volume production means higher overhead costs and extra effort to find all natural ingredients.

Answer 6

Welcome to the global warming fraud!!

Answer 7

it's because of the expenses it takes to make the food etc. etc they have to follow certaint guide line and rules in order for it to be cerytified natural otganic etc.

Answer 8

Sadly it comes down to supply and demand, I'm sure. Green is still a niche market, so it is harder to mass produce green products and get them sold in an efficient manner, and these factories are smaller, with more overhead per unit to sell them. Where a regular company may be a BIG business (with the ability to buy massive amounts of cheaper ingredients at a discount), a green company is likely to be a SMALL business having to go out of their way to find the right stuff, to research it for you, to formulate things. PLUS green companies don't tend to take shortcuts with their ingredients. So you do get the best.

One thing you can do, particularly in the area of cleaning products...is make your own. They are DIRT cheap and SO green.

Look up the recipes, they are readily available.

Clorox, if you want to support them, has a new formula of green cleaners. And there is simple green. CHEAP and available even at dollar stores.

I mainly have given examples related to cleaning but it's the same everywhere. They want to give you better for the money, and produce it in a responsible way...and they are selling to fewer people so the price will be higher per consumer.

When more people get on the green bandwagon, and demand the big guys to use their big companies to make green products, everything will be cheaper. Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think it's only a matter of time.

Answer 9

Yeah, I noticed that ecofriendly children are more expensive than others too.

Answer 10

Are you getting the idea?   These con jobs always make money for certain people.

Answer 11

See economics 101 under "economy of scale".  The more you make of one thing, the cheaper it is to sell, up to a point depending on the product.  With cars it is about 100,000 cars max.  With computer software there is no maximum.

It takes the same amount of engineering, regulatory hassles, advertising, etc. ("sunk costs") to market Tide detergent to the world as it is to market eco-toothpaste to 100,000 people.  The sunk costs get spread over a larger number of units, hence the best selling stuff can often be the cheapest or close.

You are correct in observing there is a mark-up for eco/green, so people can assuage their guilt about raping the planet in their normal lifestyle.

Practically speaking, buying the cheapest stuff, not driving or flying, and using as little energy as possible is as green and eco-friendly as anyone can get.

Answer 12

It's because the only reason people use chemicals is to make things cheaper and make more people buy them.

(Ask yourself why would they purposefully use chemicals just for the heck of it?)

The green products are completely natural and that's why they cost more.