Amy over at Crunchy Domestic Goddess has issued a new challenge for Sept/Oct 2008 – ditch the disposables! she’s urging us to think about simple, every day things that we could change. Things like using cloth napkins instead of paper, using your kitchen dishes instead of paper/styrofoam, switching to cloth diapers if dipes are still part of your world… there are several other ideas that you can find on her blog.
personally i’m taking up the challenge in a couple of ways that i’ll start in the coming weeks, one of which is making some cloth napkins for us to use at mealtimes.
Cyndi
Anyone who switches to cloth diapers are very brave. I tried, but failed. Three kids less then a year apart in age….well lest just say it wouldn’t have been a pretty sight (and I am not talking about the diapers!)
Kate
I’ve actually been giving this a lot of thought in recent times. A couple weeks ago we started using cloth diapers on Aidan while we’re home, and disposable only when we go out (he’ll be in disposables at preschool). I was seriously shocked by (A) how easy they actually are to use and care for and (B) how well they work. He is a super-soaker and he routinely soaked through his Huggies Overnites, necessitating stripping of sheets etc in the middle of the night…always fun. Since switching to cloth, he hasn’t had one leak. We spent about $80 for our toddler-size stash, and its enough to go about 2 1/2 – 3 days between washings, although I do the load of diapers every other day. Pretty crazy when you figure that his size 6 diapers cost about .40-.50 per diaper. I really wish I had looked into cloth when he was a baby instead of waiting until he’s 3, but better late than never….and we will definitely be cloth diapering the next baby.
The other thing I started doing more of is using rags instead of disinfecting wipes or paper towels for cleaning. I just cut up a few of Kev’s old 100% cotton undershirts and they work great.
A few other easy changes we made….
*reusable grocery shopping bags…Hannaford (and probably other stores) give you a .05 discount per bag on your groceries if you bring these
*reusable/washable coffee filter….or at least use the unbleached paper kind….bleach in coffee mmmmmmmmmmmm
*Buying most of Aidan’s clothes and other things used. I recently bought him 5 pairs of pants on ebay. Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Old Navy, Gymboree. They look practically new, and including shipping cost about $15. I also love consignment sales. Also most of his toys, puzzles and books are yard sale. All in great shape.
*A HUGE amount of our furnishings and other stuff is second hand/yard sale, some of which I refinished myself, some of which I didn’t need to. You’d never know which was which unless I showed you.
Its been really interested learning more about all this…it saves a lot of money, but also a ton of landfill space. Pretty much win-win when you think about it. 🙂
Amber
Not sure about the diapers (I’ve looked into it and at this stage in the game it’s still up in the air), but I’ve been wanting to cut back in other ways (already do the grocery bags, used clothes, etc.) like the napkins/paper towels. As it is, we tear everything in half before we use them, but I still feel so guilty about just wiping something and then throwing it away. And baby wipes too (maybe that can be my test before going to the disposable diapers!). So thanks for the reminder! Going to work on that!
Penny
I’m still thinking about what else I can do since I already do most of her suggestions! LOL!
Kerry
Great idea… but ugh… more laundry 🙁 Precisely why I avoided cloth diapers 🙂
Seems everything is ready made and disposable!
AussieMaz
We were going through a lot of paper serviettes/napkins and I realised it wasn’t necessary. I went to the op shop (2nd hand store) and found sets of preloved cloth napkins. They cost me about 50cents each. Took them home, soaked them, and now we use them all the time. I have about 20 of them.
Angie
hmmm.. I should look around here and see what else we can do as well. Thanks for the nudge.
Nikki
I’ve actually just started saving all my canning jars and saving leftovers in them. I even washed and saved a spaghetti sauce jar a couple weeks ago. I think it has homemade applesauce in it right now:-)