Other Green Ways To Save Some Green
Breastfeeding is cheap and if you think about it, it is better for the environment. No washing a million bottles and using all that water, no empty formula containers to get rid of nor wasting trees to make formula labels, not to mention all the waste from medicine not needed by breastfed babies, etc etc.
Anyway, the past few months I started thinking about all the stuff we use and how much waste we go through. I try to remind my kids (and fiance) to shut off lights and not to waste water and I recycle until I am blue in the face. What else could I do to do my part in saving the environment?
So I have slowly started doing things to help. With this baby I am going to use cloth diapers. Not only are they a lot better for the environment, but I am so excited about all the money I will be saving. Yes, they are a little more expensive at first but I know how much diapers cost. Plus, my oldest just stopped wearing pull ups to bed a few months ago at age 6 and my youngest just stopped wearing diapers to bed at age 4. I have heard that cloth diapers make potty training easier and quicker. I am hoping that this baby will stop wetting the bed daily by 3. I will be saving hundreds of dollars!! This is the biggest motivation for me to use cloth diapers. While I am at it, I am going to use cloth wipes and wash cloths. More money I won’t have to spend!
Another thing we’re doing is using cloth napkins and trying not to use paper towels as much. First, I must say we still use more paper towels then I would like. I am going to try and use more rags and less paper towels, it’s just they are so convient and less wash…I know, I should not make excuses. We use one roll every week and a half or so. The only reason it is so much is because I clean with them. If I make myself use rags….yeah I really have to start.
As for the cloth napkins, I realized how much we were paying for napkins and I was shocked. Paper napkins are good for one use and then they’re done. A lot of times, we would need more then one napkin depending on the meal. So, no more. I got some cloth napkins and we use them until they are dirty. To avoid some of the yuck factor, I took foam letters and glues them onto pins. When we get a clean napkin, we put our pin on it. After a meal, the napkins still clean enough to use but not fresh, go into a black container. There is a white container I use for the clean napkins. I use those desk stacker bins available at Walmart. Anyway, this allows us to save trees and water. You could use foam shapes but in this house, it would just give my kids one more thing to argue about. (Yes, they have to switch days of who gets to use a pink cup)
Other ways that I do my part include trying to use my clothes line instead of my dryer, using reusable containers and a cloth napkin in my daughter’s lunch, and only allowing my kids one cup and one plate per day. After a meal or in switching drinks, I will wash the plate and cups out and let them dry. This is their plate for the entire day and then at the end of the day it will be washed.
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October 20, 2008
1:51 am
You make some great points about simple ways to go green. These days it is so easy to make excuses or think that you cannot make a difference. But that is not true. It is the little changes that you suggest that all add up to making a difference.
The funny thing is, that you get an added benefit in that most of these changes end up saving you money too.
I have found that if you start making these changes a simple habit, they become second nature.
Thank you for your advice/suggestions.