Cloth Diapering: Part 2- Cloth Wipes

Now that you are aware of the benefits of cloth diapers, why not take the next step and make your own cloth wipes instead of buying the disposables. This is not only better for the environment, but will save you quite a bit of cash. When we travel, we use the 7th Generation (chlorine-free) wipes, which run about $5 for 80 wipes. My kiddo often has what I like to refer to as a "4-wipe diaper change", which can run you through a pack of wipes in a week or so. Cloth wipes are super easy, and since you are already washing dirty diapers, it is not any extra work.
To make your own wipes, first find some soft material. I took an old flannel sheet and cut it into small squares. Then I quickly sewed around the edge of each square to prevent fraying. You can also purchase pre-made reusable wipes at your local cloth diaper store (I actually got some for free with our last cloth diaper purchase) or you can even buy some soft baby-size washrags. Anything that is soft for baby's bum and thick enough to withstand a good wipe will work.
Next, find a tupperware to dedicate to your wipes. I like to use the ones that are about 5in x 3 in, but use what suits your needs.
Now it is time to make your own wipe solution. You will need:
-warm water- about 2 cups
-baby wash/shampoo- a couple of tablespoons
-baby oil- a couple of tablespoons
Put all the ingredients into your tupperware and voila! You are ready to go! You can either leave the cloth wipes in the solution, or dip them in when ready. I prefer to have the wipe stack separate and I usually wet half in the solution and use the other dry half to dry baby's bottom afterwards. But, experiment with what works best for you!
My family still uses disposable wipes for on-the-go, as carrying a tupperware is bulky and has the potential to leak. If you are going on short trips (ie; to run errands) you can always wet a cloth wipe or two and put in a plastic bag to bring along with you (but only if you are going to reuse that plastic bag when you are done!).
One more note-- if you buy nice, thick wipes (like 7th Generation) you can throw the used ones right in with your load of diapers. Wash them and dry them, and I have found they are good for 3-4 uses. Pin It Now!

Cloth Diapering: Part 1-Cloth Versus Disposable

There has been a long-lasting debate about whether cloth or disposable diapers have a greater impact on the environment. I have had my wee one in cloth since birth, and I am a firm believer that cloth diapers are much better for the environment, your babe and your pocketbook! I will say, however, that cloth diapers are not as absorbent as disposable, and my family has decided to use 7th Generation disposable diapers at night so that we are not awakened by middle-of-the-night leaks (sleep is very, very precious in our house). We also use disposable if we are traveling out of town by airplane, or by car for more than a few days. So, I do love having the option of disposables when I need them.
Advocates for disposable diapers say that the energy and water used to wash the diapers is more of a burden on our planet than using disposable diapers. Producing disposable diapers uses 82,000 tons of plastic and more than 200,000 trees each year in the US ALONE! The manufacturing process also uses 3.5 BILLION gallons of oil, a whole lot of water (although I was unable to find an exact amount) and produces pollution in the process. Sure, cloth diapers need to be manufactured as well, but those diapers will be used 100+ times each, as opposed to only once.
Plus, we need to look into the packaging and delivery impacts of those diapers. Each package of diapers is wrapped in plastic which must be produced (using water, oil, and producing pollution) and then must be disposed of (which means it will sit for a VERY long time in a landfill as plastics do not break down, even under perfect conditions). Then, each package of diapers must be shipped somewhere (using oil and creating pollution). Cloth diapers are normally not packaged in plastic and they are only shipped once. Then they sit at your home where they do not contribute to global warming.
But what about all of the water and detergent used to wash cloth diapers? We have a good supply of cloth (enough to last about 1 week). That means we do one load of diapers each week, using hot water, with biodegradable detergent. So, we use about 50-75 gallons of water a week to wash the diapers plus the energy used to heat the water. Some sources say the water used for laundering cloth diapers at home is the same as flushing the toilet 5-6 times per day. No one has said that we should start peeing in the trash can to save water, so why should our kiddos? When compared to the water, oil, and materials needed to manufacture, package and ship enough diapers for one week, the cloth diaper footprint is much lower.
Then there is the issue of the disposal.....18 billion disposable s are thrown into landfills each year (the 3rd largest source of waste in US landfills). Diapers don't really decompose, and just end up sitting in those landfills potentially indefinitely. Some diapers are advertised as being "biodegradable". Unfortunately, things (even biodegradable ones) just don't decompose in landfills. The lack of water and oxygen creates an environment that preserves things, even ones that would break down very quickly if exposed to the elements. For example, newspapers that have sat in landfill for 50+ years can still be as readable as on the day they were printed! So, that means those dirty diapers will just sit and be preserved in our landfills. Yummm. A present for our future generations. Technically, human waste is not legally allowed to be disposed of in municipal trash (so, yes, you are supposed to dump out that poopy diaper before you trash it). But, who actually does this? Probably very few people. So what that means is that all of those dirty diapers have a chance at contaminating groundwater supplies if the landfill they are in ever begins to leak. Human waste can carry pathogens and viruses, which can than make entire communities sick. With cloth diapers, solid wastes get treated with the sewage water and don't run the risk of contaminating groundwater and drinking water supplies!
Plus, the stuff in those disposables can be not so great for your babe. If you use regular diapers that are bleached with chlorine, they can contain dioxin, which is a known carcinogen with the potential to cause liver damage and other problems. Also, the gel stuff that makes diapers super absorbent is the same chemical that was linked to toxic shock syndrome (from tampons) in women. And for some reason, it is OK to let your baby sit in these chemicals for the first 2+ years of their life? Crazy. 7th Generation and other more eco-friendly diapers do not come with these problems, but despite the fact they are gentler on baby's health, they are still harder on the environment.
I have had friends worry that using cloth would be a hassle or messy, but once you get used to it, it is (normally) just as easy as disposables. It really is not that bad to wipe off some poop and dump it in the toilet before throwing your diaper into your diaper pail-- you have already had to clean it off baby's bum, so this is just sort of an extension of that. Plus, cloth diapers make your baby's butt look super cute, it pads them when they fall, and they say it helps to get the potty trained earlier. Finn is 17.5 months old and uses the potty several times each day!
So, if the facts are so clear, you might ask why this debate ever started in the first place. Politics my friend, politics. Corporations rule America, and this is just one more example. After Earth Day 1990, Proctor and Gamble started to see losses in disposable diaper sales (due to rising environmental awareness) and funded a study that just happened to find that cloth diapers were worse for the environment. And yes, we as consumers believed them.
To read more information on this topic check out:
http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/diapers/joy-of-cloth.html
http://www.squidoo.com/EcoFriendlyDiapers
or google your own search!
We have been clothing-it for almost 18months now, and although I am not a cloth diaper authority, I have spent some time figuring out some tricks of the trade. Sites like this are a great place to exchange helpful hints and troubleshoot your cloth diaper problems before you give up! Pin It Now!

Happy Earth Day!

Today, on Earth Day, take some time to explore the magic of nature with your child. Take a walk, dig for worms, plant some flowers or listen to birds. Teach your child to love the planet we call home. Pin It Now!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Review

I recently finished the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. This book is amazing and is a must read for anyone interested in gardening and eating local. Kingsolver, who is well known for her works of fiction (Poisonwood Bible is one of my favorites!) provides a wonderful account of a year that she spent eating VERY local- almost everything she ate was grown or raised on her own farm.
I do realize that most of us do not have the space or the time (or the skill!) to provide entirely for ourselves. However, reading this book seriously motivated me. Not only to have an awesome garden this summer, but to just be very aware of where everything I eat is coming from. I have already blogged about the importance of eating local, and this book touches on many of the points I made... with much more sophistication.
The book is interlaced with environmental factoids (from Genetically Modified Foods to carbon footprints) and has some fabulous website references for more detailed information. To top it off, this book comes with recipes for in-season cooking. I can't wait to try some of them out.
So, do yourself a favor and get your hands onto this one. You will be happy you did! For more info on the book, or to check out some of her recipes go to:
http://animalvegetablemiracle.com/
You will be on the road to eating local in no time! Pin It Now!

Adventures in Natural Egg Dyes

For Easter this year, I decided to experiment with some natural plant-based dyes. Traditional egg dye is considered to be safe, but can be made from petroleum and/or other things you probably wouldn't want to get in your body. Plus, all of the packaging that is used to wrap the dye and the pollution during production and transportation- seems like a high environmental cost to have some nice looking hardboiled eggs. I thought that there had to be a better way.
Well, let's just say that my natural egg-dying skills are still in the development stage... I did not do any internet research on natural dyes before I started, I just jumped in with some advice from a friend and my previous eating experiences!
I got some red beets thinking they would turn my eggs a wonderful magenta. It was only after letting them soak all night that I finally did a google search and found that red beets turn eggs BROWN. Who would have guessed? My tumeric experience was quite a bit better. I put a few tablespoons of tumeric, along with a few tablespoons of white vinegar in a pot of water and boiled the eggs in it. They came out a pretty fabulous yellow.
I have further heard that blueberries make a nice blue dye, red can be created by LOTS of red onion skins or red wine, LOTS of spinach make a light green and red cabbage makes a nice purple. But, I have not experimented with these myself, so don't hold me to it!
I did learn that you need a lot more of your dye- material than you think to get the color that you are probably after. Also, allow plenty of time to dry, as these natural colors will pretty much jst wipe away if you rub them while wet.
Next year I will continue the experiment, and will probably leave out the red beet inspired brown dye! Pin It Now!

Home-Sewn Spring Dress

This is a spring dress that I sewed for my niece, Harper, out of some material that I had at my house. I didn't use a pattern, but just cut out simple shapes to sew together. If I can make this, so can you!
As I have already mentioned, making things yourself greatly reduces your environmental impact... you reduce packaging and pollution AND you get the satisfaction of having created something yourself! Pin It Now!

Spring Comfort Soup

All of the ingredients for this wonderful soup should be available now (many of them will have been stored throughout the winter) at your local farmer's market. I have adapted this recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special cookbook, where you can find loads of wonderful soups.

1 cup chopped leek
1 cup chopped celery
1 tsp tarragon
2 bay leaves
3 cups peeled and chopped potatoes
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cored peeled, cored and diced apple
4 cups water
1 cup rice milk or any other dairy or non-dairy milk
2 tbl soft goat cheese
oil

saute leeks in the oil on low-medium heat for 5 minutes. Add celery, tarragon and bay leaves and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes. Add water, potatoes, carrots, and apple. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 20 minutes, making sure veggies are soft before removing from heat. Add milk and goat cheese and puree soup in a blender until smooth. Enjoy! Pin It Now!