Monday, September 8, 2008

Project Support Beauty in Nature: September

Last month, I lamented in my inabilities as a domestic engineer. This month, damn it, I am going to RAWK this "green" thing!


Evidence #1:

I did buy cloth diapers and use them!!! I should probably order a few more (we have 8) but Will's also close to potty training and I bought him some training pants while at the store the other day. Maybe we'll go that route instead.

Either way, disposable diaper usage is waaaaay down at our house and for that I am very proud! I had just bought a case of Pampers on clearance before I bought the Bum Genius's, and I use those when we're headed out of the house for long periods of time. Eventually, when they're gone, I'll resort to just the cloth diapers and training pants. (And haul the wet/dirty ones home in plastic bags. Eeew. But I love you, Earth.)

I got ours from diapers.com - they regularly offer free shipping, and if you buy six of the same color you get $3 off. This is very similar to other online stores I found, but they also regularly offer $$ off to new customers and returning customers. (I got $10 off my order of $50 or more when I first ordered the Seventh Generation diapers, then $5 off this order. I wasn't entirely sure what the discount was for, I was just happy to have it!) In fact, if you order anything from diapers.com, put in code mommywins at checkout and you'll get $10 off an order of $49 or more! They even have Halloween costumes up already, so go take a look...$10 off + free shipping = good thing.


Baby climber
Look how cute that little bum is!


Evidence #2:

I've continued to buy more Earth-friendly cleaning products. Most recently, Palmolive's phosphate free 'eco' dishwasher soap. So far, I've noticed no difference in cleanliness, so "Yay me!" for actually doing the dishes AND helping the planet at the same time.



Evidence #3:

Did y'all catch my post with the 'green' gift wrapping? I did it again for another bridal shower and it was very well received! If I can do it, then trust me - its easy enough for you to do, too!

We're also replacing the windows on our three-season porch, which will be FAR more energy efficient than the ones we used to have out there. I admit, this is being done due to necessity more than for environmental reasons (my damn brother broke one of the old windows out there while painting a few weeks ago and its expensive to replace the custom cut glass), but its nice to have positive side effects!

What are you doing to be more Eco-friendly?

For more ideas, check out Sarcastic Mom and play along with her monthly Project Support Beauty in Nature game!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Round of applause to you. I recycle a lot of stuff and use a 30 degree wash cycle most of the time. But I could never do without the disposable nappies. Not that I need them now, but if I did I couldn't.

PS where does diapers come from? I can see where we get nappies - from napkins and the way a cloth nappy is folded, but diaper????

Mindy said...

Woohoo you go girl! Going greener is not easy but the beauty of it is that every step you make makes a huge difference.

Kila said...

I bought cloth diapers... and that's as far as I got with it!

I do use non-toxic, earth-friendly cleaners.

Shannon said...

I bought the same dishwashing detergent a few weeks ago. It was actually cheaper than what I normally get. I also have noticed no difference in the cleanliness of the dishes. We recycle like crazy over here. That small blue bin from the trash people is WAY to small for a family of six, lol.

Unknown said...

I will have to look into the cost of the Palmolive. I usually use electrasol as it is the most economical.

Wineplz said...

I totally had to wiki Tismee's question about diaper:
"The word diaper originally referred to the type of cloth rather than its use ; "diaper" was the term for a pattern of small repeated geometric shapes, and later came to describe a white cotton or linen fabric with this pattern."

sorry...total nerd moment but once she asked I was curious, too.

So I recycle (often an uphill battle with my hubby the Earth-hater), I've started using earth-friendly cleaning products, some earth-friendly stuff is still a bit out of my budget, but thankfully they are slowly coming down in price. So where I can buy them, I do (especially on sale or with coupon, etc). Unfortunately I cannot do the cloth diapers. Daycare frowns on that kind of thing (health codes and such), and really, who wants to take home a gigantic bag of 8 pee/poopie diapers? I'd buy the "green" diapers but again, waaaaay too expensive for our budget right now. :( I wish Pampers or Huggies would get on the Green Train and start making Earth-friendly disposables.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for that Colleen - saved me doing it anyway! You learn something new everyday!

Anonymous said...

Great post! I LOVE 1800diapers. Aren't they great? I don't use cloth diapers, (hangs her head in shame) but I do use the Nature Friendly brand that are eco friendly. Also, use only eco friendly cleaning products or my own homemade vinegar solution. Ooh, also only wash the clothes in the cold cycle and we recycle quite a bit.