Our family is growing in many ways... Growing in numbers, knowledge, parenting skills, growing in love, in our faith, growing our culinary skills (if you can call it that), growing without gluten (some of us), growing green...........
Showing posts with label green. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green. Show all posts

Monday, October 17, 2011

Green Polka Dot Box (And how to get a FREE membership!)


I just wanted to let you all know about something I recently found out about that I think some of you might be interested in. I'm pretty excited about it myself! I know some folks live in areas where health food stores are hard to come by (or are simply nonexistent), making your food choices limited if you're searching for certain foods that convential chains might not typically carry. Some of you might be interested even if you are near good health food stores because the prices can be high for some of the foods you want/need to purchase. I've got great news for all of you! :)

There is a new "membership discount" store that is opening up in just a week or so, and if you get in now, you can actually get a one-year membership for free this year. Think Sams Club, Costco, BJ's (whatever is in your area)...except that the focus of this store is organic, whole foods! It's called Green Polka Dot Box. As far as I know, this is the first store like this. I've even been wondering when something like this would get going and am surprised it's taken so long, but...at least it's starting now. This is actually just one store at the moment, located in Utah, but you will be able to order online, as well, with good shipping prices (and free for orders over $150). I know when we go to BJ's we can TOO easily spend over $100 at a time, since you're buying in bulk (even with the discount prices). Same would go for here, I'm sure - buying in bulk you can easily spend that much a couple times a year but come away with some really good savings.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Blogging for Change - Blog Action Day '09: Climate Change

Today I am blogging for Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change. What does that mean? Thousands of bloggers everywhere are blogging about the same issue on the same day, writing based on our individual interests/knowledge/experiences/etc. Learn more about it all here.



My take isn't going to be an in depth discussion about something complicated. No, I think in order for many of us to get involved, things need to be simple, easy. So....in light of that, I want to post on the many different EASY ways to get involved. Lots of little things that can add up to make a big difference. That's how I started...with one little change here and there. Before I realized, we had made MANY changes. I thought I would share some of those little changes for those interested. Please comment with your own to add. I'll try to keep it short and sweet by listing the things we do.

First of all, cleaners are easy to start with... Keep those toxic, bad-for-the-environment as well as bad-for-your home/children/etc. out of your home. It's easy to get non-toxic, biodegradable cleaners that work and work well. I'll share some things we do/use. Some of the things listed might make you wonder what they have to do with the climate...but think in terms of packaging, transportation, waste, etc...

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Homemade green cleaner. This is our go-to cleaner. It is so easy and quick to make; you probably have the ingredients in your home already; and it works so well. Many have told me how much they love this after passing on the recipe. Recipe here.

Biokleen Bac Out. This is the best stain remover I have ever used. I've used it on carpet stains in our old aparment -stains that were there before we moved in and remained there after being professionally cleaned. I put this stuff on and followed the directions, which said to let sit for 5 minutes and blot out. I didn't think it would work, but thought this was a good test. Ummm...totally came out. I've gotten out berries, tomatoes rubbed into clothes by a baby, and so much that otherwise would have never came out. You can even use this with cloth diapers. This stuff works - without scrubbing. You can get it at Kroger's, Whole Foods, many other places.

Dr. Bronner's Soap. What a cleaner this stuff is!!! You can do so much with this stuff - from washing hands, cleaning clothes, household cleaning, body wash, even use it as a toothpaste. Now - I have not personally used it for anything other than cleaning in my house, but I have heard of others who have used it for all of these things. It cuts through it all. We use it to clean the tub by mixing it with a little baking soda to make a paste. You don't ever have to scrub - rub it all over, wait a while, then wipe it off...sparkling clean. You can get this in all sorts of scents. I like citrus. We get ours at Whole Foods. I've heard it's at Target near the makeup aisles.

Baking Soda & Vinegar. These two cleaners can take care of most of your household needs. Really, they can. You can even unclog drains with these two and some boiling water. Try it. No need for those highly toxic cleaners to do that. There is so much you can do with these, I won't even bother going into detail. Try a simple google search - you'll find more than you need to know!

You'd be surprised at what you can use to naturally get rid of pests, too. Any time a single ant has come around, we've used my homemade cleaner to keep the area super, super clean. It works well because it has borax in it. We also sprinkle borax around the area they are coming in - and they stop! They hate that stuff. Here in NC, we can get some really huge spiders in our home. Spiders scare the crap out of me. A friend suggested this to get them out, and it works. Plus, it's fun for the older kids - Camden immediately wanted to use it outside to see spiders and other bugs. No need for a spray in the home, which I wouldn't want around the kiddos.

Green Clean. This is a great book, taking on each room in the house and telling easy ways you can clean your home using green methods. The book itself is waterproof and stain-resistant. Throw it in with all your cleaning products and always have it on hand.

Laundry - We use Country Save, a great biodegradable laundry detergent. Works great, doesn't have ingredients that might irritate those with sensitive skin (e.g. someone with eczema, like some in our family). It's even a top one recommended for cloth diapers. Instead of fabric softener in the dryer, we use dryer balls. Do you know about all the stuff that is found in laundry detergent and softeners...stuff that stays on your clothes. Read up on it sometime. You might want to switch, too. If you really don't want to give up fabric softener, I've heard Ecover is great and can even be used with cloth diapers.

Dishes - We recently made the switch to ecofriendly dish detergent for both handwashing and in the diswasher. We use Ecover. I looked into this a lot before settling on a brand to try, after hearing negative reviews about many brands (from what I've heard, Seventh Generation is not a great one...just fyi). Ecover consistently had wonderful reviews. Even skeptical Ryan admitted - after the very first use in the dishwasher - that the dishes came out CLEANER than they ever had before, even with something like Cascade. We also use the Ecover soap for handwashing dishes, and they both work really well.

Get some of these for your liquid hand soap. Foamers make the soap last longer, which is nice for you and your pocket book, but they also help keep extra plastic bottles from being used, keeping more of them out of the landfills. They also keep the kiddos from using too much - and the foam makes washing hands a bit more fun and easy (and less messy). You can actually put other kinds of soaps in them, as well - for the shower or other areas in the home. And get those big bags to refill soap bottles...and these will save even more money, plastic bottles, and last quite a long time.

If your neighborhood collects recycling, then there you go. No reason not to join in. It's been made easy for you - simply put the reyclable items in the garbage can for those items instead of the other can. If your neighborhood doesn't collect recycling, like our old apartment complex, you can get containers to collect them and then take them to the recycling center once a week. Sound like tough work? It's not. Really. This is what we used to separate our recycling when we lived in the apartment. There are three different bins that stack and open easily to toss things in. To take them, simply put each container in the car, and drive it on over to the center. Easy peasy. (I can't stand that phrase, but it's true.)

Biodegradable garbage bags?? Yes, there is such a thing. These are great! Order them with the amazon.com's subscribe and save to get free shipping and a discount. When you recycle, you end up with lots less garbage to toss, so the tiny extra cost for these bags aren't even noticeable.

Speaking of bags, get some of those reusable ones for your groceries. Everywhere sells them, usually for 99 cents or so. I like the ones from Whole Foods that are made from other recycled plastic bags. And in case you always forget them, put one of these in your car/purse/diaper bag (that's where my extra is). We put the bags in a location we will see when on our way out the door - and a couple left in the car, too. After a while, it becomes second nature. And keep in mind, this doesn't just go for groceries...but any kind of shopping!

Ok, getting kind of personal here... But for the ladies, try using the Diva Cup instead of tampons/pads. Why? None of the chemicals/bleaching agents (yes, those are in tampons/pads...which go where?! Exactly...), they're reusable (not gross - you clean them, duh), and save a TON of money and keep a TON of tampons/pads from landfills (which IS totally gross...think about it!). Find out more info here. Please try it. You'll never look back.

In line with that, check this facial cleansing method out, too. I've been doing this since I first became pregnant with Aiden. Save $$, do good for your face, improve your skin quality, quit using harsh cleansers that aren't good for you anyway, and reduce waste (get rid of many other items you use with this one method). Try it for a month and then see what you think. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Groceries... Buy local and organic when you can. Why? Save the earth from some of that fuel. Support local sources. And help keep some of those pesticides from being used - from the earth and from the food that goes into your mouth. When you can't do both...try to decide which is more important. Check out this site to see what the Dirty Dozen are (the top foods to buy organic b/c they are most affected by those nasty pesticides) and the Clean 15, those lowest in pesticides. Try to buy the Dirty Dozen foods organic when possible. Have a local farmer's market - visit it!! You'll get fresher items at a great price. (But not always organic, so decide which is more important.)

Diapers - go cloth. It's easier than you probably think. And there are so many styles and types available! I assure you, these are not the cloth diapers your mama (or grandmother or greatgrandmother...) used. Not ready for that kind of leap? Try gdiapers. Biodegradable insert, non-plastic liners, no chemicals or bleaching agents (yes, those are in disposable diapers...the part that goes against babies bum)...better for baby and the earth. Can't lose there. We actually use cloth liners in our gdiapers. It's a great method b/c we can switch to the flushable inserts if we need to for some reason, which doesn't happen often but it a nice option to have. Another thing you can do...use cloth wipes. We add our own soap solution to help clean baby's bum, but you can just use water. Disposable wipes include fragrances and other ingredients that can actually irritate, while we choose what we use with the cloth. And cloth is super cheap.

Outside, we use recycled rubber mulch in our flower bed. Sure, it may cost a bit more upfront than other store bought mulches, but it doesn't need to be replaced as often, so it lasts much longer. The color doesn't fade. It's ecofriendly and looks great!

Paper towels. We still use them some but barely. We reuse washcloths and towels. Easy.

Food - buy in bulk instead of smaller packaging. Instead of getting individually packaged items, like snack pouches, juice boxes, small yogurts, water bottles...buy those in larger quantities and divide them up in reusable containers, especially when packing a lunch, like both Camden and Ryan do each day. Not only will that save money, but it keeps the extra packaging from the landfills. Also...cook! Buying less premade foods, prepackaged, and processed foods is less costly, better for you, and better for the environment.

Baby food - make your own! Not only is it very healthy, and you get to have complete control over what you feed your little one, but there are many benefits. You can use all organic foods and still pay less than buying already made baby foods. You have fresher food. Many think babies that eat homemade baby food eat a better variety and aren't as picky, as well. That's been true for us (and I have my first child that was fed baby food to compare, too). You don't have to deal with all those little jars/plastic containers, as well. Your baby, your pocketbook, and the earth will thank you. You don't need those books with fancy "recipes." Just steam and puree or mash. Some foods..you just mash. ;) Here is a great website for tips; we used this site a lot.

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I know there are more things we do. Some of it has become second nature at this point. Little things here and there easily become habit. Now it's your turn.... Please share some things you do, little or big! And then be sure to head on over to these sites to check out more about climate change.

EPA - http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/

We Add Up - enter the huge giveaway that includes tons of awesome prizes... http://www.weaddup.com/climategiveaway

Blog Action Day - find other blog posts and learn what BAD '09 is all about http://www.blogactionday.org/

Looking forward to seeing your comments and tips!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Friday Fill-Ins

Here is this week's Friday Fill-Ins. My answers are in bold. Happy Weekend, everyone!

1. Join me in wishing Ryan a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. It's on Saturday.

2. Put a little green in your day! Did you know that Earth Day is coming up soon? Next week! Maybe it's time to rethink what you do to help out - or what more you can do. :)

3. Happiness is a choice. You don't buy it. It's not given to you. You can't blame others if you don't have it. It's your own choice to be happy or not.

4. Dazed and confused was my first cd ever. And I still have it. That and the movie - on TAPE. Yep, that's right.

5. I'm waiting for some news. Once I get it, I can finally share. ;) Hopefully it should be really soon.

6. Sleeping in is hard to resist. Very hard. It's almost impossible for me. Even on those days I really plan on getting up early - or even on time...once morning gets here, sleep is just more tempting than anything else.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to no plans, actually - and that's kind of nice, tomorrow my plans include wishing my baby (as in my hubby) a happy birthday (we don't do gifts - but I'll try to think of something nice, aside from the cake I already made him) - and thinking of my friend, Kathy...she's getting MARRIED (but we can't be there b/c of the distance), and Sunday, I want to sit down and watch Desperate with Ryan and relax a bit because even though our weekend seems calm so far, it always ends up being crazy and not at all a break from the week!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

gDiapers Giveaway WINNER

Winner is #7 - Paul, who said his favorite part of gdiapers was the flushable aspect. Congrats!! I've emailed Paul and will give him a couple days to respond! :)

Thanks for playing folks!!

I should be getting more great coupons and other g-things soon... So perhaps other giveaways are in the future!

Friday, February 27, 2009

I'm a "Green & Clean Mom" and More!!

I recently discovered this new website on a fellow blogger's page - Green & Clean Mom. It's where "being 'green' can be sexy, sassy, and fun!" ;) It's a place to share tips on being "green" and what have you, just as the title suggest (well, outright says). They have a feature blogger for each day, and *I* am now doing the feature blogs for Fridays. Whoo-hoo!

Today was my first, and I blogged about the green cleaner that I recently mentioned on here. This stuff is awesome, and I love to share it. Anybody that has ever made it has liked it, from what I have been told. (I seriously doubt anybody would lie about being excited and impressed by a homemade all-purpose cleaner...)

Here is the website if you want to check it out. Just scroll down a tiny bit, and you will see my pic and my feature blog!

I have some ideas for future posts there, but I'm looking for more! It has to deal with being "green," obviously. Any ideas? Anything you want me to research some? Let me have it!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Stainless Steel Straws?

Yep, that's right... I came across these mentioned in an email earlier today. Something I hadn't seen before. Thought it was kind of interesting.

Now you can buy these (4 for $9.49) and not add any more little plastic straws to the landfills.

Well, except for the ones you use in restaurants. Oh - except for the ones at Ted's Montana Grill - their straws are made from paper (according to their website - Ted's is 99% plastic free!! How 'bout that?!). Ted's is also nice to nursing moms - at least the one we've been to in Durham was.

Not sure if WE would really go this route - b/c we really don't use straws much. But -eh- who knows. Maybe. Especially once there are more kiddos milling around... ;) There were lots of other kinds of reusable ones, too (such as glass and bamboo). Just search at amazon. If you're interested.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

gDiapers on SALE!!!

For you gdiaper users (and those considering them!), gdiapers has a sale on solid gpants going on right now! 20% OFF!!! This is a great deal, and I haven't seen them on sale like this before.

Hurry and place your orders b/c they are definitely going quickly!

I got the news yesterday and put in my order for four pants in large (we certainly need no more at the moment, but we're stocking up in the next size), and one color was already sold out just from orders placed that day.

The sale is only good now through Feb 13th!

gdiapers.com - Hurry!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Green Cleaner

A friend recently asked for the recipe to the green all-purpose cleaner I use, and others I have shared it with have really liked it, so I thought I would share with my blogger friends. I got this recipe when I lived in the Ecovillage at Berea College, and I have been making it ever since. It works wonderfully, smells great, I always have the ingredients on hand, it's cheap to make, and...it's green! Can't get much better than that!!

All-Purpose Cleaner

Mix 2T vinegar with 2t borax until dissolved.
Fill bottle with hot water.
Add 2T liquid soap (e.g. ivory).
To scent, add 10-15 drops essential oils.
Follow in order to avoid clumping!



Someone once asked if it needed to be hot when using. No. The hot water is just to help make sure everything is dissolved and mixes well. You do want to make sure all the borax dissolves - maybe even adding a little hot water to make sure it does so before adding all the water (b/c it will be difficult to do at that point).

Also, I use more than the 10-15 drops of essential oils. Just add until you get the scent you want. My favorite combination is grapefruit and lime. Mmmmm.... But you can use whatever you want and in any combination (lavender, lemon, orange, tea tree, the list goes on!!). Some at the Ecovillage liked lavender and lemon. I'm not a big lavender fan. I like the citrus smells!

If you don't have the ingredients on hand and have to purchase them - know that they will last a long time and make MANY bottles of this cleaner. (And I mean MANY!!)

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it out and what you think!!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

HOT TOPIC - Cloth Versus Disposable Diapers

A friend of mine, Gwenn, does Hot Topic discussions on her blog. I am joining in as a "guest blogger" and doing the Hot Topic this week: Cloth vs Disposable Diapers. Well, cloth versus disposable versus gdiapers. Please join in on the discussion by leaving a comment (or more - especially after seeing what others have to say). There is one big rule we all need to adhere to: use your NICE WORDS. These can get pretty heated because people have different opinions. It's fine to voice your opinion even if it's different, and it's encouraged. But we all need to be nice. With that said, here we go!!!

With my first son (nine and a half years ago), I never questioned using disposable diapers. It was just a given. I didn't consider how much waste was being produced and what I was adding to the landfills. Or what was IN the diapers and, therefore, going against my son's bum all day long. When I got pregnant this time around, I was in a different place and doing a lot of things differently - I was more green, to say the least. So, when I heard about gdiapers, I was immediately sold! These are a mix between cloth and disposable - an outer cloth pant with a snap-in waterproof liner (not plastic!) and then flushable (yes, flushable! or even compostable!!) inserts. The insert is the "disposable" part - you can toss them, too. They decompose within a couple months, whereas a disposable diaper takes more than 500 years. Anyway, we used these right away with our new baby that was born in August - left the hospital with them on him. And we've never gone back.

We have gone a little farther, though. We now use cloth inserts that a lady makes to fit the g's (here is her website in case you're curious - you know you are!). I never would have thought I would be using cloth diapers, but here I am loving it. We use the g's with cloth during the day and BumGenius cloth diapers at night (since he pees a lot but we don't change during the nighttime - they hold a lot and keep him dry). I am happy to say that we have not bought him any disposable diapers - oh, wait - we have. We bought one package of Seventh Generation diapers when he was first born, as a backup to the g's since they were a new concept and to use during those middle of the night changes that happen with every feeding with a newborn (so that we didn't need to have a light on to change the "new" diapers). We didn't even use the whole package.

So, here are some of my thoughts on the cloth versus disposable debate.... And in case you're wondering, I lump g's in with the cloth side b/c they do have a cloth component, the flushables are, well, flushable and decompose so much quicker than typical disposable, and - we use cloth in the gdiapers...

Cost - Disposables are not cheap, we all can admit to that! Cloth has a big start-up cost, but that's about it. Yes, you have to wash them, which uses money, but we use an energy efficient washer/dryer, so it doesn't factor in as a higher cost with us. Once you have a supply of cloth, there is no more cost. It can be a couple to a few hundred dollars for the cloth supply versus a couple thousand dollars for disposables.

Baby's Skin - Ok, another argument is that cloth is better for baby's bottom. Disposables have chemicals and plastics in them. Cloth does not (and you can get organic, if that suits you). Many say babies in cloth get less rashes. I don't know about this myself b/c my little one gets rashes very easily - but he has had skin issues since birth and has eczema, so it's not because of the type of diapers. (Though I wonder if it would be worse in disposables with all those chemicals - I can't see how that is good for the skin.) BUT many people (not accusing anybody but this is what I have heard and seen) think that b/c disposables are made to keep baby feeling dry, they can leave the diaper on longer. With cloth, that's not an option. I actually change diapers more often in cloth - more than many would do - b/c of his skin issues. But since I'm using cloth and it just adds a couple other diapers to the laundry load (that I would be washing anyway), it doesn't cost me more to change more often. It would with disposables. And when disposables are kept on baby longer - even if they feel dry, they still have urine up against their skin for longer, which exposes them to bacteria and other things that cause rashes and infections.

Environmental Impact - This is a BIG one for many that use cloth. Disposable diapers contribute an enormous amount to our landfills, and they take over 500 YEARS to decompose. Cloth is a greener option b/c you reuse them. You can even use the supply from one child for other children you may later have. Some say that once you factor in the use of water/energy to wash the cloth, using cloth isn't much better than disposables from a "green" standpoint. But this isn't necessarily true, especially if you use an energy efficient washer/dryer. Then you are certainly not using enough water/energy to make that a good argument.

The poop - Ok, ok - cloth can be messy. I know you're thinking that. BUT I don't see this as a great argument against cloth. While baby is exclusively breastfed (I don't know as much about formula fed b/c mine does not get formula), you simply throw the poopy diapers in with the others and wash - there is nothing to get out of the cloth b/c it (sorry if this is gross, but we ARE talking diapers here) is runny and is absorbed into the cloth. Now, once baby is on solids, there is "real" poop, and you can't throw that in the wash, no. Some "swish" it in the toilet to get it off. We have a diaper sprayer, so we touch no poop. Spray and throw in the diaper pail with the others. Simple. Now - disposable diapers... If you read the directions, you really are supposed to put the poop into the toilet before throwing out the diaper. You are not supposed to put human waste into the garbage. But who does this?? If you use disposables, do you shake out the poop and flush it down? Or do you wrap up the diaper, poop and all, and toss? I have never seen anyone flush it before throwing out the dipe. If you do, GREAT! But I've never witnessed it. Allowing the fecal matter to get into the trash takes it into landfills, where it will sit. And the bacteria and possible viruses can live in the landfills for a long time and possibly contaminate water supplies.

Laundry - Another one that many people seem to think is a good argument. You'll be doing so much laundry if you use cloth. No fun. Well, not-so-much. If you have a baby, you know you are already doing a TON of laundry. Probably every other day or so. We do. So, what is another load along with that? I wash the diapers every three days, at least. It's simply one other load to do, and it's not a lot of work. Dump the diapers in the washer (I don't have to touch them b/c they're in a lined bag, so I just push them out from the bottom of the bag and throw in the bag, as well), do the wash, put them in the dryer, and then fold. Whoop-de-do, right? :) I feel that it takes just as much time to do this as it would to have to go buy diapers and take them out to the trash when the pail is full of dirties. And I spend no time trying to find coupons or the best deal on diapers. I know if I used disposable, this would be another effort I would have to make. If you really aren't into the laundering thing, another option is using a diaper service. This would still cost less than using disposables, from what I understand.

Another issue with laundry is what to launder with, as in detergent. You can't just use any ol' detergent and you can't use fabric softeners. They coat the cloth and will prevent absorbancy. We have looked into this some and use the same detergent for all of our laundry (and it's one that's better for the environment than most typical detergents). We use Country Save and love it so far. We also cut out using fabric softeners and use dryer balls. So the detergent issue isn't really an issue for us b/c we found something that works for the diapers and everything else. Just thought I would mention in case some people were thinking they would have to use a separate detergent for the diapers (which I guess I'm saying you kinda do). Also, the detergent we use is cheaper than most. We bought a case from Amazon and got a two-three years' supply for $40 (when using subscribe and save), free shipping - not bad. This stuff is better for the environment and better for us anyway, especially with both boys having eczema - and Aiden's being pretty bad and easily aggravated.

Potty Training - Ahhhhh...potty training. I haven't experienced this with a child that has been in cloth diapers yet, but it is said that babes in cloth potty train earlier. They feel wet when they go in the cloth, unlike when they wear disposables. Now, when my older child was potty training, I will say that I did NOT use pull-ups. In my opinion, they are just disposables that pull up instead of fasten with tabs. I did use cloth trainers. And he was trained in NO time. Seriously.

gDiapers - I haven't really said much about these like I meant to. So, I'll just write a little bit here. G's are kind of the best of both worlds - disposable inserts with cloth pants and a waterproof (that is not plastic so it is breathable) liner. About 18 BILLION diapers go into landfills each year, taking about 500 years to break down. gDiapers take just a couple months to break down. There is an obvious and significant difference there. And there are no plastics, chemicals, chlorine, perfumes, etc. Oh - and no diaper smell!! I mean, if you flush the insert with all the pee and poop down the toilet, you have no diapers sitting around, and therefore...no smell. (I can honestly say, though, that the only time I smell any "diaper smell" from using cloth is when I open the pail to take out the bag of diapers to put them in the laundry - and really, I can hold the bag closed and barely smell a thing!) Some people say that gdiapers are more expensive, but I would have to disagree. They are actually about the same. The cost of disposables goes up with the size changes (I can't remember if the dollar amt per package goes up or if the amount of diapers in the package goes down, but the cost per diaper does increase.) With g's, there are two sizes of inserts - small and med/large. After all things are considered, the cost is very similar. And from what I hear, the cost of disposables is going up lately. The cost of g's is not. (Plus, if you use cloth.....well, then the cost definitely does not increase.)

Oh, and we use cloth wipes, too! We actually just bought some microfiber cloths (from Target - in the automotive department, of all places!). They were really cheap and do a great job. So, one more thing we never have to shop for. And we don't have to worry about all the things they put in disposable wipes. This wasn't something we planned on doing (whereas the diapers were planned). Our little one had some skin issues when he was born, and we didn't want anything to contribute and possibly make things worse, especially while we were still going through all the tests to find out what was going on. So, it was a very easy decision for us to eliminate any possible skin irritants, such as the disposables and wipes.

OK, so I think that's the majority of my argument. You might say I'm a little biased. ;) And I think my baby's bottom would agree with me. Plus, cloth diapering is just CUTE! Case in point...


Now, it's your turn. Say what you think BUT keep it clean and keep it nice. And be sure to read others' comments and comment again, if you would like.