Lately, I've been feeling like a pilgrim. I'm thankful for what we have, but doing a lot of work the old fashioned way. So, we bit the bullet and got a clothes line in order to keep up with our pioneer mindset. I really thought that this would take tons of time and effort, but I have found that hanging the clothes out is actually a soothing task.
Before I could start, I really had to nag a little and get my guy to help me put the clothesline up. This wasn't hard, cause nagging is really one of my strong points.
We tied one end of the line on a pole holding up our porch awning and ran the line across the yard to the roof of our shed. (When I say "we" what I'm saying is that I stood beside Eliot and made suggestions while he rolled his eyes at me.) I knew that the weight of wet clothing would pull the line down, and the line would need to be higher than my head. Plus, I don't want to end up clotheslining myself, right? Now, our yard is rigged up for redneck laundry! With the wooden clothespins we bought at the dollar store, we're set.
My biggest challenge, so far, has been trying to time my laundry. I tend to wait until later in the day to get the laundry going and once it's dark outside, it's very tempting to just throw everything into the dryer. I have alleviated this by using the FlyLady system, which asks "Where is your Laundry" first thing when you get up in the morning. My answer to that question? It's on the floor, in front of the empty hamper.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Is "Going Green" a new concept?
Is "Going Green" a new concept? I know that this has to have been said a million times, and I don't know who came up with the motto or slogan or whatever it is, but I want to repeat it. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! What I can remember is this line being pounded into my head during my entire public school career. We had drawing contests and essays assigned, all with the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle topic. We saw signs saying it on every concrete wall we encountered. There were t-shirts, coffee mugs, commercials and politicians all chanting the same line in unison, brainwashing our little minds. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Nowadays, we call it "going green". Same concept, but more politically correct, I guess... I really don't care for politics. I reduce, reuse and recycle in my house. This must prove that I really am a child of the '80's and spent my teenage years in the '90's.
Let's take a moment and think about this. We reduce the amount of things we buy by reusing the things we have so that the cycle of life that our possessions have is diminished, right? Some would argue that to recycle, you have to put out a special bin on certain days of the week with plastic, paper and glass in it, but I think not. Recycling in my house is defined by reducing and reusing. I refuse to pay more money on my city water bill to have some company reuse things I bought. Why would I pay for someone else to gain profit on my water bill and then gain more profit on my possessions that I paid them to take away? Seems stupid to me...so instead, before I buy something or throw something out, I try to think of all the ways that an item can be used.
One day, while I was cleaning out my car, I realized that I had about a gazillion napkins floating around with little advertisements for fast food restaurants on them. Every time I went through a drive-thru I was handed a small stack and they were just thrown in the floorboard with the greasy sacks and plastic cup lids. A little light bulb flickered and then dimly lit up and grew brighter and brighter over about a 15 minute period...obviously this was one of the fluorescent bulbs that we're supposed to use that supposedly last for a decade (my mother's words). I could use these napkins instead of spending money on paper towels.
I'll admit, the best cost saving decision I ever made was to stop buying paper towels. I completely refuse. All by myself, I can go through a whole roll in a day, just because they are there calling out to me that I don't have to turn around and use energy to get a dishtowel out of the drawer. Paper towels are like the devil sitting on my shoulder. Now, no one wants to dry their hands on a Mickey D's napkin, so (drum roll) dishtowel it is! We do, however, keep a stack of the napkins we acquire and use them with messy dinners or to use when paper is just better or easier, but we have reduced our cost on grocery day and our trash by doing this.
FlyLady.net suggests setting out a new dishtowel each evening for use the next day. I my mind, by doing this, you can keep the reusable towel visible, thereby actually using it, and reduce the times that you grab one that's going straight in the trash. Think about it, just because it got wet with clean water you throw it away. Some people argue that dishtowels are less sanitary, but my question is this...if you only use a towel to dry clean dishes or hands that were just washed, then why is it less sanitary? You touch the surfaces in your home with your bare hands. Let's get real here and use our common sense,. If you wipe up egg yolk with a dish towel, common sense says to throw it in the dirty laundry and get a new one, right? Or better yet, spray some all purpose cleaner on it, use your counter rag to wipe it up...rinse your rag that is disinfected with the bleach in the cleaner, and let the wet counter air dry. Problem solved, and I don't have to be responsible for making paper factory owners millionaires...of course there's still toilet paper....hmmmmm. I wonder.
Let's take a moment and think about this. We reduce the amount of things we buy by reusing the things we have so that the cycle of life that our possessions have is diminished, right? Some would argue that to recycle, you have to put out a special bin on certain days of the week with plastic, paper and glass in it, but I think not. Recycling in my house is defined by reducing and reusing. I refuse to pay more money on my city water bill to have some company reuse things I bought. Why would I pay for someone else to gain profit on my water bill and then gain more profit on my possessions that I paid them to take away? Seems stupid to me...so instead, before I buy something or throw something out, I try to think of all the ways that an item can be used.
One day, while I was cleaning out my car, I realized that I had about a gazillion napkins floating around with little advertisements for fast food restaurants on them. Every time I went through a drive-thru I was handed a small stack and they were just thrown in the floorboard with the greasy sacks and plastic cup lids. A little light bulb flickered and then dimly lit up and grew brighter and brighter over about a 15 minute period...obviously this was one of the fluorescent bulbs that we're supposed to use that supposedly last for a decade (my mother's words). I could use these napkins instead of spending money on paper towels.
I'll admit, the best cost saving decision I ever made was to stop buying paper towels. I completely refuse. All by myself, I can go through a whole roll in a day, just because they are there calling out to me that I don't have to turn around and use energy to get a dishtowel out of the drawer. Paper towels are like the devil sitting on my shoulder. Now, no one wants to dry their hands on a Mickey D's napkin, so (drum roll) dishtowel it is! We do, however, keep a stack of the napkins we acquire and use them with messy dinners or to use when paper is just better or easier, but we have reduced our cost on grocery day and our trash by doing this.
FlyLady.net suggests setting out a new dishtowel each evening for use the next day. I my mind, by doing this, you can keep the reusable towel visible, thereby actually using it, and reduce the times that you grab one that's going straight in the trash. Think about it, just because it got wet with clean water you throw it away. Some people argue that dishtowels are less sanitary, but my question is this...if you only use a towel to dry clean dishes or hands that were just washed, then why is it less sanitary? You touch the surfaces in your home with your bare hands. Let's get real here and use our common sense,. If you wipe up egg yolk with a dish towel, common sense says to throw it in the dirty laundry and get a new one, right? Or better yet, spray some all purpose cleaner on it, use your counter rag to wipe it up...rinse your rag that is disinfected with the bleach in the cleaner, and let the wet counter air dry. Problem solved, and I don't have to be responsible for making paper factory owners millionaires...of course there's still toilet paper....hmmmmm. I wonder.
Gerber Is More Than Pureed Food!
When I first began to think about using cloth diapers, my first thought was Gerber. The cute little baby on the package (whom I believe is more famous than Britney Spears' children) just calls out to me, I guess. So, I ran out to Wal-mart and bought a pack of 6 prefolds and a pack 12 flatfold dipes. I figured that if worse came to worse we would use them to mop up regurgitated milk puddles or shine the car (even though we have not shined the car...ever).
PREFOLD DIPES...
I knew from reading diaperpin.com and cottonbabies.com that prefolds were a little smaller but easier to fold and a little thicker than the flatfolds. I also remembered accidentally buying the prefold diapers to use as burp cloths when I had my first son, and for the record, prefold diapers will work as a milk sponge, but the flatfolds work waaaaay better. To fold the prefold cloth diapers for their intended use as a diaper, you simply :
A.) Fold the shorter side down a few inches so that it is the length that will fit well over the baby's bottom and around up to the waist. (When baby gets bigger you can skip this step if necessary)
B.) Fold the left side halfway over toward the right.
C.) Fold the right side halfway over toward the left.
D.) Tuck the right side into the fold on the left side.
E.) Fan the untucked ends out that will be at baby's back and will wrap around the waist when pinned.
The prefold cloth diapers are wonderful. They soak up everything but your cash, and though it has been stated in other forums websites and blogs that cloth diapers need to be changed more often, I have not had this experience at all. For us, they work just as long and just as well as their disposable siblings.
FLATFOLD DIPES...
However, I found it interesting that I actually prefer the harder to fold flatfolds! The flatfolds are thinner and larger, and require more work to fold...but they fit under the diaper covers much better and are easier to make fit baby no matter if yours is chunky or skinny, so that kinda evens the score. We actually started out with a smallish baby
(born 5 weeks early) and now, two months and many feedings later he's a chunk. There are a lot of ways to fold a flatfold cloth diaper, but the only one we use, and the only fold I've tried for that matter (can you say lazy?) is the kite fold. I tried this once and stuck with it. To fold on your lap:
A.) Put baby down...you can't fold a diaper in your lap if your lap is already occupied, silly!
B.) Lay diaper on your lap with the short edge closest to you and fold the short edge up a few inches to make the diaper square.
C.) Hold the bottom right corner with one hand and then fold the bottom left corner diagonally about halfway.
D.) Repeat step C holding the bottom right edge and folding the top right edge (diaper now looks like a kite)
E.) Fold the longer pointed edge up a few inches toward the left.
F.) Fold the wider pointed edge down toward the right
When I fold the flatfold dipes, I always add another step and fold the sides of the crotch area in toward the middle. Doing this seems to keep poo in the diaper in a potentially explosive situation and also makes the fit better. I also use two flatfolds at once for more absorbency (laying one on top of the other before beginning to fold with step A) unless I have an outfit that requires a less bulky bottom.
Gerber Diapers have worked wonders for me (I wonder why I paid all that money for something I threw in the trash 10 times a day, 2 straight years for two children! That's approximately 7300 diapers per kid!!!) There are other brands of cloth dipes, and I have purchased Chinese and Indian prefold diapers on cottonbabies.com, however, since most people have heard of the Gerber brand and because I have far more of the Gerber brand diapers I can recommend without question. And yes! I love my cottonbabies diapers. They are very soft and absorbent. I use them when I know someone besides us at home might change a diapie. lol
PREFOLD DIPES...
I knew from reading diaperpin.com and cottonbabies.com that prefolds were a little smaller but easier to fold and a little thicker than the flatfolds. I also remembered accidentally buying the prefold diapers to use as burp cloths when I had my first son, and for the record, prefold diapers will work as a milk sponge, but the flatfolds work waaaaay better. To fold the prefold cloth diapers for their intended use as a diaper, you simply :
A.) Fold the shorter side down a few inches so that it is the length that will fit well over the baby's bottom and around up to the waist. (When baby gets bigger you can skip this step if necessary)
B.) Fold the left side halfway over toward the right.
C.) Fold the right side halfway over toward the left.
D.) Tuck the right side into the fold on the left side.
E.) Fan the untucked ends out that will be at baby's back and will wrap around the waist when pinned.
The prefold cloth diapers are wonderful. They soak up everything but your cash, and though it has been stated in other forums websites and blogs that cloth diapers need to be changed more often, I have not had this experience at all. For us, they work just as long and just as well as their disposable siblings.
FLATFOLD DIPES...
However, I found it interesting that I actually prefer the harder to fold flatfolds! The flatfolds are thinner and larger, and require more work to fold...but they fit under the diaper covers much better and are easier to make fit baby no matter if yours is chunky or skinny, so that kinda evens the score. We actually started out with a smallish baby
(born 5 weeks early) and now, two months and many feedings later he's a chunk. There are a lot of ways to fold a flatfold cloth diaper, but the only one we use, and the only fold I've tried for that matter (can you say lazy?) is the kite fold. I tried this once and stuck with it. To fold on your lap:
A.) Put baby down...you can't fold a diaper in your lap if your lap is already occupied, silly!
B.) Lay diaper on your lap with the short edge closest to you and fold the short edge up a few inches to make the diaper square.
C.) Hold the bottom right corner with one hand and then fold the bottom left corner diagonally about halfway.
D.) Repeat step C holding the bottom right edge and folding the top right edge (diaper now looks like a kite)
E.) Fold the longer pointed edge up a few inches toward the left.
F.) Fold the wider pointed edge down toward the right
When I fold the flatfold dipes, I always add another step and fold the sides of the crotch area in toward the middle. Doing this seems to keep poo in the diaper in a potentially explosive situation and also makes the fit better. I also use two flatfolds at once for more absorbency (laying one on top of the other before beginning to fold with step A) unless I have an outfit that requires a less bulky bottom.
Gerber Diapers have worked wonders for me (I wonder why I paid all that money for something I threw in the trash 10 times a day, 2 straight years for two children! That's approximately 7300 diapers per kid!!!) There are other brands of cloth dipes, and I have purchased Chinese and Indian prefold diapers on cottonbabies.com, however, since most people have heard of the Gerber brand and because I have far more of the Gerber brand diapers I can recommend without question. And yes! I love my cottonbabies diapers. They are very soft and absorbent. I use them when I know someone besides us at home might change a diapie. lol
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