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A Green(er) Life: Three Changes

February 1, 2011 in green, healthy living with 14 Comments

 

Living a frugal and simple life is green in many ways. We don’t consume much, we recycle and use cloth for just about everything but toilet paper!

Since Paxton was born, we’ve found ourselves desiring to live a green(er) life.

Thinking about living green(er) can seem overwhelming and expensive: switching toiletries, buying more organics, purchasing meat that is hormone free, just to name a few.  The best way to make changes without getting overwhelmed is to begin making small steps each month!

We’re going to be making small green steps each month towards more natural living.

Our January changes:

1. Replace Conventional Shampoo and Soap.

Our whole family is no longer using conventional shampoos and soaps. We’ve switched to Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Soap as both shampoo and body wash. Paxton has been shampoo free for 3 weeks now and we’re using the Dr. Bronner’s as body wash for him.

2. Purchase Organic Produce for items on the ‘Dirty Dozen’

I have a list of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ (that I keep in my purse so it’s handy at the grocery store) and these are the items that are a priority to purchase organic. Yes, organic foods cost more than conventionally produced foods but the extra cost for the ‘dirty dozen’ is worth it to our family.

3. Purchase Non-Conventional Chicken

We’ve begun purchasing Springer Mountain Farms chicken. Their chickens “are fed only a diet of grains and soybeans; without the use of antibiotics, chemical medicines, hormones, or animal by-products.” They are located in Northeast Georgia so their chicken is local!

{Cost: We paid $1.99/pound for a whole chicken. We cut up the chicken and separated the breasts, thighs, wings, and then boiled the remaining carcass.}

More Information:

Are you making any changes towards living a healthier and greener life?

Less Waste

January 19, 2011 in green with 9 Comments

Frugal and green living go hand in hand.

Cloth napkins, rags for cleaning instead of paper towels, cloth diapers and cloth wipesare all green and save us money! We also recycle and compost {although it’s somewhat difficult to compost while living in a condo}. Doing these simple things cuts back on our waste.

We use less than one garbage bag a week and don’t pull our trash can down to the curb every week. In fact, it’s been 6 weeks since we pulled it down for pick up last {and that includes our Christmas trash!}

We were surprised to see our neighbors trash cans brimming full of trash after missing just one week of trash pickup {due to the Georgia snow last week!}

It’s sad to see how much trash families accumulate in a week.

Making small changes really make a difference and cuts down on waste.

Try out cloth napkins, give cloth diapering a try and recycle everything your city recycles!

If we all did the little things it would begin to make a huge impact and there would be less waste!

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Flip Diaper System

October 29, 2010 in baby, cloth diapering, frugal, green with 8 Comments

When I first began my venture into cloth diapering, I thought the Flip Diaper System was the best choice for our family. It was less expensive than pocket diapers and easier than prefolds.

We started cloth diapering when our son was around a month old. We quickly learned breastfed baby poo and the Flip System did not work for us. We still used the system but we typically had one wear out of the cover because he would almost always poo while wearing the Flip and it would get all over the cover!

Now that he’s eating solids, we’re beginning to see the money saving benefits of the Flip System.

The Flip System::

Stay Dry Insert $4.95

One-Size Diaper Cover $13.95

Organic Insert  $7.95

*You can purchase a Cover/Stay Dry Insert for $16.95 or a Cover/Organic Insert for $19.95 (saving $1.95 over purchasing them separately).

**We purchased 2 Cover/Inserts together, 3 Stay Dry Inserts and 1 Organic Insert.

The Flip cover is a one-size adjustable cover, that “fits babies from 7-35 pounds”. Our baby had skinny legs, it didn’t fit until he hit the 10 pound mark.

Our son at 2 weeks wearing the Flip Diaper cover with a Stay Dry Insert. It was too big on his legs, babies with chunkier legs could probably wear these diapers earlier.

The stay dry insert has microfiber on one side and stay-dry suede on the other. There are lines (you can see on the left) where you fold for a small, medium or large setting.

The Stay Dry Insert inside the Flip cover. This is on the medium setting, I folded the insert on the second line and then tucked it in the cover. Now it is ready to snap on baby!

The Flip organic insert is like a pre-fold. (I was surprised when it arrived, I thought it would look just like a Stay Dry Insert just with organic cotton.)

You fold the insert according to the size your child needs.

This insert is bulkier but it is very soft and absorbant!

The Organic Insert tucked in the  Flip cover.

There are also Disposable Inserts for the Flip Diaper System, a pack of 18 is $4.95. (We have not tried them.)

I believe this system is perfect for babies on solids! If we have another child before Paxton is potty trained, we’ll probably purchase another cover and a few more inserts and use the Flip System on him and use our pocket diapers on our newborn.

How much could you save versus pocket diapers (like bumGenius)?

(It is recommended you have no less than 12 diapers in your stash.)

  • 12-bumGenius One-Size Diapers (@$17.95) = $215.40
  • 4-Flip Covers with Stay Dry Inserts (@$16.95) & 8 Stay Dry Inserts (@$4.95) =$107.40
  • Savings-$108

[We still love our bumGenius diapers because they are so easy to use, are great for cloth diapering on the go and are simple for nursery workers/babysitters/grandparents to use but the Flip System is great too!]

What are your thoughts on the Flip Diaper System?

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Stain Fighting

August 31, 2010 in baby, green with 2 Comments

Meet Charlie, my stain fighting friend! I’ve been using Charlie’s Soap since I started cloth diapering back in May. It works wonders on our diapers! After a few blowouts when Paxton was a newborn, resulting in stains on his clothes, I decided to give Charlie’s Soap a try on soiled baby clothes and it works!

I typically will rinse the poo off of the garment with cold water, apply a little Zout and then wash with Charlie’s Soap and usually there is no stain.

This past week while we were traveling, Paxton wore disposables (which means more blowouts!) He soiled several pieces of clothing. The worst was a light blue onesie (the poo was all over the back!)

Once we arrived home (just a few hours after the incident), I rinsed the poo out and let it soak in cold water overnight. The next morning I applied Zout and washed in Charlie’s Soap. Unfortunately, Charlie failed me and there was still a faint yellow stain on the back of the onesie.

I decided to give Charlie another chance and dissolved about 1/4 a tablespoon of Charlie’s Soap in cold water and then soaked the onesie for 2 days.

It worked! Here is the onesie…minus the stain! (I didn’t take a before picture for comparison because I really don’t like the idea of taking pictures of clothing covered in poo!)

I am thrilled that the stain is gone because this is a really cute little onesie.

Warning: The water I soaked the onesie in had a faint blue tint when I poured it out, so it is pulling a little dye out of the clothing after a 2 day soak. However, I’d rather the color of the garmet fade a little instead of being stained permanently!

Do you have any stain fighting tips?

Linked to: Works for Me Wednesday

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