My favorite form of "recycling"

If you have visited my house, you may wonder why we have five trashcans in our kitchen. And if you are like my sister, who didn't want to be rude and ask what that crazy looking sprayer thing in our bathroom is (it's a diaper sprayer; it was fun to hear all of the things she considered for the year she wouldn't ask!), you didn't ask.

We don't have curbside pickup for our items to be recycled. Because we have to take it to the recycling facility ourselves, we have to have it all separated. We haven't come up with a better system, so we have five trashcans.

In the winter, it can be a pain to take it all down to the facility, but we still do.

That is why my favorite form of recycling (and yes, I know it is actually simply reusing) is that of our cardboard. It is how we start our fires in the basement. I love our fireplace, but it isn't always easy to get a fire going down there when we accidentally let it go out. Adding cardboard helps it get hot enough to catch the wood and get the fire going.

Since we have added insulation to the attic and started using our fireplace throughout the winter, our heating bill has been cut into half, and sometimes more. And we have yet to purchase wood. My husband has found free wood on craigslist, and cuts and stacks it himself.

Now if only I could get him to take down the rest of our recyclables.

Birth Depot

I use craigslist and freecycle a ton, but some items just can't be found in my area. West Virginia is growing when it comes to the concept of natural parenting, but slower than I would like.

Everything Birth just launched a pretty cool (AND FREE!) site called the Birth Depot. It's similar to craigslist or Ebay, but focused on items such as cloth diapers, midwifery, or just baby and kid items. There is also an "other" category; books are currently listed there. The photos above show some of the current listings.

Transactions actually occur between the buyer and seller (many sellers just use paypal), so the BD isn't actually selling anything. It is just providing a "safe" place for you to find other moms and pops who are interested in your once loved items.

Just another really cool way to keep "trash" out of our landfills!

Flippin Out

I just found three gently used Flip Diapers for $11 each! (Including the inserts).

Everything Birth just added a gently used diaper section, and I got 4 used diapers and one brand new diaper for $50!!! WHAT?! That is fabulous. Especially because all five of these diapers are one size.

Check them out at http://www.everythingbirth.com/, and tell them Rachel Hall sent you!

Go Green in 2011

It's easy. There are so many small ways you and your family can go green this year and help to save our precious planet.

My family will be growing by one this year, and we plan to save on waste as much as possible with all four of us. Both kiddos will be in cloth diapers using cloth wipes. When the time comes, I will make my own babyfood so not to waste all those crazy plastic and glass containers. (among many other reasons!).

We already primarily use green cleaning products, but I hope to turn that up a notch. They are typically a bit more expensive if you are buying the brand name products, but can be super cheap if you are "making" them yourself.

The big one I want to move forward with this year is paper towels. We are guilty of using these daily. Our regular towel stash needs to grow a bit, but handtowels aren't too pricey (and they are certainly cheaper than paper towels!!! Talk about expensive!).

What are your goals for 2011?

The search for the perfect stash

I have been a believer that the perfect cloth diaper stash is something of an urban legend. There is just no such thing.

Companies continue to come out with better diapers, cuter prints and more ways to save on leaks while saving on moohlah.

I mentioned in the last post that I bought a Lil Joey. Add that to my 24ish BumGenius 4.0s, 4 Baby Bamboo AIO one size diapers, and a plethora of prefolds (no covers though). I think I also have something like 5 small Fuzzi Buns and a few Haute Pockets, too.

Right now, I only use the BG and BB on my older daughter (almost 2 yo). We wash about every 2-3 days (depending on how potty training is going for the days!). Because I am expecting daughter #2 in the next few months, I have the perfect excuse to add to my already-pretty-great stash.

And I want the Flips.

I need the covers for both the newborn prefolds AND to use over training pants for my older DD. To me, they seem just perfect! And I think by adding 8 or so of these to my stash, I will have the closest thing I can to the perfect diapers.

Until I see something brand new, brighter, and cuter.

Lil Joey

I caved.

I bought one of these Lil Joey diapers for newborns. They are the cutest, little diapers I have seen out there, and they are an AIO, so I am hoping they are very easy to use.

I only got one (though they typically come in packs of two) because they are so tiny that I know they probably won't last too long for my baby. My older DD was 8lbs 10 oz at birth, and LJ says these will go to about 12 lbs.

I can't wait to take pics of the little one in this teenie diaper though!

Check them out at http://www.everythingbirth.com/. Tell them Rachel Hall sent you:)

Traveling with cloth

How do you travel with cloth? Is it a problem?

So far, we haven't done a long trip using cloth. But for weekend trips, or for a few days at a time, I have enough diapers that I won't need to wash. I use my Planet Wise hanging wetbag to store the diapers in. It has a large wet bag pocket for the dirty dipes, and a large dry compartment to keep my wipes and clean diapers in:)

Since we have switched to cloth wipes, I find that storing the diapers/wipes on trips is much easier. I don't have to separate the wipes from the diapers when I get home (have you ever washed a disposable wipe? yuck!), and I know I am saving more moohlah by doing it!

What is your method?