A few of my friends swear by cloth diapers. People who've never used them say it's such hard work. People who have LOVE it. For mystery baby, I'm definitely planning on using cloth. The Trick is: buy them gradually before you need them. You need about 24. They are expensive if you buy them all at once. But it would also be expensive if you bought all the diapers you would ever need for your little one at once. Even if you went Wal-Mart brand with a coupon, the cost would be staggering. I'm sure there's a stat somewhere out there for that.
Cleaning Supplies: I like to try them. I hate HATE cleaning my bathtub. It's my cleaning BAIN. Over the course of the last several years, I've spent a small fortune on different products. You know what has worked the very best every single time? My .55 cent package of baking soda. No kidding. Baking soda and a steel wool scrubbie. I can clean my bathtub more efficiently 8 times for less than a dollar.
For dusting, I've never seen anything work better than a little bit of lemon juice mixed with olive oil. I really like these methods because my baby takes baths in that tub and I don't want him sitting in water with residue chemicals. You can eat baking soda and lemon juice and olive oil. Plus they won't hurt his skin. Or mine, which seems more sensitive.
I've also stopped buying papertowels and napkins. Instead we bought kitchen towels for a $1. If I bought the cheap papertowels, I'd go through a roll a week. Instead, I have towels 4evr! I'm planning on buying Table Towels which you put on a roll and are washable. They're a tiny bit more money than my kitchen towels, but they're super cute. PS. This was a friend of mine's idea and I jumped on the bandwagon. Thanks Holly!
I also stopped buying disposable kitchen sponges. For cheaper, I bought washable ones with a velour side and a scrubbie side. The velour works great for washing my windows and walls and dusting. The otherside cleans all my counters and dishes easily.A lot of places now offer Eco-Friendly dish soap and dishwasher detergent, etc etc etc. Most of these are cheaper than the normal products which is how I stumbled across them. I'm pretty dang cheap.
So I've saved money. I don't think it's feasible for most of us to go out and only buy organic or spend a fortune on so called 'green' products. But the little things are really what makes the biggest difference.
It is good to be green and in many ways it is cheaper. I use vinegar and baking soda to clean too! Anthony hasn't totally let go of his toilet bowl cleaner yet. I don't think he can fathom that baking soda can clean it. Either that or he just doesn't want to stick his hand in the toilet. Men! I bought some more microfiber towels for dusting. Dust really clings to them well! And you can use them on a swiffer instead of buying the disposable towels for that. Just gotta say I love my table towels. They need a few more washings to get the absorbency better but they're working great. We had homemade elephant ears last night and the table towel worked better at getting my hands clean than a paper towel ever could. Where did you get the washable sponges? I don't think I've seen those. I would love to have some. We have some eco-friendly soap. We're actually out. I need to remember to pick up some more at the store. Cloth diapers are great. Sure, it's a big initial cost but like you said you'd be spending a lot if you bought all your sposies at one time too. You save even more when you go with the one-size systems. I've found that cloth for me is wonderful too.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas!! I would like to know where you find those sponges as well. Congrtats on the new baby!
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