Turning into an Eco-Friendly family--Part 1 :)

emmasue18

Hi, ladies! My New Year's resolution was to be more eco-friendly. I had no idea how much would change in just two months!! Here is what we've changed:

-Paper towels are now unpaper towels.

-We now use tupperware and reusable bags unstead of plastic baggies.

-We use organic laundry detergent.

-We have traded out four cleaning products for organic ones. (Waiting on other to run out/expire)

-We are making our own organic hand soap.

-Purchasing recycled, organic bath toys.

And coming in the next few weeks:

-Trading our kid's baby products for organic ones.

-And our BIG DEAL change is CLOTH DIAPERING!! We placed our order today.

Things I am considering:

-Making laundry detergent

-Cloth wipes

I am so excited and wanted to share with all of you!! If you can add anything to help my wasteful family be more green---PLEASE DO!

TIA!! :-)

busterbeagle

Good for you!  That is a ton of progress in a short time, especially while being pg and having a newborn.  I've only gotten lazier and regressed to paper towels.  I love my homemade laundry detergent and it's really easy and cheap.  DH is very into using cloth wipes and it isn't really any extra work if you are doing cloth diapers.  We have the Warmies wipe warmer and it makes it super easy to keep them wet (LO appreciates that they aren't cold, too).

Have you thought about growing some veggies this spring?  Getting off junk mail lists and going paperless with bills? 

kristin172429

I  make my own all-purpose cleaner.  It is super easy and does a really good job.  It doesn't smell like vinegar either, which I was afraid it would.  It smells like the Method clementine dish soap I put in it.

All-Purpose Cleaner Put 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon dish soap, and 2 tablespoons vinegar into your spray bottle. Give it a stir/shake. Let it sit for a minute, now fill bottle with warm water and shake it up. Give it a few more minutes to calm down, and add a few drops of essential oil if desired. 

nonoemily

The paper towels are hard for me to give up, too. I just found out they can go in the city-wide compost bins, so now I don't feel as guilty using them, but still, I know I should quit.

Plastic bags are next on my list! I hate those damn plastic bags for produce. I can't believe how many I use in a month.

k.linn

Ditto the PP about cloth wipes. I think it's more work to use disposable wipes with cloth diapers. The natural inclination for me is to use the wipe and throw it in the wet bag with the dirty dipe rather than finding a trash can for the wipes and putting them in a separate spot. For the diaper bag, I just carry a spray bottle of wipe solution with me.

HattieLove

I don't know if you're in a location to do this but we've started ordering seeds for the garden for this summer. By late summer/early fall LO will start on solids and we want to be able to make our own baby food.