"We Are Using Too Many Paper Towels...!!!"

I just realized something recently. Yup, you guessed right. We use a lot of paper towels. We buy them in bulk at Costco, so maybe we feel like we have them in abundance. I thought we opened one roll just the other day, butI was opening another one today... And we only have one more roll left...

You know the big rolls from Costco. It is big and thick. It seems like it'll last for quite a while. But we were going through them like crazy. So, I thought about how we can cut down on our usage.

• Cut the sheets in half, if you don't need to use the whole big sheet, like wiping a small spill, wiping food off of your baby/toddler, and cleaning a small spot.

• This one was the big one for me:
I was using paper towels to wipe my daughter's hands, mouth, clothes, tables, chairs, ... well, everything! The other day, I was just going through her closet, and I realized that we have many many burp cloths that we no longer use. 

So... 

If you have burp cloths and small, thin, but soft wash cloths you used when your toddlers were babies, all tucked into a corner of the closets or dressers, you can use them to wipe most of your toddlers/preschoolers' food and drink messes. 

Good thing is, since you have those cloths in abundance, you can just throw them in the hamper (or washer, if it's wet) after each meal. Of course, I rinse the cloths before putting them in the hamper or washer, or at least shake them over the trash can to remove the loose food waste.

• Prepare separate towels for counter tops, shelves, and floors. For cleaning shelves and floors, you can use old hand towels. My parents still do this, and I used to do this as well. I just stopped doing this as my life got busier, because it's easier to just throw away paper towels after each use, than rinsing and cleaning the towels...

I'm sure some of you are already doing something like this, but I hope this gave some of you some ideas.

Green Baby Diapers

Just a quick recommendations on the green diapers:

If you live in Seattle, WA area, looking for a diaper service, I would just tell you that I absolutely loved the services that Seattle Diaper Services provided. They have excellent customer service, and the delivery driver was also knowledgeable and even recommended me when to switch to a bigger size (which was very helpful for me as a first time mom, not knowing much). The price is about the same as buying disposable diapers, if you are using cloth diapers exclusively.

If you are thinking about hybrid diapers, gDiapers were excellent for me and my little one. You can actually choose to use cloth inserts, or biodegradable/disposable/flushable/compostable inserts. Although, if you live in an older house with concrete sewer pipe, you might want to consider not flushing down in the toilet, because it might get caught on the rough surface of the pipe and plug it up... (yes, it happened to us... and in fact, we can't use one of the two toilets right now... at least we have one functional one, lol)



If you want the convenience of disposable without washing anything, first one I recommend would be Nature Babycare Eco-Friendly Diapers. The material is natural and biodegradable. Diapers are as soft as other leading brands. It definitely holds a lot, without leaking. My 2-1/2 year old daughter hates diaper changes, and she just does not let me change her diaper for 5 - 6 hours from time to time... But I'm happy to say that it has never leaked!

There are other green disposable diapers like Seventh Generation, Earth's Best, Attitude, etc. Also, I heard that Broody Chick is the only diaper that is 100% biodegradable, and other green diapers are not 100% or takes a lot longer to degrade. I haven't found if that's a true statement or not myself, but I thought it's worth mentioning. At least above mentioned are chlorin-free, which means they don't bleach their diapers in order not to produce dioxin, a cancer causing chemical.

If you have any other favorite diaper of yours, I would love your opinions and suggestions in the comment below.

Happy Friday!!!

Baby Steps toward Being Green

I've always tried to be eco-friendly where I can, although I could do more. But having a baby definitely made me more conscious about environment and sustainability. I like gathering information here and there, looking for ways to live greener, healthier, and more natural for my family. I'm hoping to share the knowledge and experience I've gathered with as many people as I can.

Between the busy every day routines, my energetic pre-schooler, and my lovely husband, I'm not always stepping forward. In fact, I've stepped backwards from time to time for convenience and lack of time. But as I'm learning to make more time for myself and manage time better, I'm doing more of what I can do to make this Earth a better place for the next generations to come. Like I said in my recent article, "How To Choose to Go Green With Baby Diapers" on StreetArticles.com, the important thing is for you and your baby to be happy, while doing the best in the situation to be green. And this is one of the things I can do to spread the green!

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