Upcycle Masterpiece

When BW was born, my mom passed along to me the prefolds that she used on me as a baby. I tucked them away in BW’s closet and forgot about them. While cleaning out the closet come springtime, I rediscovered them. They are soooooooo soft. Unbelievably soft. And virtually stain free. Then it hit me. I can repurpose these into burp cloths for baby EB!



washed and ready for sewing



I had to do hardly any prep to get the old prefolds ready to transform into stylish burp cloths. My first step was to do a long soak in Rockin’ Green. I did this for two reasons. 1. When held up to the light, the center was slightly yellowed. I wanted to try to get rid of any urine stains. 2. I wanted to remove any detergent residue, and have them washed up in a gentle soap for my nephew. After the soak and washings, they looked great. There was hardly a stain left. And sunning helped clear it up. Rockin’ Green really helped get out those old stains! The next step was to find a fabric to sew down the middle. That was easy. Nina has loved monkeys since she was little. CW had the final say between the two monkey prints, and he picked out the better of the two. And the last step was to sew the flannel down the center of the prefolds. I was able to do that while the boys napped one afternoon. {For some odd reason, I find it relaxing to sew.}



my upcycle masterpiece! Ta-Da



I was able to repurpose and add some pizzazz to my prefolds. So now they’ve become super cute burp cloths. Plus if Nina needs to use them as a diaper for EB, she can do that in a pinch. Yay for upcycling for a baby gift!

~Tonya~

A Sentimmental Fool

I am a sentimental fool, and I don’t feel the need to hide it. Babyhood and toddlerhood go much too fast. I take hundreds of pictures a month.  The most important pictures I take are of the boys sitting together. For the first year of each of my boys’ lives I took a picture every two weeks on the changing table. For the second year, I take pictures on the monthly birthday. I’m continuing this tradition with my youngest. Except this time around, I’ve also been taking pictures of the boys together as well as separately. It’s so amazing to look back and see how they’ve grown.

So, since I’m a crazy, picture lady not only did I take pictures of BW in his first cloth diaper, but pictures of him in the same diaper the last time he’ll wear it. It’s silly that I get so emotional over the little things, but I can’t help it. As I’ve mentioned before, my love affair with cloth began with GroBaby {now GroVia}. My GroBaby hook & loop shells weren’t staying closed unless I had pants on BW. So I have sent my shells to be converted to snaps. They are now going to be passed on to my baby nephew. BW is long and skinny, and unfortunately the rise is getting a little low on him. I know they won’t make it to potty learning, so since there is a lot of life left in my GroBaby stash I’m passing them along. I’ve spent a day really soaking, washing, and sunning the soaker pads and boosters. They look great, and I can’t wait for my nephew to wear them. All I’m waiting on are the shells to come back from GroVia. I’ll be sure to post pics of baby EB wearing his “new” kiwi GroBaby shell. I can’t wait to see him in it!

Another First Time Cloth Diaper Experience

I have been using cloth diapers for over a year now and I really enjoy the process.  I love using products that are better for my baby, I love that I'm not contributing to unnecessary waste, and I'm glad that I can save money by not buying disposable diapers every few weeks.

 

My journey to choosing cloth has been quite an adventure.  I started investigating the idea of cloth diapers when my first child was under 2 years old.  But at that time I decided it wasn't an investment I wanted to make since he was older and close to potty training.  At that time the only information I had about cloth diapers was what I found on Amazon.com.  I had no idea that there was a larger community for cloth diapers, and at that point I put the idea on hold.

 

Then my daughter was born in October of 2009.  I started with disposables but did quite a bit more research about cloth and I discovered a multitude of online communities that provided a plethora of information about various types & brands of cloth diapers.  It was a bit overwhelming.  I researched for 2 months before making my first purchase, which was 2 diaper covers & a set of 6 prefolds.  I started out basic to see if I would enjoy the process. 

 

I fell in love with cloth and began to increase my stash of diapers, using pocket diapers, fitteds & covers, and all-in-ones.  My husband was surprisingly supportive since he realized we wouldn't be spending $20-$30 every few weeks on diapers that would ultimately be thrown in the trash.  Literally throwing our money away.

 

Now that my daughter is 18 months old, my cloth diaper needs have evolved with her.  We now primarily use snap diapers since she is quite skilled at undoing the velcro.  I also work outside of the home part time and my parents watch my kids while I am gone.  They have found cloth diapers to be much easier than they thought, and my mom loves using them on my daughter.  It really is FUN.

 

My journey with cloth diapers will continue until my daughter is potty trained, and then I will most likely sell my stash of diapers to other parents.  That's another perk of using cloth diapers: there is resale value.  You can't say that about disposables.

~~Karen~~

The 3 R's

Jack Johnson, my new fav singer, has a song titled “The 3 R’s.”  It’s crazy addicting, and I find myself singing it to myself quite often.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.   He sings about ways kids can live the 3 R’s. 

"If you're going to the market to buy some juice
You've got to bring your own bags and you learn to reduce your waste
And if your brother or your sister's got some cool clothes
You could try them on before you buy some more of those
Reuse, we've got to learn to reuse
And if the first two R's don't work out
And if you've got to make some trash
Don't throw it out
Recycle, we've got to learn to recycle…"

Such a simple message.  Not so simple to apply to our lives in today’s throw away culture. 

Growing up, my mom & dad were “green” because they wanted to save money.  I thought they were trying to ruin my life.  My mom made us bring lunch from home and use reusable lunch sacks.  Even in middle school! *Gah*  Talk about social suicide.  When we were young, she would find different toys and furniture in the alley or garage sales and fix them up for us.  This was cool since we did get “new” things.  But in all honesty, it wasn’t the same as getting something new in a box.  We saved cans and took them to get cash.  My dad used the backs of envelopes as note paper at his business.  He still does this today.  He also used paper towels to dry his hands and would let them air dry so they could be used again multiple times.  We {meaning me and my siblings} thought our parents were so lame.  Hello, let’s throw stuff away and buy new!!  And I can’t even count the number of times we were told to turn off lights when we left the room and to keep the front/back door closed.  “We’re not paying to heat/cool the outside.” Lame-o parents always ruining our fun.   

And the cycle of “lameness” continues with me and the hubs.  We yard sale, garden, recycle everything that we can.  Lights are turned off when not in use.  Thermostats are set to save a little money.  We use reusable grocery bags {when I remember}.  Electronics are unplugged when not in use.  And now we cloth diaper.   To say that using cloth diapers was life changing would be an understatement.  The amount of trash we throw away is so much less than it was with our first child.  And this may be a little TMI, but it’s not half as stinky as it used to be.  Think used diapers, garbage can outside, and hot Arizona summers. *Gag*  When I made the change to cloth wipes {this was a gradual transition} our trash output decreased even more.  I love that I’m not hauling garbage outside as often as I used to.  And not to brag, but *ahem* our recycle bin often has more in it than our garbage can.

So now, that we’re using cloth diapers and wipes, I’m looking for more ways to reuse things.  Much to the hubs frustration, I’m refusing to use paper towels to clean with.  I use our kitchen towels to wipe down the counters, table, and floors. {Yes, mealtimes are insanely messy here.}  I can use one kitchen towel instead of multiple paper towels.  And when it’s been used, I just throw it in the wash with whatever load is going in, except for diapers.  Easy.  Cloth wipes are also doubling as Kleenex for the boys.  Unfortunately, noses are always running.  Those I’ll throw in with diapers to wash.  Once again, less trash to throw out.  Awesome! 

I’m not trying to say, that we are such a super duper “green” family.  We’re not.  There’s more we could be doing, but we don’t for whatever reason.  I use paper bibs at restaurants.  We’ve been known to use paper plates on occasion.  Paper napkins are always used.  Disposable cups serve their purpose every now and then.  Ceiling fans are sometimes left on in rooms during the summer.  My list of transgressions can go on.

I’m learning that living the 3 R’s isn’t so difficult.  Small changes can have a huge impact.  However, at times it can be challenging.  Cloth diapers on vacation isn’t always the easiest, and grabbing a paper towel and tossing it in the trash means there is one less kitchen towel to fold.  But what kind of lesson am I teaching my boys?  Being mindful of our waste and using what we have is something that they can learn and pass on to their children.  Hopefully, I won’t have them commit social suicide in the process!

What do you do that is green? What are some things you’d like to try to change to become less wasteful?