Throwing in the Towel

At a play date today there was conversation of how many wipes we moms go through. That made me think to write about my recent personal campaign around the house of trying to stop using paper products. I haven't told anyone about it until now.

I am on about my 5th pack of wipes since my son was born 15 months ago- they are for travel and emergencies. But then again I do not use regular wipes when I change him. Before he was born I cut up old tee shirts into large squares and use those as wipes which get washed with his diapers. They don't add anything extra to the laundry since they're so light and small, but do save me a lot of money and are obviously chemical-free (to wet them I use a spray bottle with water).

I thought to myself, if I can use these tee shirt wipes for my son's bottom, maybe I can use them for us instead of toilet paper! Crazy ideas are nothing new to me, but I decided to wait a bit on chucking the toilet paper. And instead tried to use A LOT less for each trip. Getting rid of toilet paper seemed like a great idea, but not something I could tackle at the very minute.

So I began to do other things around the house to cut out paper products. I took out those cloth napkins that were suppose to be for guests but somehow never made it to the table. And I just never bought any more paper napkins. Easy! Why didn't I do this before?

Next I let my paper towels go. I didn't run out to Costco for the gigantic bundle. I bought a small, unbleached recycled role from Whole Foods for nasty emergencies- think raw meat on the floor or the like. What I did to replace the paper towels was use a big stack of washcloths I had on hand for any type of mess. For instance, when my son finishes eating a meal, I wipe his hands and face with the cloth. Then I rinse it and wash the table, his high chair tray, another rinse, and finally the floor. (I use a vinegar/water mixture in a spray bottle for all surfaces.) Then I do a final rinse and hang the cloth to dry somewhere in my kitchen. When it's dry I toss it in the laundry basket. I go through a few in a day- no big deal!

I also thought about tissues. I decided I could use facecloths for every day use too (the occasional nose drip or small area to clean is no big deal...don't some people use handkerchiefs on a regular basis?). They could go right in with the laundry. But I thought I should keep box of unbleached recycled tissues on hand in case of a big, nasty cold. Luckily those are very far and few in between so I figured this way I would not really be using many tissues either.

Now, I haven't had the guts to get rid of the toilet paper yet. But maybe sometime in the future. I am at least considering using it only for #2 and using tee shirt wipes for #1. I wonder, is there anyone out there that actually does this because I'd love to know more about the logistics!

The way I see it: if you can't convince yourself that using cloth wipes, napkins, papertowels, tissues and toilet paper is greener, then don't do it for the environment, do it for your wallet. Imagine if you never bought these items again (or at least fewer of them) how much you'd save! Really- it's quite a bit!

And for more reading concerning the topic, this is a great article.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/paper-towels-and-napkins-vs-cloth.html

I also wanted to add a fun and useful quiz that my friend sent me to rate your body's exposure to toxic chemicals- although I see some blips (for instance, they ask if you use shampoo- not what kind you use...that sort of thing), I think it's a really good baseline for everyone to go by. Makes you think, hmm am I exposing myself to that?

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fextras.insidebayarea.com%2Fbodyburden%2Fbodyburden.html&h=5a7aa3a4976c98e519294f40f82a9132