Mr. Clean or Mrs. Green?

I warned her. I said that if she wanted her grandchildren to come visit, she would have to clear out all the toxic cleaning products that are in her back entry bookshelf- repurposed as a chemical store-all. Just sitting there. Easy access. With one curious preschooler and one crazy mobile crawler, I was a bit worried.

Not only are these cleaners poisonous if ingested, their use can cause headaches, lung, skin and eye irritation, and there are also increasing links to birth defects, reproductive problems and various cancers.

This is all starting to sound too familiar. It seems that chemicals are so prevalent in our lives that some people throw their hands up as soon as they hear the risks of cleaning products- but what doesn't cause cancer? To them I say, why not try to eliminate the risks that you can? I've recently read that indoor air can be much more toxic than even the most polluted outdoor air because of all the chemicals we use in our homes.

People didn't even use these now standard household chemicals before World War II. They used elbow grease and some natural products. I recently read an interesting tidbit in Gil Deacon's book, "Green for Life", that chemicals (like pesticides and household cleaners) were all developed around this time as part of warfare research! And it ends up in our homes. Crazy.

All this to say- I decided that the chemicals have got to go!

Well, we arrived at Grandma's and I went to see if she complied. It seemed she had, at least for the most part. Most of the cleaners were gone but a few things remained that really should have made their way to the toxic disposal (at a recycling depot!) as well- like shoe polish, special vinyl floor cleaner that she just bought (how could I even ask her to dispose of that!) and a few other stragglers and hangers-on.

To be completely honest, I had used these products for years too. We used to be devotees to Tilex, which in my husband's recollection, "curled your nosehairs". We thought that in order to get things truly clean and sanitized that we needed these harsh, astringent cleaners. And if it didn't smell like bleach then it probably wasn't doing its job. Now that I think of it, the smell almost wafts back to me. Yuck.

Eventually I started with trying the so-called "natural" cleaners thinking that I should be more conscious of what I was putting down the drain and into our water, paying a premium for a lack of ingredient information but with a promise of a greener clean. But I recently decided that for the kids' health, our pocketbook, and the planet that I needed to explore the healthier and more cost-effective, do-it-yourself cleaners.

So I was on a mission, to find some recipes and start concocting.

Little did I realize how much fun this could be. Perhaps it was my baking background that made the combining of ingredients exciting. Or maybe the fact that everytime I whipped up my own creation that it was essentially putting money back into my pocket instead of some chemical company's. The fact that I was not exposing my children to needless chemicals was the main purpose of this endevour but it was turning out to be a good (time) investment on so many levels- less cost, less plastic waste, less chemicals in our home, and the joy of cleaning. Ok, not really...but it was better than before when I had to run from the bathroom after I had cleaned it.

When I got started, I first experimented with spray bottles and thought I would invest in a more expensive bottle with lines and measures that looked like it could stand up to many uses (around $5 at Rona). Well, I was wrong. After a couple test drives, this bottle lost its spray-ability. I didn't really want to use any empty chemical bottles because the smells persist in those things. So I kept my eyes open for another bottle.

Luckily, I ran into them at Ikea. A huge crate full of multi-coloured spray bottles in the plant section caught my eye. VILDBAR. They were cheap. Hmmm. I hate wasting money on garbage that breaks after one use. M noticed all the different colours too and grabbed the green one. It made her happy to hold one as we finished our shopping trip and really, $1.50 isn't too much money to keep a preschooler happy during a shopping trip. So, I thought I would try them. Multi-coloured bottles could be useful for differentiating the mixtures and they were cheap. It turns out they are also excellent at their job. Perhaps they were intended for misting plants (although I think they shoot out a little too much moisture to "mist") but they are excellent for spraying surfaces!

Well, after finding the perfect bottle, I went to the grocery store and stocked up on essential green cleaning supplies- a huge bottle of vinegar, a huge box of baking soda and some bright smelling citrus essential oils (non-essential, but great, nontheless). I came home excited to get started.

I remember reading that a 1:4 solution of vinegar to water could be used to clean most things. I got to work and added a few drops of orange essential oil to dull the vinegar smell. Then I sprayed. And sprayed. And sprayed. Everything in sight. The kitchen table. The counter top. The bathroom- everywhere from toilets, sinks to mirrors. The results were great. Not only did it get things clean looking and smelling but there was a great sense of accomplishment. Truly, I must be a cleaning geek to think the word "accomplishment" while I am cleaning the toilet. But there was.

Then I used baking soda and about the same amount of vinegar in the toilet bowl and let it sit for a few minutes and then scrubbed. Voila. Clean again.

Mr. Clean was out and Mrs. Green was in full effect! At least for that afternoon. I haven't had the vim and vigour of the cleaning nut that I had been that day when I was first experimenting, but I am happy with the results of switching over to some homemade cleaners.

I do still use a natural wood floor cleaner that looks like they disclose all their ingredients and I do occassionally use diluted bleach carefully for disinfection of some surfaces (i.e. meat cutting boards and second-hand toys). But for most jobs, my vinegar concoctions work wonders.

I am still debating the merits of bleach as I have read arguments for and against the household use of bleach. The "Chlorine Conundrum" by the National Geographic Green Guide is an interesting read (http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/95/bleach). Apparently it is the most common cleaner accidently swallowed by children (somewhere in the range of 25,000 kids swallow or are exposed to it in the U.S. every year!) so that fact alone should make me more cautious about using it.

If you are interested in making your own cleaners, there are some great websites and resources that are easily found. My favourite so far is the Guide to Less Toxic Products (recommended by the Lung Association of Canada) at http://www.lesstoxicguide.ca/index.asp?fetch=household#allp

You may want to use caution with essential oils. You can always just use good old lemons and citrus oils are safe. But be careful about using the oft recommended lavender and tea tree oils- as they mimic estrogens and have been linked to the increase in the growth of breast tissue in boys. (http://www.webmd.com/content/article/131/118124) Also, borax is often recommended as it is a natural mineral but it does have inhalation warnings because it is a powder that can irritate the lungs.

Here are a few basic cleaners I've made:

Multi-purpose surface cleaner 1:4 vinegar to water in spray bottle (with about 6 drops lemon or orange oil is nice)

Tub/sink/toilet cleaner sprinkle baking soda and then vinegar on it to make a paste and use a scrub brush to clean and rinse with water

Natural bleach vinegar or hydrogen peroxide (not totally natural but a better alternative)

I use a tbsp or two of baking soda in with my laundry powder and a tbsp or two of vinegar in the bleach compartment for smelly laundry---like diapers.

* Also, SUNLIGHT can be an excellent whitener and stain remover. Seriously! Leave it in the sun for a few hours and you will be amazed.

Drain cleaner pour 1/2 cup baking soda down the drain, followed by a 1/2 cup of vinegar. Cover drain for a few minutes and then pour really hot water down the drain.

There are so many other ones to make using ingredients like lemon juice, borax, and castille (vegetable oil) soaps. The recipes and fun are endless. Happy Cleaning!

P.S. Grandpa, you are next on the hit list. No more visits until you construct that compost bin!

Milking the Consumer?

Last week I bought conventional (i.e. non-organic) milk, cheese and yogurt.

Hold your applause, nay-sayers!

Well, the fact was that I had spent a small fortune on organic milk the last several months, only to be dumping most of it down the drain when my finicky M would refuse to drink her milk. I was feeling like I was literally pouring money down the drain. At over $6.00 for a 2 litre bottle, it was really cutting into my (non-existant, but desperately needed) grocery budget. Husband gasped at the price when he found one of my grocery bills. After some debating about the merits of organic dairy, he insisted that if I was going to buy organic that I only buy organic for the kidlets and conventional for him.

Then I started wondering. What makes organic dairy so much better than conventional that you need to pay nearly twice the price?

A friend had mentioned that she had heard that Canada doesn't allow the use of growth hormones or antibiotics. I thought this needed more investigation. After some basic research, I found this was indeed the case. Hurray for Canada! Those poor Americans, drinking Bovine Growth Hormone in addition to their milk! I just watched a little snippet of "The World According to Monsanto", a movie about the mega corporation that is basically taking over worldwide food production with their GMOs. Really worth watching. The movie discussed the links between BGH and breast and prostate cancers that the manufacturer knew about, but chose to overlook.

Apparently the manufacturer, Monsanto, even tried to bribe officials at Health Canada in order to get BGH passed in Canada. A few brave scientists stood up against the mammoth corporation and were later fired from Health Canada. Curious. I guess this is a whole other issue about food safety and large corporations influencing the decision-makers. Scary, but I digress.

I also found out that Canada doesn't allow antibiotic residues in dairy milk. Antibiotics are allowed, as the Canadian Dairy Association says it is cruel to not allow an animal to be treated for an illness, but the milk is dumped until there are no detectable residues found in the milk. http://www.dairygoodness.ca/en/consumers/food/dairy-products/milk/the-canadian-dairy-farm.htm

Organic milk is often touted as being "healthier" but I found an interesting, and rather one-sided study, that takes issue with that statement. In this study, the Centre for Dairy Research found that there is no marked difference in the nutritional value of organic milk versus conventional milk. The article states that the most important factor in determining a more nutritious cow milk(i.e. such as containing more Omega 3s) is access to high quality, fresh pasture. http://www.cdr.wisc.edu/pdf/07julrustyorganic.pdf

So, this seems to makes sense but don't forget to look at where the article is coming from. It doesn't discuss any particular "disadvantages" of conventional milk. It may not be the most independent study but it does acknowledge that feed is an important factor in the quality of milk. This is one bonus point for any milk that comes from happy cows that are able to roam and graze in a nice pasture.

At this point, I was really leaning towards conventional milk because the differences between the two did not seem significant. I mean, if conventional milk doesn't have antibiotic residues or BGH, what am I buying organic for?

I went to stock up on our week's worth of conventional (Dairyland) milk, yogurt and cheese. Buying it gave me a sense of freedom from my earlier adherence to the principal that organic must always be better...but it made me question, maybe it was at least better sometimes?'

Then I began thinking about pesticides in dairy as they have been on the forefront of my mind lately with the work we are doing to make Richmond pesticide-free (well, cosmetic pesticide- free). The Organic Center (http://www.organic-centre.org/) is a fantastic resource for looking at this issue. Of course, they do want to further organic farming methods, but they do so with peer-reviewed and extensively researched materials, mostly from U.S. goverment sources such as the USDA.

Their article on pesticides in milk was very informative (http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/Milk_Pesticides_FAQs.pdf). To summarize, the USDA's Pesticide Data Program tested milk in 2004 and found that all conventional and organic milk samples contained the pesticides DPA and DDE (a breakdown product of DDT). This was expected and is "normal" as these pesticides still persist in the environment even though they were banned in the 1970s. It will take years for them to fall off into undetectable levels but apparently, it will happen. But the interesting part of this study was that 24% of the conventional milk tested contained synthetic pyethroids and almost 9% contained a product of an insecticide called carbofuran. The organic milk did not detect any level of either of these pesticides.

The most interesting part of this article was that they compared the levels of pesticides you'd find in an apple to that found in dairy. Apparently, if you are concerned with pesticides, you should start with buying organic apples! 100 conventional apple samples contained an average of 1,210 parts per billion of a pesticide known as diphenylamine but the conventional dairy samples contained an upper level sample of 0.5 parts per billion. This study doesn't consider all pesticides but knowing the basic comparisons was informative.

The problem with pesticides is that they build up in little increments over time in your body (from your food, your lawn products, from your drinking water, etc.) Even if 0.5 ppb seems small, it is still a measureable amount of pesticide in something you, or your child, are consuming. There is growing evidence that pesticides are toxic to humans and can lead to serious health problems, such as: miscarriages, early birth weights, leukemia, brain tumours, lymphoma and cancers that affect the kidney, prostate, pancreas and lung. The Canadian Cancer Society also states that babies and children are at an even greater risk from pesticides because their immune systems are still developing.

Well, the search continued... and I was really interested to learn more about the differences between organic and conventional dairy locally, so I called Avalon Dairy. I assumed that Avalon Dairy was a small, local dairy that was probably as close to "organic" as I needed if I was going to go the conventional route. The glass bottles just screamed "buy me because I am from a small, local dairy with happy cows".

But apparently Avalon's conventional dairy comes from a dairy pool. Yep, no small scale dairy but a processing plant. Their milk does come from various dairy farmers in the Fraser Valley, where one requirement is that the cows are pastured at least 6-8 hours a day. The milk is brought in to their plant and processed in much the same way it would be at larger dairies; it is pasteurized, homogenized and bottled.

But it was their other side- their organic dairy that was really made me question some of my earlier ideas of going conventional. They stated that their organic dairy cows are from two certified organic dairies- Bradner Farms in Abbotsford and one on Barnston Island. To begin, the cows' drinking water is filtered four times, the cows have at least 16 hours on organic pasture a day (more than twice what a conventional milking cow would get) and then their supplemental feed is certified organic, and free from GMOs (another topic that comes up in the Monsanto film that is fascinating and terrifying all at once!) Avalon's website also states that they don't use antibiotics at all in their organic dairy and rely on holistic methods to address animal health, which is required by their organic certification. (http://www.avalondairy.com/certified.html)

The other major organic milk producer in B.C. is Olympic Dairy. They state on their website that they are certified organic by the Certified Organic Association of British Columbia (COABC), and that the term organic, "describes a process of food production that avoids the use of synthetic inputs such as chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, chemical growth regulators/hormones and antibiotics." (http://www.olympicdairy.com/health-education/organic.html)

Sounds pretty good. It seems like the cows, the environment and public health is held in high regard with their organic practices. Since good quality and quantity of pasture consumed by cows seems to determine a more nutritious milk, and organic cows are getting significantly more pasture time, this would lend a point to the organic side. I can also be confident that no GMOs (or, aptly named, "Franken-foods") are splashing into my child's breakfast cereal. Another point! What is that 2? 3 points? I am starting to think that maybe I may have acted too rashly when pushing aside my organic beliefs this time.

This week I bought organic dairy again. Well, it was on sale. I will be buying it whenever I can now that I know how much better organic can be. That said, I have to say I also feel a certain level of safety that at least our goverment has banned BGH in milk and that when we go out for dinner, M and E can have a glass of conventional milk. But, if we are ever in the U.S., then they will be allowed to drink anything they want as long as it isn't milk!

Bottoms up!

Peachy Clean?

Oh, the peaches! The nectarines! The lovely stone fruits! The peachy perfection- a rich, deep orange colour with just a hint of blush- just waiting to be devoured!

M is enticed and about to grab one from the mountain of fruit while I narrowly avoid an avalanche by veering the cart away from them . Hmmm...they aren't in the organic section. And they definitely aren't local. But they are from California...that must not be too bad? Is it?

I wasn't quite sure and I thought that this needed a little more investigation before I allow a conventional peach to pass through her lips. Am I paranoid?

Maybe, you say. Well, read on and see for yourself.

Did you know that peaches are one of the worst pesticide offenders out there? Maybe you should be looking at that glorious peach you hold in your hand with just a little more skepticism. A peach is no longer just a peach- along with that delicious flesh and fiber, you could be consuming up to nine different pesticides! I'm sure you didn't plan on that.

They actually top the list of the Environmental Working Group's DIRTY DOZEN Guide to the most pesticide-ridden fruits and vegetables that consumers regularly buy. (http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php) Those that follow are apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines and strawberries, as well as many other offenders.

Now, you're asking: why should I care?

You should care because your health and that of those you love and nourish is at risk. There have been numerous studies that show increasing links between health problems and pesticides. This is especially important when you consider those little ones (and those unborn!) in your household who are most vulnerable. Toddlers ingest more food and drink in relation to their body weight than adults. Their bodies and organs are still developing and the impact of pesticides on their little bodies at these times of increased growth is even greater. Not to mention the fact that pesticide residues build up in your body over time.

The U.S. National Research Council commissioned a 1993 report entitled, "Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children" and the findings are scary. Not only do they state that some pesticides can cause adverse effects on human health, including cancer, lung damage, reproductive dysfunction, and possibly dysfunction of the endocrine and immune systems. They also state that, "for certain chronic toxic effects such as cancer, exposures occurring early in life may pose greater risks than those occurring later in life". http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2126&page=323

This doesn't sound like a risk that I should be willing to take with my children's health. So I am trying to do better now that I know better. There really are no acceptable levels of pesticides. Now it seems there are only acceptable levels of risk. How to lower this risk?

Before I was careful to wash my produce thoroughly. I thought this would remove most pesticide residues. Well, I found out that only removes traces of some pesticides. Peeling it? That might help remove even more pesticide residue but in the end, it also removes much of the fiber and nutrition that we need.

What can we do then?

Well, try to buy organic when you can, and focus especially the "Dirty Dozen". The Environmental Working Group has a handy dandy guide that you can print off and tuck into your purse or wallet for easy reference. If you do just replace these top offenders, you could reduce your pesticide exposure by up to 90 percent!

The EWG's website states that if you eat the 12 most contaminated fruits and veggies, you could be consuming up to 14 different pesticides per day. If you eat the 12 least contaminated fruits and veggies, you could be exposed to less than 2.

Get in the know! Check out the EWG's informative website so you can start making better buying decisions: http://www.foodnews.org/reduce.php and start telling others about it too. Not enough is known about this important health issue.

So, until I can get my hands on some clean (i.e. pesticide-free!) organic peaches then M has to suffer with whatever organic fruits come in our box this week or things at the bottom of the Dirty Dozen list, like pineapples, mangos and kiwis. But I don't hear her complaining as the mango juice runs down her contented face.

The Enviro- & Cost-saving Costco Trip?

You have to love a store like Costco. Less packaging means eco-savings and cost-savings too. It is essentially an environmentally-friendly store.

Or at least that is what I like to tell myself when we are off to slap down what I know will be at least a few hundred dollars. Our handy list reads: Ecos natural laundry detergent, Kashi cereal, Silver Hills organic bread and organic salad mix- all these terrific, organic or natural products at a significant cost savings compared to other stores that sell the smaller versions at almost the same price. This was awesome! It was really good that we had found all these natural products at Costco of all places. And did I mention the organic tofu???

Where is my list? I just had it and...M must have confisicated it. Not sure where she left it and I am not about to plough our cart back through the crowds to find it.

Then my vision gets blurred...bright shiny red peppers, gorgeously plump grapes, and a different imported French cheese that we could try. I also see a nice jacket that looks like it would be great for fall, some kids books that M would just love, and some CDs. The cart grows weary under the strain of a mountain of groceries, books, CDs, clothes, and- somewhere in the mix- a toddler.

Then it hits me- I didn't read the label. Where were the BC Hot House Bell Peppers from? You'd think B.ritish C.olumbia- but Mexico? I begin reconsidering my purchases- red peppers are on the "Dirty Dozen" list (http://www.foodnews.org/), one of the worst offenders for pesticide residues (No. 3 to be exact!) No wonder they are such an appealing, glowing red colour. The imported grapes from Chile don't fare too much better as they come in at number 9. And imported cheese? Shouldn't I be buying local? What happened to my resolution to buy local, organic products and support local business?

And the jacket, books and CD? Consumerism at its best! Unneeded impulse buys, to be sure! Not exactly the most environmentally friendly thing to do.

And I am pretty sure all these last-minute additions were made in China. I was trying to avoid buying stuff from overseas (you know, the fossil fuels are just burning up!), but especially China (human rights issues, among other things). It made me reflect (yes, reflect! MT) on the video I had watched online just a few months earlier about what our consumerist-driven society is doing to our Earth (http://www.storyofstuff.com/). What was I thinking???

What has happened to me? To us? Husband was looking at computer equipment too, so it is not just me on this slippery, slippery slope.

Meanwhile, M is muching on everything from every food demo station we pass. Bad, because I usually read labels of everything she eats and today she is chowing on everything over-processed from crackers to cream puffs. Good, because she didn't eat any of her organic milk and cereal this morning and really needs a little something to get her through the line-up without a major meltdown.

Then I remember the hilarious SNL skit about Costco being the best place to take a date out for dinner and I realize that this must be true for toddlers too. M looked like she was having the time of her life- little bites here and there, a variety of foods (dessert even comes first here!), no pressure to eat because mom & dad are busy shopping, and a welcome diversion from the monotonous ride in the shopping cart. Well, maybe it isn't sooo bad, she is eating after all and she hasn't eaten a good meal in a few days.

As we exit the store, I think that maybe, just maybe, Costco isn't exactly the most environmentally-friendly store. But we must have saved ourselves some money and at least M did get lunch out of the deal. I remind myself that waiting at home are our organic, locally grown carrots and hopefully they can undo some of the damage we've done.

What a trip. Literally and figuratively.

It's Tinklebell! (OR How to Compost with Kids!)

So, we decided that the next step in our evolving eco-consciousness was to get a compost going. After months of talking about it we decided to take the plunge and confront our biggest challenge yet---to be serious composters. No funny business this time. We had done it previously at our last house but we didn't realize the relationship that one needs to have with one's compost pile. We were bad compost caregivers. We didn't turn the pile, layer with brown materials, or cut the pieces into small enough pieces. What we had was a pile of stinking, rotten veg and fruit that was attracting all sorts of unwanted guests, not the soft, moist brown pile of luscious earth that we had wanted.

We attempted to make amends with our past.

We drove the double stroller to the city works yard to pick up our city-subsidized large black plastic composter.

When I said to the woman that we had a hard time figuring out where to actually get a backyard composter, she said that the city doesn't really like to publicize this as it costs them money for every composter they sell to the public. This was a little like looking for the really trendy restaurant (with a pink door) that doesn't have a name or an address and no one really can give very clear directions on how to get there... but somehow you manage to find it!

This all sounds too brilliant. You'd think that the city would consider the far-reaching consequences of selling composters to local residents since nearly 30 percent of a household's garbage can be composted! Imagine that! But, I digress.

We had to take the kids out of the stroller in order to wheel home the enormous composter box. It seemed like a nice little project for husband and #1 child (M) to tackle. There was a gleam in their eyes as they stood it up all put together and M declares, "I'm a fixer like daddy!" Then she was off to gather sticks to line the bottom of the composter---another great job for a little one to scavenge in the park outside our house, except she found everything but sticks.

Meanwhile, I got to reading the little booklets that came with the composter to figure out what I needed to know. Again. We had done this before but I forgot some of what I could and couldn't compost.

Some of the more intriguing compostables:

paper towels. Hurray! I never composted this before but with little kids we go through paper towels like water (another thing I need to work on!) so at least I can feel not quite so bad about it now.
dryer lint. Hmmm. Ok. I think I can do that.
pet manure. Well, only that of rabbits, gerbils, guinea pigs, sheep, horses and cows. Luckily we get to skip this one as we don't have any of the forementioned animals sharing our townhouse.
human hair. Curious. Should I be cleaning my brush and taking the hair down to the composter every morning? Or should I be gathering a pile of hair in a container in which to later compost? I'm not sure I can do this either. M has a marked and rather violent phobia of hair. Not her hair but any other hair she encounters. I guess this one is out too as I need to dispose of it ASAP if I want to avoid a major meltdown. Which is tantamount to peace in the Middle East right now.

Well we got going and started collecting the normal compostables- fruit and vegetable trimmings, egg shells, tea bags, coffee grounds- in our compostable salad container on the counter. We (ahem, I should say husband) took it out every evening. Despite this, within days we had some major fruit fly action happening.

I started researching how to kill these curious pests. By hand? Impossible. Luring them into a paper cone with the sweet scent of balsamic vinegar? Plausible. Then I talked to my sister. She said it worked for her so I was off to entrap and eventually kill the little buzzers.

Well, I got one. By shoving him into the cone, I finally got one! But I am pretty sure he alerted all his buddies to this business because they were swarming the cup but no one dared enter.

Later M and I were eating lunch and a fly was buzzing around her cherry tomatoes. I got up trying desperately to kill the thing. M jumps up and says, "Look at the fairy!" I immediately halted. I know what she thinks of fairies. She loves them. How did she think fruit flies are fairies? I cannot kill what she loves...can I?

"It's Tinklebell!!!" Tinklebell? Yikes. I am in trouble.

This really made me rethink the compost materials on the kitchen counter. I needed to find something to keep the flies at bay. Something with an airtight seal but not too big or hideous. Then I stumbled upon it...at Ikea...the perfect composting container EVER! It looks like a beautiful piece of kitchen ware but really hides the rotting flesh of vegetable and fruit matter with no more fairies!

P.S. By the way, just shared this post with husband and found out that HE was the one who started the fairy/fruit fly pairing! Apparently he needed some way for M to deal with all the fruit flies in our house, who is scared of insects too right now. But, curiously, not of fairies that look suspiciously like insects.

P.S.S. We are learning to be better compost caregivers...

Diapers with a conscience...

I guess it was the fact that we now had two kidlets in disposable diapers, generating a horrendous amount of bagged garbage, (not to mention the back strain that resulted from my husband trying to heave those bad boys into the dumpster!) which made me realize this really could not continue. This coupled with the cost of buying disposables made me think. Really think.

The environmental and "wallet" cost seemed to be adding up. Our little green beans were contributing to the plastic waste that will last more than 300 years in the landfill...I began imagining a world full of nothing but disposable diapers in the future. And at a cost of nearly $2,000 to "conveniently" diaper in disposables for the first few years...it wasn't seeming so smart or convenient anymore.

This got the brain cranking and creaking. I started to ask around. A couple people I knew were doing it...

CLOTH DIAPERING.

Sounded scary. I thought about pins and cloth diapers---how was I going to get those pins in the diapers of my very squirmy baby? I could imagine a blood bath- pricked fingers trying to open those pins and trying to not hurt baby with them. And the plastic pants to cover the soaking cloth diapers? Yucky, smelly, heat-trapping plastic pants that I used to use when I babysit for those crazy hippies years ago. I imagined a giant pail of stinky, dirty diapers that I would need to wade into with rubber gloves, protective eyewear, and a clothespin on my nose in order to transfer to a washing machine with the ensuing spilled sewage all over the floor. I thought about a pail of stinking diapers in the kids' rooms that would make the house a less than inhabitable place for our family. Then I imagined the time consumption of such a decision. Hours every week, wasted on cleaning, washing and drying diapers. And just what do you do with the poo---leave it in the diaper? Wash it in the toilet? My husband wasn't all that gung ho about all this either. But somehow, despite these seemingly endless excuses, I decided to perservere.

Then, I found out the reality of using cloth or reusable diapers. There are a myriad of choices. Many new ones mimic the convenience of disposable diapers and they are really easy to use! If you use a flushable liner it puts poop where it belongs and makes it even easier. Also they are easy to wash by keeping them (and washable wipes) in a big laminated bag that you can throw into the washer with the diapers. No hard-to-pin cloth diapers, no stinky rubber pant covers, no rubber gloves, no clothespins (for the nose at least! I do use them for line drying outside sometimes) and no spilled sewage! And probably now a time saver, and gas saver!, considering that now that I don't have to go to the store to buy diapers and wipes!

Ok, so this all sounds pretty good. Well, my husband is pleasantly surprised that the diapering is easy- just like disposables- the only way I could really get him on board with this decision. He does sometimes complain about the acidic smell when he opens the laundry bag to insert a dirty diaper but this is a pretty minor offense compared to all the other benefits.

I just love our little green Bum Genius 3.0 diapers. I can't believe how absorbant they are! I tried several reusable/cloth diapers in a cloth diaper test program (http://www.newandgreen.com/) and they were my overall favourite. They are also easy on the budget as they can be fully adjustable from newborn until 35 lbs. I have about 20 reusable diapers and do laundry every 3 days. A total investment of about $ 400. And this is one of the more expensive options, as you can go for simple prefold cotton diapers and better plasticized covers for less than $200.

I also love the feel of a soft bamboo diaper and like how they are anti-bacterial. If we get even a hint of a diaper rash, we simply slip a bamboo liner into our diapers and it instantly disappears. There are so many different kinds of reusables that it can be overwhelming...but don't let that stop you...ask around, try out friend's diapers, and even try the test diaper kits that are springing up all over now.

Check out the website http://www.realclothdiaperassociation.org/ for more info on the environmental impact, health issues and cost of disposable and cloth diapers.

It is much easier than I thought. I totally recommend cloth or reusable diapers to as it has to be one of the most effective ways to reduce your baby's impact on the environment and make your little green bean truly green :)