Thursday, May 28, 2009

Update on the switch to cloth nappies

It's been two and a half months since we made the switch to cloth nappies, so I thought I'd update those of you who are interested on how that is going. All in all, I'm very pleased! I still cannot comment as to how green the switch is (jury is still out on landfill v laundry), but I do appreciate how much less I am throwing away and how less stinky our trash has become. It seemed to me that we were always filling our trash to the brim when using disposables, and now that's definitely not the case. I find it pretty easy to toss a load of that day's diapers in the washing machine after the girls go to bed. They are ready to air-dry by the time we go to bed, and most of the time they are dry by the next morning (now that it's gotten so cool in the house, they do better to dry in the sunshine). Once a week, I run a hot wash with baking soda and no clothing to clean out the washing machine and avoid any poo residue that might be lurking. The particular brand of nappies we bought hasn't given us much trouble. You know I couldn't resist one of every color, and that has made it easy to remember which ones have started to leak (3 out of 14). I'm pretty disappointed about that development, given it has only been less than 3 months of use. I am going to contact the company and see what they say (I'll let you know).

Also on the green front, I am embarrassed to admit I haven't pursued composting any further. I keep meaning to, and I keep forgetting. Rather poor form on my part! I will remedy that this weekend. I have a feeling I will do bokashi instead of worms, because I am afraid it will be too cold for the worms soon and I don't want to do worm composting in the house. Baby Stephanie loves playing in the dirt almost as much as she loves playing in water, and I can just picture her toddling down the hall with fistfuls of composting worms. No thank you.

3 comments:

schlelly said...

I'll be very suspicious if the company tells you not to wash them as frequently as you do...

Thanks for the updates - always better to hear the stories from direct experience! The nappies are still an abstract concept to me but invaluable info for future reference! Once you get experience with composting I'm eager to hear what you learn from the process.

Thanks again!

Karly said...

Thanks for sharing the update...I've been wondering how the switch to cloth was working for you. I'm curious to hear what the company has to say when you talk to them.

And also, I'd love to hear more about your composting once you get going...I don't even know the difference between the two types that you mentioned, so I'm eager to learn more!!

Anonymous said...

Worms? Eeee gad, no way!

As for the nappies, shall we write to you now at "blitznappies.com"?

Hee hee, I am a trouble maker!

Mimi