Hey you guys, how goes the challenge? I will be doing a blog today touching on some great tools to help anyone new to this idea get a modest start :) I have received some emails from serveral eager bodies who would like to do their part in leiu of Occupy starting. I think you all rock, we may not all be savy in speech and literature to show support in the movement but do not feel as though you cannot contribute. Actions can speak louder than words and I myself am a big kudos giver on action. We need to back up our cries and pleas with action. Words look good, hell anything can look good on paper, but its in the action that these words come to life. Now a big part of this movement is finally setting a wide spread need of a more sustainable lifestyle, we need to rely more on ourselves to do things as opposed to paying to have things done for us, this is making us to reliant on the 1% this needs to end. No realistically, it would be too extreme for most to stop this habbit over night, but I can help and support you in starting more modestly. Here is a great read for some philosphy on reaching a more economical lifestyle:
http://www.sustainableguide.com/books/details.php?bid=B-1559633891&rid=2 This is an amazing read and I highly reccommend it to those who wish to better understand why this is important to each of our cause. Even those against the Occupy movement this is a much better lifestyle economically.
One of my first suggested topics, the pros of using Cloth Diapers !! Some advantages and disadvantages of each are presented at the following site: http://www.thelaboroflove.com/articles/cloth-diapers-versus-disposable-diapers-pros-and-cons
I know we live in a world that greatly promotes disposables, and I regret to inform I was not even brought to the attention of Cloth Diapers when my son was born :( I have been told in the last while that Cloth Diapers are a great economical concious alternative. They are also a great way to help localized Diaper launders in your area. Here is a list of pros and cons of the different varieties:
http://www.diaperpin.com/clothdiapers/article_differentsystems.asp
For the glossary for terminology please refer to http://www.diaperpin.com/dictionary.asp
Another point I would like to touch on this, if you are not interested in the cleaning part, before dismissing, see if there is a local business in your area that tends to this. I know of one in my area and I am very rural PEI. So in a city there must be this service somewhere. Those who practice this swear only by cloth diapers. These have come a long way since the older Clothed Diaper in terms of material cleaning as well as convenience in doing them up. Anyone who has personal experience with CDs please comment below so that others who are interested will know who they can reach out too for some more personable advice. I did disposable for my first son, and if I should have another child I am eagar to try to use the Cloth Diapers as I know now this could have been a choice I had this time around. Please realize that sometimes choosing a more economical approach on life we need to sacrafice a little more of our time and effort, but I find the aftermath to be rewarding and therefore I get to feel a little more of that accomplished feeling each day. There are also some really great video tutorial on youtube.com. If you are willing to give this alternative a try, I would suggest finding someone before hand and soaking up as much advise from them on the cleaning, and diaper type as possible as that will alert you on the types of situations you may run into.
Thank you so much Kay for your suggestion I feel as though I have done this post to its full potential as I haven’t experienced this first hand. Should the opportunity present itself my way again I am certainly going to take it up and then I will know more on it personally.
Thanks for tuning in ladies and gents, catch yas later I hope tomorrow I will provide a post on localized shopping and services that serve your community!
Chelsea
There's a whole world of CDers out there. Diaperswappers.com is a great community to learn from - it's an entire site dedicated to cloth diapering. Most baby websites, such as BabyZone.com and BabyCenter.com have cloth diapering boards.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the one place in Charlottetown where we could get good cloth diapers has closed, but many companies actually offer a trial service, where they send you a variety of types and you get to test out what works best for your lifestyle and baby.
I believe Sterns does offer a diaper service, but diaper services are usually prefold cloth diapers, which a lot of people don't like, and they are rather 'one size fits all.' It is actually more expensive than disposables, in my experience. Sill good for the environmental aspect.
Honestly, it isn't much work for me. 2-3 loads of laundry a week, and ten minutes to stuff/fold (though some people just keep the clean ones in a basket, I just happen to like folding them.)
The biggest issue for us was getting started. It is a big up-front cost. But we developed a good stash for around $200 - equivalent to about five big cases of diapers - and that suited our son until he was out of diapers.
It offers a good way to be conscious of other social issues as well. A lot of WAHMs - Work At Home Moms - run small diaper-making businesses or stores to help support their families, and there is a great variety of well-made diapers from WAHMs. I like to support other Canadian moms through my purchases. :)
~Kay