Reusable Diapers

After my daughter was born I decided I wanted to use reusable diapers. Not only are they good for the environment, but they're easy on the wallet too. The average family spends almost $2,400/child on disposables and they all end up in the landfill! In fact, disposable diapers take about 500 years to fully decompose and are the third most common item in our landfills. What a waste!

Before you completely dismiss the idea of using reusables let me take this opportunity to make one thing perfectly clear...reusable diapers have come a long way from the old rectangular cloths that you're picturing in your head. You know the ones I'm talking about... You're more likely to see one of those on a mother's shoulder being used as a burp rag then on a baby's butt! Anyway...

After my normal extensive research I decided to go with the Bum Genius brand diapers. These diapers have stretchy velcro fasteners and snaps that allow you to adjust the size of the diaper as your baby grows. The outside liner is waterproof and the inside lining is super soft. They have worked really well for me and my daughter has had little to no trouble with diaper rash. I ordered 18 of them from Cottonbabies.com for around $600...whoa...did I just say $600!? That's right...but you do the math. If the average person spends $2400/child on disposables...and I spent only $600...then I saved roughly... $1800!!! As a bonus I'm planning on using the same diapers if we have another baby.

We still use disposable diapers when we take our daughter out on the town when we know we'll be out for a while, and at night because disposables are more absorbent over long periods of time. That being said, the reusables are my preferred choice for any situation where she doesn't have to wear the same diaper for countless hours on end.

Hit the links and check them out!

Composting

As strange as it may sound, I am passionate about making compost. If I had the money I would probably have already tried one of every type of composting system on the market, but I don't, so for now I must make do with my current bin composter.

It's a very low budget composting system that even the least handy handyman can make. I bought two Rubbermaid bins for $4 each and drilled holes (well, I had my hubby drill the holes, but it looked pretty easy), in the upper portion and the lid for aeration, and also in the bottom for drainage. The holes keep the compost aerobic so it will break down faster...and be less smelly.

I collect kitchen scraps daily in a container and then empty them into the composter every few days. I also add lots of shredded paper (junk mail) into the compost to help absorb excess moisture. Garden waste can be used also but you have to be careful about putting weeds in the compost. You don't want to spread weeds throughout your garden when it's time to use your compost! After I've filled one Rubbermaid container I'll let it sit while I fill up the second one. After about 3 months, I have beautiful, dark, compost or "black gold" to mulch my plants with.

Think of the amount of waste that could be reduced in our landfills if everyone made their own compost! You may think, what's the big deal, it's food - it's biodegradable. This is true, but what most people don't take into consideration is that most landfills are completely contained to keep any toxic substances from seeping into the earth and contaminating water supplies. So the food just sits there...in plastic bags...taking up space. Plus, what good will that compost be if it's sitting in a landfill?

If you are interested in composting, here are several links to feed your curiosity.
Composting in General
Bin Composting
Worm Composting
Nature Mill's automatic composter
Sheet composting
Composters

Car-free for 3 Days Now

We did it! We sold our car last Friday! It took some time for me to convince my husband that we could do it, but after moving downtown I eventually won him over to my side. That being said we didn't do this "cold turkey". We've been trying to use the car as little as possible over the past several months leading up to this decision. How do you use the car less you ask? By using your legs!

We both have bikes (mine's a pink cruiser with a basket and a big pink flower attached), and we just started biking or walking more instead of driving. I'll usually walk to a place if it is about a mile or less away, otherwise I will bike. My bike has a light on the front and reflectors, so I feel pretty safe riding at night.
However, as long as we still owned a car, I was constantly tempted (and usually succumbed) to driving places that I could have biked to. But now it's gone, so I'll be forced to bike and walk everywhere. Hey - it will be good for me. It will build character (and muscles).

Do you really need to own a car? You may think you do, but there are so many other options out there. If you live in a central location, close to work, school, or shopping, then you could easily do away with your car. Even if you have to rent a car 6 times a month, it's still cheaper than owning a car. Plus, some car rental services (enterprise) will actually pick you up from your house. A few larger cities now have car sharing programs such as Zipcar, found here . With these, you can rent a car by the hour or by the day. They are parked in different locations throughout the city, so you are usually within walking distance to a rental car. Finally, almost every city has some form of public transportation system. I think my husband and I will get a bus pass soon and try it out. The ones here in Lexington have bike racks on the front of the bus which will extend the range that we can travel.

Even better than saving money, we are doing our part to save the environment by cutting down the carbon emissions that our car was producing, and it was an SUV so you know it was a lot.

Edmond's.com is a good place to get an idea of what you are really spending on your car. We would have spent about 33 thousand dollars over a period of 5 years on the car we owned. Personally, I can think of better ways to spend my money.

Well Hello There

This is my first blog post ever! Yippee!

I titled this blog Enviro-Girl because it's going to be all about my lifestyle and how I am "going green"...and dragging my family along kicking and screaming! I'm sure I will include some other fun stuff too.

So, about me: I am a 30 year old stay at home mom. I have a 20 month old baby girl who is sooo cute. I work part-time at a nursery. I have a bachelor's degree in elementary education but am not using it because I'm not much of a disciplinarian, and you really have to be to control 25 kids by yourself. Too bad I didn't realize that before I spent 6 years in college. Oh well, lesson learned. My husband is a full-time college student, so we have practically no income, which leads me to another reason why I'm trying to be environmentally friendly - it's cheaper!

I live in downtown Lexington, Kentucky. Living downtown makes it so easy to go green (more on that later).

I really enjoy reading, singing, playing board games (Settlers of Catan, Cranium, Scrabble), watching Dancing With the Stars, and The Biggest Loser (shout out to my girl Kristen).
I am a super girly sorority girl. Don't get me started, or I'll sing my sorority songs all day. I love teeny bopper movies, and I'm a wanna-be cheerleader. Example - I'm 30 years old, and I was watching High School Musical earlier today. Love It!

Anyway, I have a growing passion for the environment and want to make this planet a better, and safer, place for my daughter.

I hope you enjoy my blog and please feel free to leave a comment. In fact, that would really make my day since I've never received one before!