Thursday, February 25, 2010

Back in Cloth/ New Energy Star Appliances

So the Green Mommy is happy to say that our new energy star dishwasher and washing machine (along with a really energy efficient dryer) are here and working.
Recently we bought a dishwasher. We decided they really do use less water than hand washing and with a baby we needed the extra help. So we found a really great deal on a really great energy star dishwasher. Of course mere days after we spent the money on this (tapping out our savings), our washing machine broke! So we had to wait until we got our tax refund back in order to purchase a new one. Since our washer and dryer were a combo set(one won't work without the other) this meant a new dryer too. So we figured we would take advantage of the need and upgrade to an energy star washer and a energy efficient dryer.
However from the washer breaking, to when we got our tax money was about a month. So in that month I was washing loads of clothes by hand in our tub. That meant diapers too. After about 3 weeks of hand washing poopy diapers I finally had had enough. My hands were cracked and bleeding, I had a sore back, and had touched enough poo to last a lifetime. So since I knew we were buying the new washer soon I switched (briefly) to disposable diapers. We still had some on hand that people had given us so I didn't even go buy new ones. By the time the washer was set up yesterday I was so ready to get him back in cloth you have no idea!
Simply from a convenience point of view the disposables were a nightmare. My son quickly learned how to get out of them, they always leaked, he got rashes, they tore, pieces broke off, they shredded. By the end of the week and a half or so we were in disposables I wanted to scream. I loved cloth before but now I am only reaffirmed in that love!
The main argument people always use when I tell them how much I love cloth is this "It's not even better for the environment because of all the extra water and electric usage." Well our new washer uses between 16-50$ a YEAR in water and electric. The amount of that that is actually from diaper washing will probably amount to 1-2$ a year. 1-2$ a year! It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.(Taken from thenewparentsguide.com)
Not to mention one of the greatest aspects of cloth diapers is when your baby grows out of them you can hand them down to a new family or your next kid. The cost then become almost nothing.
Oh Cloth how I love thee. This is one Green Mommy who is relieved to say we have a washing machine again and are happily back in cloth!!!!!

Total Pageviews

Followers