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It’s almost showtime.
I just spent 30 minutes writing a really awesome blog post, and it is now gone. So here are the facts, in a much shorter bad grammar way!
I am ready to give birth.
I am excited about having a home birth, it’s been a fabulous pregnancy minus the gluten intolerance and back pain and ginormous belly!
My support team rocks! Midwives/doulas are the way to go!
I will keep everyone updated on FACEBOOK.
Baby I am ready to meet you, labor with you, give in to my body and heal my soul from the first birth experience.
Amen,
Andrea
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This is from my recent class at Birth Connections of Stillwater, OK
Being a frugal mom or dad doesn’t mean we have to give up the convenience factor, but if you are a frugal semi-crunchy mom consider these facts and try to help our earth and your wallet a little bit more!
THE KITCHEN
PAPER TOWELS:
Average of 8 rolls/month $8.00
Yearly cost: $96
3 years: $288
UnPaper Towels: $1.10 each
Yearly cost: $50
3 years: $50
SAVINGS: $46/year by using reusable!
WHY are paper towels such a big problem? Most times they are made using virgin tree pulp. Tree is cut down and harvested for a product that is going to be used ONE TIME! Dioxin (carcinogen/cancer causing) is sometimes used to bleach the paper and there is plenty of extra plastic wasted by packaging the paper towels. If you MUST have paper towels choose recycled paper towels.
Un-paper towels cause environmental issues too with processing BUT they are used for multiple times/years. Choose unbleached fabric for best choice.
FOOD TRASH:
If it’s vegetables, fruits, coffee grounds, egg shells COMPOST IT!
No need to throw these out, make a small pile in your back yard, cover with leaves and grass occasionally and use a shovel to mix it up!
More on composting :
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2006-10-01/Compost-Made-Easy.aspx
http://www.homecompostingmadeeasy.com/
REDUCE Plastic usage by using Reusables!
Reususable produce bags/shopping bags: $6.50 for 3/produce bags
Reusable Snack bags and sandwich baggies: $4-$5/each
1 spouse & 2 kids taking lunch: $45/year
Disposable Snack bags & baggies: $0.25 each/ 3 per lunch per day
Lunch taking person: $3.75/week or $193 year!!!! 2 people taking lunch: $386/yearly!
SAVINGS: $148/per person per year by using reusable snack/sandwich bags
Glass Jars/Containers for food travel/drink travel: Look for BPA FREE lids too! Or just make sure to leave space between lid and foods. $16/set of 6
Cloth Napkins: $1.00 each versus Disposable Napkins: $0.01 each
12 Napkins $12.00 many years use versus $0.05 per meal per day for family of five using one napkin each
REDUCE PARTY/PICNIC WASTE by investing in a Party Package or using your regular dishes!
3-4 parties per year: AVERAGE $75/disposable plates/cups/napkins/utensils
THE BATHROOM:
Toilet Paper:
Average human uses 160 rolls/year
Yearly cost: $130
3 years: $390
Family Cloth: $1.00 each want to have around 25 cloths per person in household
Yearly cost: $25-$300 (depending on family size)
3 years: $25-$300
Again, if family cloth sounds out of the question for you, buy recycled toilet paper. This is not the virgin pulp it’s from paper that has been used then it’s reprocessed into toilet paper.
Family cloth: a version of using cloth to wipe the FAMILIES BOOTIES!
here are some questions/answers from a full time family cloth user: 3 kids, 2 adults
S: I keep my wipes dry
S: I keep them folded on the back of the toilet.
S: Yes, I usually have a roll of toilet paper on hand for guests but we don’t get a lot of guests so sometimes I don’t!
S: I don’t wash differently. I actually don’t wash diapers anymore so all I do is dump in the washer and wash on hot. LOL, SUPER complicated, I know!!!
I. Do you have to spray or dunk any poop off or just wipe and throw in a bin?
S: I don’t EVER have to spray or dunk. It’s not like baby wipes…usually just a swipe or something (think skid marks LOL) on the cloth, so there really isn’t anything to have to dunk/spray off.
S: My pail is not lidded or hidden. It’s just a regular ol trashcan right next to the toilet. They don’t stink. I have actually gone on a laundry strike and they sat in the bathroom for 3 weeks with no washing and still no stink!
S: Nope!
S: I figured that my family would use 6 wipes per person per day (and you use way less wipes than you do toilet paper. It works way better, I feel cleaner, and it is way gentler on my girly parts). For me, I need 30 wipes per day, and I
want to wash once a week, so 210 wipes, plus an extra 30 for wash day. I had 240 wipes which comes down to 20 doz. If you want to wash less, then you would not need so much. Also, I have 3 bathrooms so it is spread out a bit.
and not like 20 doz. wipes all sitting out in a pile LOL
For family cloth visit LittleSquigglers.com and look at cloth wipes or look on etsy or artfire.
Tissue Facial Paper: (Kleenex)
Average cost $0.04/each
200 tissues per year used per person
Yearly cost: $8
3 Years: $24
FAMILY OF 5: $40/year $120 3/years
Handkerchiefs or CLOTH tissues: $1/each
Yearly cost: $24
3 Years: $24
You can scent your cloth tissues with eucalyptus, lavender, tea tree essential oils to give them a commercialized feel!
PADS & TAMPONS:
A woman will menstruate around 39 years on average using around 16,840 pads/tampons in her lifetime
Average cost of disposable pads/tampons: $0.45/each
Average cost of reusable pads: $6/each
Average cost of reusable tampon replacements: $25/each per year
Lifetime cost of disposables: $7,578
Lifetime cost of reusables: $1,400
SAVING: $6,178 using reusables
NURSING PADS:
A woman will use nursing pads for leakage on average 6 months after giving birth or 180 days per baby.
Average cost of disposables: $0.16/pair
Average cost of reusables: $5/pair
COST of disposables One child: $28.80
COST of disposables Two children: $57.60
COST of disposables Three children: $86.40
COST of reusables One child: $35
COST of reusables Two children: $45
COST of reusables Three children: $55
*Many times these have adhesive backgrounds, plastic, are bleached with dioxin and contain virgin tree pulp. So the SAVINGS with nursing pads is really environmental!
THE OFFICE:
Printing Paper: WE DON’T need to print everything! Think before you print!
USE RECYCLED! EMAIL!!!!
Printing Ink: Recycle cartridges after use or REFILL!
DIAPERS:
Average diapering time: 840 days
Average usage: 7,560 diapers & 24,460 wipes
Disposables COST: wipes and diapers
ONE child: $4,044.60
TWO children: $8,089.20
THREE children: $16,178.40
Cloth Diapers
Average diapering time: 840 days
Average usage: 64 diapers 30 wipes
Cloth COST:
ONE child: $1,150
TWO children: add $500 for replacements/etc.
THREE children: add $500 for replacements/etc.
Also with cloth you can resell diapers you don’t care for or that don’t fit so many times you can make back 50% of your money spent!
OVERALL:
Think before you throw it out! Can it be reused? Recycled?
How can I not add to the landfill today!?
REUSABLE ITEMS: glass jars, glass containers, plastic food containers, plastic bags (use for trash or donate back) melamine plates
RECYCLE ITEMS: cardboard packaging, #1 & #2 plastic, aluminum cans, paper, glass
REDUCE ITEMS: reduce packaging by buying in bulk or buying local
If all else fails and you don’t want to change anything you do, TRY TO START RECYCLING!
Stillwater Recycling accepts plastic with #1 and #2 on it. So buy those products first!
TOXIN ALERT! Also, start using less canned items & plastic #7 to reduce BPA in your FOOD! Buy fresh, frozen, or glass jars instead of canned!
Resources to purchase cloth and reusable items: www.etsy.com (search for the terms above) www.artfire.com & www.mightynest.com & amazon.com Look for the terms: reusable produce bags, mama cloth, family cloth, cloth etc.
Questions: andrea@littlesquigglers.com
So much to do, So little TIME!
I have decided to change a few things that I was planning on doing. The Great Cloth Diaper Change in April was going to be an AWESOME event, however planning the location and back up location and insurance and making sure I have 35 people, a counter and lots of other things is TOO MUCH!
So LittleSquigglers is teaming up with The Changing Table & Green Bambino in Oklahoma City! Our cousins to the south have their event ready to go and have agreed to let us sponsor and be part of their team! We are so very thankful to them for this oppurtunity! And we are sorry if this means you won’t join us.
The reasoning behind our change in plans is time, money, stress, taking care of my toddler and a friend’s baby, being LittleSquigglers and I am growing another awesome human! With my husband commuting to work 5 days a week, I don’t have much time to dedicate to my AMAZING customers as it is and planning another event is too much.
So please accept my sincerest apology and know that I will do everything I can to make the OKC Great Cloth Diaper Change rock along with Elizabeth, Kristina of The Changing Table and Morgan of Green Bambino.
Best Regards Always,
Andrea Peters
andrea (at) littlesquigglers.com
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A Year without Wal-Mart & Paper Towels Complete…What’s Next?
January 3rd, 2010 we, as a family, concurred that we could go one year without shopping at the ever convenient Wal-Mart. Then I added on the fact that I could make it one whole year without buying any new paper towels, I would use the remaining 5.5 rolls and make due with reusable cloth towels. Here is how it went! We entered Wal-Mart to help others 2 times, and almost gave into a desparate moment once. Chris helped my dad find a new router in February 2010, but he was given strict instructions to not touch or buy ANYTHING! And he didn’t! He pointed out the router my dad’s house needed and then exited the store. Then on the way to my Great Aunt’s House we discovered we left precious “B” at home! This is Ainsley’s must have comfort blanket. We pulled into the parking lot, then decided to find a different store, we found a dollar general and a replacement blanket. Thank the Lord! But then later on that trip we had to enter Wal-Mart to help my Great Aunt (age 88) buy a new monitor for her computer. We decided since she was set on a given budget we had to go to Wal-Mart for this item. She also asked as we were walking out, “doesn’t Ainsley want a new toy or some clothes?” I quickly said “No, we are all set! Let’s get going!” These were our only setbacks from January 3rd to now! And recently we watched the documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. It was amazing how much we learned. Mainly to see the workers in China making the “cheap” clothes for not even a wage they can live on. The employees in America are barely making it as well. Some are left out on benefits, some are getting their wages cut, and then others are doing just fine! The other problems of shopping with and supporting Wal-Mart is the way it takes business from the local retailers, cuts job opportunities, and guts some smaller communities. Now I have family that works for and loves Wal-Mart so I am not going to say that Wal-Mart is totally awful, they do give back some. But overall we need to think before shopping there. I know that we have decided to not shop at Wal-Mart again. We will support the local yocal. We will investigate the products we use to make sure they are made from companies that TAKE CARE of their employees by paying them a fair wage. Are we being extreme? YES, it’s time to be extreme! Being extreme brings me to the next topic of my little rant. PAPER TOWELS! I still have 1.5 rolls left. We converted to cloth napkins and cloth towels all over the house. It does add to my laundry and folding and sorting and putting away, but this is more calorie burning which I always can use! I love using cloth it’s less messy and convieient for us, I made a small trash can into our kitchen cloth catcher, we throw all our napkins and towels in there. Then I put it in the wash! We also started recycling paper, plastic, and aluminum last year. Also, we started composting all our veggies, fruit, coffee, and eggs shells. Being more conscientious about our consumerism and our usage has really helped us be more EARTH friendly. So what are we going to do this year? Buy recycled toilet paper (maybe go to family cloth, if I can talk Chris into it!), continue with all cloth where we can, ditch all disposables, lessen our trash and recycle what we need to and are able to! We also want to lower our meat and dairy intake after watching Earthlings we learned alot about the treatment of animals. Good Luck on your adventure! -Andrea
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