Sunday, March 23, 2008

What I'm Giving Up to Save the Planet This Week

This week, as suggested by steviesmama, I am giving up paper. Here is a list of the paper products we use in our house and how I plan to replace them.

Diapers--I only have a few cloth diapers, so this should be interesting. No plastic pants, either. I've looked at a few stores and will explore this further tomorrow. Until then, I'll just be throwing the diapers in with other laundry and trying to stay on top of it.

Toilet paper--I cut two old t-shirts into toilet paper sized squares and put an old gift bag full of them in the bathroom. I am using a covered trash can for the used ones. They will be washed if they are umm, salvageable. I think I'll do a load per day and wash them with the cloth diapers. DH and oldest stepson are refusing to cooperate with this one, so it will be mom and kids only.

Wet wipes--I'm using baby washclothes, but you could use more cut up t-shirts if you didn't already have them.

Notepaper--I usually use leftover paper from my husband's work, but I am going to use our dry erase board instead. Although, I don't see any cost or carbon savings because we were already using pre-used products.

Paper products we already don't use:

Paper towels/napkins--I clean my house with old rags that I keep folded in a kitchen drawer. We use nice cream-colored linen napkins at meals. I buy paper towels and napkins, but we use them so rarely that one package lasts us more than a year. They are generally for cat vomit and things that so thoroughly gross me out that I don't want them in my washer.

Swiffer/disposible cleaning miscellanea--They're just too pricey for me and I am suspicious of the chemical cocktails involved. It seems like the more conveniences people use, the messier their houses are, so I don't think we're missing out on anything.

I guess I am showing how out of touch we are, because it doesn't seem like we use that much paper but I know it makes up a substantial part of most household waste. What am I missing here?

1 comments:

Joyce said...

Once again I say it- you are a very brave woman to give up toilet paper! Can't wait to see your report on the results!