I Speak For The Trees
I figured I should proselytize my eco-green-crunchy-granola-NorthWest ways to the rest of the world…
I haven’t used paper towels in my home for almost eight years. And napkins? Same thing. (Okay, except for the kids birthday parties when I know that I have to have something disposable for all those unkempt tornadoes shoving cake into their mouths and running around my home…).
So, what is a messy household to use? Cloths. Well, that’s what we call them. They used to be old Diaper Wipes that we would wash and re-use over and over. But after those saw their final days, I have switched to flannel cut down to diaper wipe size. The flannel blanket that I cut up for these cloths was in the $2.50 section at Target. And even with this big pile, I have yet to finish cutting up that blanket!
Why use cloths? They are soft, rinseable, and do a great job of cleaning up messes. And sticky fingers. Oh, and one more thing? Not wasteful!
Do you remember when I mentioned that I learned how to crochet last summer? That’s okay. I forgive you. Well, small projects are about all I have time for. So I learned how to crochet sponges. My current goal is to create enough sponges to use a new one every day and throw the old one in the wash. WAY more sanitary than the synthetic sponges I currently use for 30+ days before replacing. And much less flappy and non-conforming than a dish rag.
There you go. My inner-Lorax at work in the kitchen. I won’t go into detail about how I never let my kids do art-work on “clean” sheets of paper or how I generate far more in recycling than waste each week. Because then you might REALLY think me nuts. 😉
High-fiving you, fellow eco-chica!
We cloth diaper (well, part time)! I have considered ditching the paper towels also…I mean we spend $20 at Costco on those suckers!!
Don’t worry, It’s in our west-coast blood to want to be green 😉
FTR the movie was AWESOME and my daughter LOVED it! 😀
CC, some of your comments in this post cracked me up. I am sooo bad about using paper at my house. Honestly, I just don’t want to have to do any more laundry. Maybe we aren’t as tree friendly in the East Coast.
I love it. I’ve gone back to paper napkins recently, but for a long time the kids used knit washcloths for their napkins. I should get back in my groove of reusable rather than paper. I don’t know if you know about it already, but you might want to check out Ravelry. I know…another time waster. But, there are some great FREE patterns for crochet.
You are NOT CRAZY! 🙂 And each time I read, or hear, about one of your eco-friendly practices, it gives me another nudge toward doing something like it myself. You ROCK on the economical ecological living spectrum! 🙂 Keep up the great work! By the way, I saw this post because it was linked to your TpT post about paying for products, even though you are frugal. I’m probably not going to buy any curriculum, but I am going to get out a cloth wash rag for my “napkin” today. Thanks for the reminders, and thanks for being YOU! 🙂 <3