Paper Free (in progress)

I sometimes startle myself with how loudly I crunch these days.  Long gone are the days where I would sheepishly admit to maybe being a little bit of a hippie.  I am not a bashful card-carryer anymore.  I will soon be the one handing out the cards.

Honestly, this is getting out of hand.  I actually lose perspective and forget that not everyone does, or cares to do, or is even remotely interested in this stuff.  I suppose it is called an alternative lifestyle for a reason.

My latest effort has been to get our house as paper-free as possible.  Useless waste has started to really bother me.  Filling up a garbage can with dirty paper towels just to clean the bathroom actually makes me queasy.

Paper towels and toilet paper and napkins have become categorized as needs.  They're not.  They're purely frivolous convenience.  And really, if you have a washing machine and dryer, they hardly even qualify as conveniences.

>>Paper Towels
About six months ago I bought a pack of these rags and I haven't bought paper towels since.  We still have them around for particularly disgusting messes, but I'd say we've used one roll of paper towels in that time, if even that.  In the kitchen we have two open storage bins, one for cleans and one for dirties, and I wash them along with our regular laundry, about every other or every third day.

>>Toilet Paper
A month ago I decided to do the same with our toilet paper.  By virtue of being the only girl in the family and also the one home the most, I am the chief consumer of toilet paper.  John had filled a donation bag with old undershirts, and I cut them up into squares big enough to be folded a couple of times.  I bought a basket at Goodwill for clean rags and a tiny step can for dirties.  I sewed a little fabric bag liner for the step can, so I just lift out the liner and wash it all together.

I know there's a bit of an ick factor involved with cloth toilet paper (known among the savvy as "family cloth").  Before having a baby and dealing with all manner of bodily fluids, it probably would have grossed me out as well.  But I've been pooped on, peed on, barfed on, drooled on, and had food smeared on me for twenty months.  It would take more than a little pee dribble on a rag to make me wrinkle my nose.

But I will admit that poo on a rag (or rather, poo on a rag that then sits in a lidded can next to the toilet for a few days) grosses me out, which is why I haven't totally sworn off toilet paper.  John hasn't shown an interest in started to use the cloth, and I won't ask him to.  I might actually discourage it...So don't worry - if you come to visit, there will be Charmin in the bathroom.  And no, it doesn't smell.

>>Napkins
As for napkins, we really just use the same bar towels that we use in the kitchen.  We were never big napkin people anyway.  If I were so inclined, I would sew up some pretty ones, possibly different patterns for different seasons and holidays (if you know me at all, you may start laughing now), but I'm not.  Bar rags and old cloth baby wipes do us just fine.

>>Feminine Hygiene
As yet, I don't have to worry about finding a non-disposable alternative to feminine hygiene products (one advantage to having a toddler who is a voracious nurser, day and night), but when I do, there are several options.  Glad Rags and the Diva Cup are two that I hear about often.

>>Diapers
We primarily used cloth diapers on Felix since he was born.  My use of cloth wipes was sporadic; I kept losing the cleansing spray (rather, Felix would relocate it).

And as for being in progress, we still use a disposable diaper on Felix at night, and I'm nervous to try cloth options because he nurses several times throughout the night and pees a lot.  While he is fully potty trained at home, there are some outings where he wears a pull-up (like at the park: he is not about to stop playing to walk all the way to the bathroom and pee).  We have padded trainers, but I'm looking into getting a few pair of waterproof training pants.

For more info and inspiration, check out this post at the Frugally Sustainable blog.