How we are more sustainable as a family!
Sustainable living is a way of reducing personal and societal impact on the environment and making positive changes to help preserve the planet. Although my family has not changed to a completely sustainable lifestyle, we are trying to become a place for sustainable living and I like to try and do what I can to help. Here you will find out what we have done in our household to help limit the waste we create!
A place for sustainable living with a baby- CLOTH DIAPERS
When I found out I was pregnant, I immediately started researching ways to keep costs down and save money. I knew I didn’t want to work for a little while after giving birth and needed to find ways to help us stay financially secure. One way I found was by cloth diapering. Diapers cost a lot of money! According to Google, diapers can cost nearly $600 per year! If you buy a brand-new stash of cloth diapers, you may pay around $200. But keep in mind you can use these for more kiddos if you plan to have more, AND you can sell them when you are done with them to make back some money.
Through my research I also learned that it takes a diaper about 500 years to decompose! The diapers we use today will outstay us and the next few generations on Earth! Crazy right?!?
More Research
So, I started researching cloth diapers and found lots of companies that make them. However, like I said, they are not cheap! Luckily, it is very common for people to buy cloth diapers second hand, and I happened to find someone selling her stash at the STEEP cost of 40 bucks! She was nice enough to give me a short break down of how to care for the diapers and how to use them! (here is one of the brands we have)
When Moose was born, we opted to use disposable diapers to make the transition into parenthood easier for us. But by month 2 we started using cloth diapers about 90% of the time. We kept disposables on hand for long outings and for overnight. However, the number of disposable diapers we DID NOT use makes me feel like I have done my part! Comment below if you would like to hear more about our cloth diapering journey!
We didn’t choose to use cloth wipes, but that is also another way to help save money and the earth as well!
If you would like a more detailed post on why cloth diapers are better than disposable, check out this post by my friend Lacie, click here!
This post contains affiliate links, As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
A place for sustainable living with women- FLEX MENSTRUAL CUP
A few years back I made the switch from tampons to pads after realizing how many toxins were in tampons. I had found a brand of pads that were great, but unfortunately, I am not able to find them anymore. So, I went on the search to see what else was out there for when Aunt Flo wants to drop by. My friend had told me about menstrual cups and I decided to look into them more. I found a brand at Target that I thought would be the best fit and picked it up. (You can also get this brand on amazon by clicking here)
Now these aren’t for everyone, they require you to be VERY comfortable with yourself! I tried out the Flex cup and love it. I don’t have to worry about it for up to 12 hours and then you just remove it, clean it and its ready to be used again! I did find some good pads as well, so I interchange between the two, using the cup the majority of the time, which helps prevent more waste!
A place for sustainable living in the kitchen
Reusable Paper towels
While vacationing in Maryland we went to a Market with our friends Mark Anthony and Avery and found a vendor selling reusable paper towels. Mark Anthony and Avery are like us and try to be sustainable in many ways. So, we got 2 rolls for a discounted price and split the cost. These cloth paper towels can be used just like normal paper towels, only you throw them in the laundry and keep reusing them! We do keep regular paper towels as well for those messes that you don’t want to clean up with a reusable paper towel. But it has cut back on our waste tremendously! AND saved us some big bucks!
Water filter
We drink A LOT of water in our family! So awhile back I got us a water filter for our tap. At the time I just got it to save money because of the amount we were spending on bottled water. But now that I sit back and think about it, the amount of plastic waste we have prevented is amazing! We would easily go through 2+ cases of water bottles per week when it was just Melvin and I. So imagine how much it would be now with a toddler who also loves water! We all have 2-3 cute and functional reusable water bottles, and let’s be honest, most people do. We also use our tap filter to fill a large jug that we keep in the fridge so we always have cold water on hand!
So, help save the planet and your wallet and just go ahead and get a water filter!
My parents and brother have also switched to this option after seeing ours. My dad even got a water bottle with a filter inside so he can refill it at work with tap water and it filters itself in the bottle!
Save your wallet, Save the planet
As you can see, we try our best to do what we can! Most of these sustainability hacks not only help the planet but also help your wallet! Just think about how much you spend on these things weekly, monthly… And if you are a mom, you relate to all of these items, so imagine how much you are saving! Help do your small part where you can! No one is perfect, but we can all do a little bit to help! There is always a place to be more sustainable in your life. What are some other ways you try to live a sustainable life? I would love to hear about them in the comments below! And if you’ve read this far, be sure to check out the links above to find some of the products we use!
7 Comments
Lacie Wever
I love these habits you and your family are doing! We use cloth diapers too! The idea of a water bottle with a filter in it is perfect for on the go!
shanay.miller3
Thank you so much! I hope to start incorporating more into our life! What are some easy things you started with? We love cloth diapering and it wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be!
Lacie
Reusable water bottle to take to work was the easiest for me to start! Then I started cutting down my meat consumption and next I stopped buying disposable kitchenware. So no paper plates, plastic cups, plastic utensils, or paper towels. I used what I had and then never purchased again.
shanay.miller3
Those are great! A reusable water bottle was the easiest for me too! I had to work on the disposable kitchenware with my husband. It was what he grew up using. Now we only have them in case of an emergency where we may not have water to clean dishes!
Emily
We recently switched from using cases of water in our camper to using a 5-gallon water jug (like you would see on a dispenser) with a simple-to-use spout on top. It’s crazy the amount of trash it’s saving! I’m trying to be more diligent about recycling at home too instead of just tossing it into the trash.
shanay.miller3
That is awesome! Even that one change in the camper will make a difference! I miss having the recycling bins there! We don’t have them here and it makes it harder to want to recycle, but we are trying to be proactive with it!
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