Category Archives: Eco Friendly Parenting

Do Cloth Diapers Stink?

A concern I know some people have about cloth diapers is the smell. No one likes their home to smell like dirty diapers.

On the whole, they don’t stink up a house any worse than disposable diapers. That is, if you take care of washing them regularly (3 days apart is about my maximum), they won’t stink up the whole house. Leave them sitting around too long, and of course they’re going to stink!

Wash them properly and you’ll control the odor most of the time. I use Country Save HE Laundry Detergent on mine, and so far that seems to be doing quite well for my cloth diapers as well as the regular laundry. I also recommend line drying, as the sun can help break down stains the washing machine fails to get out, and naturally kills germs.

But eventually they do tend to build up an odor. Considering what goes into them, it’s hardly a surprise.

But all you have to do is a special wash called stripping, and the smell should go away.

Start out with freshly washed diapers. They need to be clean for this process.

Wash the diapers again in hot water, with a teaspoon of original Dawn dish detergent (not the newer varieties and not other brands) for a HE machine, a tablespoon for a top loading machine.

Run through the wash two more times with just water. This will get out the rest of the soap and should take care of the smell. If suds continue to appear by the rinse cycle of the second wash, you may need to do another cycle.

Dry as usual. I really do recommend line drying if at all possible.

This is also supposed to help if your cloth diapers are starting to leak.

The long and short of it is, if your cloth diapers stink either you’re letting them sit too long before washing or it’s time to strip them.  You should not be getting a worse stink than what you get from disposables.

Eco-Friendly Sites Your Kids May Enjoy

Summer is coming right up, and with it is the potential for bored children. While it’s great to get the kids outside in the sunshine, sometimes it’s too hot or they’ve already spent plenty of time playing outside and want computer time. Here are some sites they may enjoy.

Green Games

PBS’s EekoWorld – Designed for kids ages 6-9 and can be used as an educational tool in grades K-4. Kids can design their own EekoCreature while learning about the environment. You can even print out a card game called Loco Cheeko that features your EekoCreature.

Kids R Green – Green games and activities you can do at home.

Kids Planet – Games and information for kids on how to help the environment.

WebRangers – The National Park Service’s site for kids. Games to play, activities to do, webcams and more.

Dizzywood – Geared at kids ages 8-12. Play games, dress up your avatar, meet friends and defeat the evil Emperor Withering.

Green Tips for Kids

Environmental Kids Club – A website created by the EPA, it has games and information for kids and teens.

Kids Saving Energy – An informational site by the U.S. Department of Energy to help kids learn how to save energy.

Green Party Favors Can be a Huge Hit

We finally celebrated my daughter’s birthday over the weekend. A little late, but with the cold bug we all had to deal with, it was best that we get some time to get well beforehand.

I’ve always kept the parties simple. Themes are simply declared, such as when she wanted a princess party. We just told the guests to wear their princess dresses, which just about all of them already had. Obviously we didn’t invite any boys to that party, although we could have encouraged them to be knights or something.

But I liked the theme better this time. It was a garden theme.

I made a butterfly shaped cake. That’s as close as we got to decorating anything around here.

Rather than do gift bags, we had the kids decorate little pots and then plant seeds. This was a huge hit. First graders love craft projects. I understand the ones who forgot to bring theirs home are anxiously awaiting my remembering to bring them to school.

And several of the parents were quite delighted at the lack of small, rapidly broken toys to deal with. We all know how quickly the usual gift bag fare goes into the trash. It’s ridiculous.

They were also fascinated by the seed bombs we gave them to plant. Most of the parents had never heard of the idea, but really loved it. I’m thinking there are probably too many seeds per bomb for that size pot, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

It’s really nice being able to give the kids something a little more memorable to take home with them while giving a really subtle lesson. I don’t think most of the kids or parents were really thinking of this as an environmental move. It just looks like a way to have the party favors be a little more unique. Given that I don’t know which of the parents would really be up for a discussion on environmental topics, I’d call that a good thing.

Can Baby Go Organic?

I’m greener these days than I was when I had my first two kids. It’s amazing how things change once new ideas get on your radar. It makes some things more complex.

I’ve blogged a lot about how we use cloth diapers with our baby. That’s still going really well. We also use a lot more homemade cleaners. But there are a lot more things we want to do this time around.

We’ve resisted the temptation to get organic sheets and such for her bedding. Just about all the baby clothes and other supplies we have are handmedowns, and have likely off gassed pretty much anything there could be to worry about with them. Shopping for organic replacements strikes me as a bit of a waste at this point.

Baby food, on the other hand…

Going organic here is going to be pretty affordable with any luck. We have a garden, and one of the big things I want to do with any excess is prepare it as baby food.

I figure it will be a great way to get cheap, organic baby food. No question of how it was grown or prepared.

We don’t have any fruit trees, so I will still have to buy fruits to prepare for her, but if the garden behaves we’ll be in pretty good shape with certain varieties.

For the early days we have the VitaMix blender. That should make some really good purees. As she gets big enough to have a little texture, our little KidCo baby food mill should do the job at each meal.

Yes, I know organic baby food is fairly easy to buy these days in jars. I’d still rather make what I can. It makes sense financially and I know to be very, very careful about keeping things clean when making baby food, as food poisoning is more dangerous to infants.

I have a bit of time yet before taking this step, but it’s definitely time to get planning. Selene is three months now and I want to be ready to get things started when she’s six months old, not still trying to figure the whole deal out.

A Green Mother’s Day to You

Happy almost Mother’s Day to all my fellow moms out there. Here’s to a happy, fun day with your family.

Our tradition has always been a fairly simple gift for Mother’s Day. It’s not like I have a ton of material needs that aren’t being met, after all. I love the look of jewelry certainly, but I don’t particularly need or want more of it. I spent 6 years working in a jewelry store, after all. My husband figures he’s pretty lucky to be off the hook in that area.

So far, he’s just picked up some plants for the garden. That’s good enough for me.

The real trick to the day is keeping it from being too hectic. We each have our own mother to deal with, after all.

On his side of the family is the traditional get together at the bay for a picnic. Frankly I’ve always found that to be a lot more work than other ideas, but such is life. The kids love it since that means they get to play with cousins they rarely see otherwise. This is an extended family gathering, meaning any degree of relation is likely to show up, and that my side is welcome too if they’re in the mood to come over.

Then we go see my side of the family. Fortunately, going to the bay brings us close to my mother’s house anyhow, assuming she didn’t show up at the picnic herself.

It’s so nice that both sides of our family is into simple gifts these days. The main gift is considered to be simply getting together.

It’s a wonderful gift. Fairly green when family is local, and very meaningful.