Save Money on Environmentally Friendly Laundry Detergent – Money Saving Mondays

I made the switch recently to using Country Save HE Laundry Detergent rather than whichever brand I could get cheap at Target. In part that’s because you have to be picky with cloth diapers so that you can avoid buildup on them, but also because so many detergents really aren’t kind to the environment.

Then I found out how much of an advantage there is to buying laundry detergent online through Amazon.com.

There’s a trick to it, you see. If you subscribe to the product you know you’re going to need regularly, you get a discount and free shipping. But if you decide to cancel the subscription, even after the first shipment, there’s no penalty. If you delay the shipment, no penalty. If you request it sooner, no penalty. You still get a great price and free shipping.

It amazed me just how much that came out to with my Country Save. They ship in it a box of 4 – 10 lb. boxes of detergent. It works in HE and regular washing machines and is very popular with people who are cloth diapering.

I’ve been using it a while now, to see how it works, rather than reviewing it after just one round. You don’t really know a detergent after the first load unless it’s an utter disaster, after all. But I started out pleased and remain pleased. So far as I can tell it is cleaning as well as any other detergent I’ve used.

And I love that it uses such a small amount. The scoop is so tiny! You’re supposed to only use a quarter scoop for cloth diapers, otherwise follow the instructions for your machine.

There are a lot of products you can subscribe to through Amazon, so it can be worth a look to figure out if having it shipped directly to your home will save you money and errands.

How Much Food Are You Wasting?

Most of us waste food. That’s the USDA said in 1995 that 27% of the food supply in the United States was wasted. That’s 96 billion pounds of wasted food. This isn’t something they check very often, so I can’t find more recent data than that.

But it’s pretty horrible.

A lot of it is restaurant waste, of course. If you’ve ever worked in one or even just paid attention to what people leave on their plates, you know. Excessive portions are a big problem.

You can help with that, of course, by taking your leftovers home. If you want to be really green about it, take it home in a reusable container you’ve brought from home.

But food waste at home is a big problem too. People buy more than their families can eat. They cook too much then don’t eat the leftovers.

It’s quite a waste of money as well as food.

So what do you do about it?

The first thing you can do is look at your shopping habits. Are you buying more than your family will eat before it spoils? Do you plan your shopping around a menu to control what you buy?

You also need to pay attention to your leftovers. I try to remember leftovers when I prepare my lunch. One of my sisters makes frozen meals out of them to take to work. Other people make casseroles or other recipes by combining leftovers. Figure out what works for you.

Of course, when food does spoil, think about how you’re disposing of it. If you can compost it for your garden, do so. It’s not as good as eating the food you bought for that purpose, but it’s better than throwing it in the trash.

How Much Water Do You Need For Cooking?

It doesn’t sound like much, but boiling too much water when you cook is a waste. It’s not just the water, after all. It’s the energy it takes to heat it.

You aren’t always going to be certain of the exact amount you need, of course. Most people I know aren’t going to measure the water they put in the tea kettle when boiling water for tea. Then again, it’s more efficient to boil the water in the cup you’re going to use in the microwave if one cup of tea is all you’re doing. Just watch out for sudden boiling from superheated water.

You may also want to consider steaming vegetables rather than boiling them. First of all, steaming is generally better for keeping nutrients in the vegetables, rather than releasing them into the water. I think they taste much better that way too.

In addition to only boiling what you need, remember to put a lid on the pot when you’re boiling water. It will come to a boil sooner, saving both energy and time.

Clearing Baby’s Stuffy Nose Without a Nasal Aspirator

Baby Selene has been really stuffed up with a cold recently. We had 3 nearly sleepless nights because she kept waking up struggling to breathe due to congestion. Babies, if you don’t know, are considered to be obligate nasal breathers, which means they can only breathe through their noses. Heavy congestion is really uncomfortable for them.

We’d been doing as many parents do, dropping in a couple of saline drops to soften the mucus, then suctioning it out with the aspirator. It works, but made her scream and even gave her a bloody nose one time, poor thing.

Finally, I took her to the doctor last Friday to make sure that the congestion was the only problem we were dealing with. Didn’t want to find out that there was something more going on over the weekend after all. He confirmed that it was indeed all just heavy congestion, and told me a kinder way to clear her nose.

It’s really simple too, so I thought I would share.

You still need the saline drops. In fact, you put in more of those than you would for using the aspirator, and you do both nostrils at once, as I understand it. This is uncomfortable for baby, but only lasts a moment.

As soon as all the drops are over, flip baby onto her tummy, and start gently wiggling her bottom. This will gently move the head too, and the saline and loosened mucus will start coming out on their own.

I advise doing this over a burp cloth or something else you can throw into the wash easily.

We don’t get gobs out this way or anything, but it is so much gentler than the aspirator and sometimes a decent amount of mucus does clear out. Far fewer screams and a much happier baby.

You can do it as often as necessary, as the saline solution is very safe. Just be sure you drop the saline in, not spray it, even though most can do both. The spray is too high a pressure for babies.

I figure this is not too different from using nasal irrigation on myself, which I swear by for colds. Somewhat odd feeling, but it really does the job. Makes sense to me that it helps babies too, even if you can’t go so far as to use a Neti pot on a baby.

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.