Yes, I know, we have all heard if you put citrus in vinegar you can clean with it. I do mention that just to ease you in because this will be a miniseries on what I do as a mother of two in attempt to keep our waste as low as possible. Let’s jump into how and why we chose to have a simple, sustainable lifestyle.
Homemade cleaners – I cannot stand the smell of chemicals. Walking down that aisle always upset my stomach and puts pressure behind my eyes. My baby always sneezes down there so it’s not a place we frequent. It’s toxic and poisons our water ways and air quality. Not to mention all the plastic waste it creates. Thus, I make everything I can within reason. My husband is a part of the home as much as I am so recently trying homemade dishwasher powder was a bust. To which I can buy in bulk to save on plastic containers. (I’ll have a post up soon with my cleaning recipes!)
Same with laundry detergent. I used to make ours, and my cloth diaper detergent, but now I just stick with the cloth diaper one. My husband recently brought it my attention that it was too much for me to make all the detergent. And he was absolutely right. It was a pain in the booty. I have two small children and a tiny homestead. There is not a ton of time to be grating soap and making even more dishes for myself just because I’m too stubborn. I won’t die on that hill. He bought a bulk box of the cleanest he could find, and it will probably last us a year. So, thank you Stuart, I love you.
Cloth diapers and wipes- This is a long-term commitment that most people think I’m crazy for. Think about this…every disposable diaper, baby and adult, IS STILL ON THE EARTH. Disposables weren’t introduced until the 1950s and those flipping things just won’t go away. It takes 500 years for just one of them to decompose. If they haven’t been burned into toxic combustion being released into our atmosphere, then it’s still sitting in a landfill or in the ocean. Here’s an interesting quick timeline of disposables.
We also use cloth wipes on my toddler who is potty trained but still needs assistance wiping. I use homemade cloth wipes for him and simply throw those in the wash any time I do diapers.
Stay tuned for the next part of this miniseries on our low waste, sustainable lifestyle and maybe it can inspire you to incorporate some parts into your daily life!
In gratitude,
Tayler
