Trying to go green

A couple of months ago while the Rosebuds and I were staying with my parents, I had this conversation with my Dad:

Dad: "You know what? You make a lot of trash."

Me: "Well, there are three of us...two of whom are in diapers."

Dad: "No really. It's not just the diapers. I remember thinking that you made a lot of trash whenever you would come home from college."

Me: "Whatever."

But then I started thinking. Maybe I do make a lot of trash. I throw a lot of stuff away that probably should be recycled. And the diapers. Goodness the diapers. There aren't quite so many now that Miss H is *potty trained* but still, yikes.

Now that I am home, I have really been paying attention to what I throw in the garbage can. If it is anywhere close to being recyclable I throw it in the bin.

And as for the diapers, well, I have made the switch. Sort of...

When Miss H was a baby, I had a bunch of friends using cloth diapers. I just could not open my mind to the concept of washing used diapers in the washing machine. I was quite comfortable with taking off a dirty diaper and promptly throwing it in the Diaper Genie. But every once in a while, I would allow myself to wonder what it would be like. It seemed like all the cool kids were doing it. Was I missing the boat?

Baby B has lived her first ten months as a disposable diapers baby. For the last few months, she has been battling a nasty case of eczema. I have switched her bath soap and laundry detergent to organic sensitive skin brands. I bought every type of baby eczema cream that I could find. I switched to organic cotton sleepers. And now, I am trying cloth diapers. Again, sort of.

I say sort of because I decided to try gDiapers which are a hybrid type of cloth diaper. They have a cloth outer with a disposable insert that can either be thrown away or flushed down the toilet. The thing about these disposable inserts is that they are biodegradable. In the week that I have been using them, we have made great headway in reducing the amount of trash. (I have been flushing them.) The best part is Baby B's eczema is doing MUCH better!!

And you know what? I feel really good about it. I feel like even though it is a small change, it is a really good one. I even bought some gCloth inserts for the gDiapers which are the washable kind. We'll see how it goes.

If you have ever thought about trying cloth diapers but were afraid to, I say, go for it!