Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Over five years using cloth

I realize it has been over five years that I have been using all cloth in my house. I have not bought tissues, paper towels, or disposable menstrual pads since 2007. I use cloth toilet paper, but do buy for my guests and boys. I have a few reasons why I started doing this:

-financial
-our earth
-my sensitive skin

Are these reasons still relevant to me? Yes, they all still are. In five years I haves saved about:

Product   Monthly Cost   Yearly Cost   Five Year Cost

Tissues    $5                      $60                $300
Toilet Paper $5                 $60                $300
Paper Towels $10             $120              $600
Paper Napkins $5             $60                $300
Menstrual Pads $10          $120              $600

                                               Total        $2100

So I think saving about $2,000, maybe $1,500 if you factor in extra laundry it has made sense financially.

I also think keeping those trees from being cut down and all the resources that goes into making these products has benefited the earth, especially since I wash the cloth in cold water and line dry to kill germs ( the sun is great at that.)

But still the number one reason for using all cloth is my skin. I have not be one rash from a disposable diaper ( I had many before.)

So even if fianances and our earth were not a factor I would still continue to use all cloth.

-Becky


1 comments:

Sisters of the Blog said...

I use cloth napkins. We always used them when i was growing up, unless it was a really messy meal, like spare ribs. For really messy meals now, i just use old napkins that are stained. If i have a guest, i don't give them a stained one, but sometimes they add another to my collection after the meal.

I didn't think about what a habit it's become until last week when a friend and i stopped at a seafood shack for some yummy haddock sandwiches. I had grabbed a few paper napkins as we were going to eat there initially. But the picnic tables were all wet, more rain was coming any moment, and he suggested we go back to my house to eat our sandwiches rather than eat in the car. Made sense to me, and when he sat down at the DR table, i went to get him a napkin from the napkin drawer.

"What are you doing, i can use the paper napkins right here," he said, as he reached for the few i had picked up.

He was right, of course. I keep a few paper napkins in my car, and they've come in handy from time to time.

As for the other items you mentioned, i do use paper towels occasionally, most often when one of the cats vomits.

I installed a bidet on one of the toilets, and i like it. I still use some tp, but not as much.

megan