Cloth Diapers?

When you have kids, one of the many Great Debates (along with organic food and breastfeeding) is cloth diapers versus disposables. A diaper company (I think it was Pampers) did a study that showed that the extra toilet flushes and the laundry that comes with cloth diapers is enough to cancel out the environmental benefits, not to mention the extra carbon you release if you use a service that has to drive the diapers to and from your house.

Dubious as a study from a disposable diaper company might be, it was recently backed up by a study from the British government, who were actually in the midst of a cloth nappie campaign at the time. Oops.

Do I use cloth? No. I feel that they stink, they are three times as much work (at least!) and they seem to be more prone to both leaks and rashes. I worked in a daycare, so I got LOTS of first hand experience changing both kinds.

Should you? Honestly, that is entirely up to you. The environmental impact is much the same, the cost is higher at first, but they may pay for themselves if you wash them at home. The choice seems to have become entirely personal.

~Dionne

Slow Going

In helping the environment, I am also fighting terrorism and saving some money. That’s right - I’m driving slower. Slow driving can have a huge impact on how much gas you use to drive the same distance, but people are in such a hurry, even when it doesn’t matter. Just yesterday I was driving along a back road to get home, and this person, all alone in their huge SUV, was tailgating me the ENTIRE WAY. As soon as we hit the broken yellow he swerved out to pass me, roaring down the road at about 15 miles over the speed limit.

As he raced down the road, the first light turned yellow, then red. I pulled up to the light just as it went green again, and the two of us started out side by side, although he quickly pulled ahead by mashing his foot on the gas. When the next light went red, he screeched to a halt, and I slowed to a stop a few seconds later. I was laughing so hard that I was almost crying at his futility, but it was also frustrating to see that gas guzzler waste even more gas (and put wear on the breaks!) because the guy was such a racer.

I have been using the cruise control in my sweet little Civic to keep me at the speed limit or just slightly below if there is no one behind me. The best part is that like coming off of junk food, coming off of speeding was only hard for a week or so. Now, I just don’t feel the need to go any faster. How much does it REALLY affect how much sooner I get where I am going, after all? Speeding sure didn’t help my friend in the SUV.

Juiced Out

Right now I am drinking a glass of lemonade. Sure, it tastes good, but even I know that the real reason that I am drinking juice is because I want sugar. Badly. Cultural cravings like this are hard, but I know that I can do just as well without juice, so here comes the hard part… I have to get RID of the juice. No kidding. Not only is this going to wind up being healthier, it will also be cheaper for my family.

Payday (thus shopping day) is this Friday. That means that I get to go shopping… and leave my lemonade off the list. Wish me luck… I’m gonna miss my juice!

~Dionne