Cloth Rocks – Real Simple, Real Diapers Waste Reduction

It’s Real Diaper Week! All this week I will be trying to keep up with the Real Diaper Week 2012 Blog Hop hosted by Calley over at The Eco Chic. Today’s topic is Real Simple Real Diapers Waste Reduction. 

Obviously, using cloth diapers reduces the amount of waste that ends up in a landfill. Disposable diapers stay in the landfill for over 500 years. We’ve all heard it and we all get it. Do cloth diapers end up in a landfill? Maybe. But you can also use them for a few kids, or gift them to another mom in need of diapers when you’re done with them.

Some moms who use cloth still use disposable wipes, but if you’re looking to further reduce your waste you can always switch to cloth wipes. We switched to cloth wipes a few months after we started using cloth diapers, mostly because I was tired of having to remember to buy wipes. We even use them when we’re on the go. They get used to clean hands and faces as well as little bottoms.

Cloth wipes led to other changes. We started using more rags in the kitchen instead of paper towels. Rather than purchasing new “un-paper” towels, we just reused other fabric we had laying around the house. I never in a million years thought that we would switch to family cloth. Until we did. For me only, and for #1 only. But it’s a start. What’s next? After reading the story about the moldy tampon, you better believe it will be mama cloth or a reusable menstrual cup. Because there is no way I am ever using a tampon again.

For us, waste reduction has had a nice little bonus: savings! Buying less paper towels, toilet paper, and no disposable wipes has saved us a ton of money.

What do you do to reduce waste? Does it equal savings for your family? If you enjoy reading about The Gnome & his family, like us on Facebook, add us on Google+, and follow us on twitter! While you’re at it… check out our Networked Blogs box in the right sidebar!