Reduce your household waste by switching to cloth!
I have often been labelled as being a “Hippy” or a “crunchy mamma” I’m not. I am just mindful of the waste that my family and I produce and at what cost?
- Financially it is becoming more and more expensive to buy one use products.
- Environmentally – Where is our waste going? What is the environmental cost as well as financial?
As a family I have found ways that we can save money, become more environmentally aware and have fun too
Cloth Wipes
These are totally amazing! Whether you choose to use cloth nappies or not cloth wipes can save you hundreds of pounds! On average a family can go through roughly 2 packs a week. Value ranges of baby wipes are on average 50p so over the course of a child in nappies (30months) costs would amount to – £130. Of course we tend to use more packs because let’s face it we use wipes for everything! Make up remover, cleaning spills, marks on walls it all adds up! For around £40 you can buy a whole kit that will be all you need, or you can make your own from old towels/flannels. This is the most easiest way to help reduce your household waste especially if you have children. The best thing about it is they have so many uses too.
Cloth nappies
The biggest switch you can make as a family is to use cloth nappies. One of the biggest expenses as a family are cloth nappies. Their disposable equivalent could cost over £1000 over the 30 months of a child in nappies. A full cloth nappy kit costs around £300 but more often than not a lot cheaper!
Cloth Sanitary Protection (aka CSP)
One for the ladies. Most ladies will often have a visit once a month. Typically we can go through around 20 pads or tampons throughout one cycle. Tampons and pads shouldn’t be flushed down the loo so all the waste contributes to landfill. Switching to a cloth alternative not only means you don’t have to worry about buying anymore in future. But women who already use cloth sanitary pads note of lighter, less crampy periods. The Chemicals in disposables help draw out any moisture whereas cloth nappies allows the body to pass blood as it should.
Family Roll!
If you are serious in saving money and helping towards the environment then switching your toilet paper to a cloth version is the way to go! Saving literally hundreds of pounds! Simply pop the used wipes into a wet bag or bucket in your bathroom and then wash in your machine. Worth noting to rinse off any solids before storing in the bucket/wet bag. This maybe a bit extreme to you but worth considering if you are looking to reduce your household waste.
Cloth Kitchen Roll
One thing I am always using is kitchen roll. You can switch to a cloth version and always have them to hand. It is a lot more absorbent than the disposable counterpart. Although I don’t use any specifically made cloth kitchen roll (They can popper together and everything!) I use muslins and cloth wipes. Both great for spillages and once used pop in the machine with either your clothes or towels and you can use over and over and over again!
I like the idea of the alternative kitchen roll but no so much the ides of the toilet roll. I do use washable pads.