I want to take a moment and thank The Eco Chic for allowing me to write what I think—without editing. Last week, I wrote about breastfeeding; why I didn’t and my feelings about it. After I wrote it and emailed it to her, I thought she’s call me and say, “no way” and that my guest posting would be over but she is letting me speak freely yet again! Thank you Eco Chic!

I also want to say thanks to all of The Eco Chic’s readers. Nobody responded with negativity. I truly thought I would get comments full of hatred – like I see in the on-line forums and I didn’t get that at all. I appreciate to supportive responses and comments.

Moving on…. this week, I want to talk about money. It is one of my favorite subjects. (The Eco Chic added commentary – Mama M is actually an accountant so she loves to talk about money!)

Confession time: up until six months ago—I was one of those people. I bought magazines and as soon as I was done with them, I threw them in the trash. I bought a book; read it and trashed it. I had not one but three newspapers delivered to me (I read the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and our local newspaper).I USED PAPER PLATES AND PLASTIC UTLENSELS and tossed them—without thinking twice. I probably used 19872674 disposable diapers because I never even thought of cloth (I thought people stopped using them in 1974). I even would wrap the dirty diapers up in plastic bags! I filled landfills with single use bottles (always thinking about how quick I could get things done).

I could go on but I think I have illustrated my complete disregard for the environment—and saving money. Not only did I waste resources, I literally threw away my money.

Fast forward from 2004 when I had a baby—to 2010. Things are different now and it’s not because of something catastrophic like a job loss—in fact, even in this economy, my husband and I earn more than we ever have because our careers are in fields that are actually growing. The truth is, through education and good friends, I’ve changed. I’ve looked at how I live. I did the carbon footprint thing and I looked at how I (and my family) impact the Earth.

I slowly made changes that worked with my lifestyle. The biggest thing is that I now recycle—but not traditionally. I swap stuff with friends and neighbors instead of buying things brand new. I don’t subscribe to so many newspapers (why should I… I can read what I want on-line). I share magazines and books – and even donate to the library. I don’t buy clothes and shoes and new purses without thinking about what I already have.  (The Eco Chic added commentary – Mama M has done better on the clothes and purse shopping – unfortunately my hand-me down selection decreased too!)

I still have a small obsession with paper plates but I am slowly making the switch. All of these things didn’t make my life harder—it actually made it easier. I don’t have as much stuff taking up my space and my time. I only have what I want and need.

I love this way of living but I need ways I can do better. I’d love to hear what The Eco Chic’s readers do – the changes that other’s have made to live cleaner, to make the Earth a little less messy and to save money!  - Thanks for reading, Mama M.

The Eco Chic’s Back to Basic Tips to Living Green

1. Keep a record of what you throw out for one week.  Decide which category of items are most often tossed and make that your first priority to decrease.  For us it’s cardboard, packaging, and paper.  Our local recycling pick up doesn’t take this items curbside so my garage is STUFFED with bins of cardboard waiting for my to drive them down the road. 

2. Look for one new reusable item to add to your collection.  For instance, since Mama M uses a lot of paper plates she could purchase a collection of reusable (yet affordable) plates.  For us we bought the cheap-o plastic plates from Wally World to use when we have parties and get-together’s.  While they may (or may not) contain BPA – I’m first addressing the waste issue.  I honestly can’t remember the last time we used disposable tableware. 

3. Purchase items with less packaging waste.  Buy in bulk or in larger quantities the items that you use most often.  Does your child really need juice boxes or can you refill a cup (or thermos) for them from the larger bottle of juice.

4. Ditch the disposable water bottle and use tap water instead.  This is one of the most wasteful areas in our society.  Check out The Story of Bottled Water for more information on that topic.

5. Looking for ways to make your food selection a little more eco-friendly?  Have a meatless meal day once a week.  Start buying organic food from the Dirty Dozen list.  Try to find and support local food producers.

Once you begin to make a change in your own life you’ll see additional opportunities where you can make adjustments.  Don’t let it get overwhelming though – it’s the baby steps that really add up.  Where are you at in your journey to going green?  What’s next on your list of improvements or adjustments?  Leave us a comment below and don’t forget – leading by example is the easiest way to reach The Other Side.

Image source and credits: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1195991

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There has been so much going on in my personal life lately that I haven’t been online as much but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take part of the Cloth Diaper Carnival (VI) hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry!  With Kim’s wonderful campaign and our many voices I am confident that we can….and will…

GET CLOTH DIAPERS ON THE ELLEN SHOW!

And you can participate too.  All you have to do is write a blog post, link your post below using McLinky, and tweet a link to your post on Twitter using @TheEllenShow #operationflully and #clothdiapers in the tweet.  For example: @TheEllenShow you should see how cute my baby looks in #clothdiapers #operationfluffy!

Operation Fluffy actually began last night during our weekly cloth diaper chats on Twitter (which if you don’t chat with us…you are missing a lot of fun!) when hundreds of tweets went out to The Ellen Show.  We plan to continue Operation Fluffy until Ellen helps us laugh, dance, conquer!  You can read the rest of the plans of Operation Fluffy on the Dirty Diaper Laundryblog…there will be videos, pictures, blogging and so much more!  We really want to get Ellen’s attention. 

So who’s with me?  Do you want to get cloth diapers featured on The Ellen Show?  Write your own letter to Ellen telling her why you love cloth diapers and want them on her show. 

Here is my letter:

Dearest Ellen,

You can call us what you like but here are just a few titles that we are known as; mom, mommy bloggers, wives, sisters, daughters, caregivers, dads (yes there are dads in the revolution too), housekeepers, professionals, stay-at-home parents, working parents, environmentalists and revolutionists (to name just a few)!  We have all made a commitment to our children when we decided to use cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers…a commitment to our childrens health, the environment, and our bank accounts.

Did you know that disposable diapers contain toxins and carcinogens like Tributyl-tin (TBT) and Sodium Polyacrylate? These are known to cause cancer, skin irritations, and allergic reactions (including staph infections)?  Cloth diapers are much healthier for our babies and cause much fewer diaper rashes than disposable diapers.

Did you know that the average baby uses 6,000-9,000 disposable diapers in the first 3 years of life?  At an average of $65 a month that is $2340 over those same 3 years spend on disposable diapers alone.  That doesn’t include diaper wipes and diaper cream to cure diaper rashes.  Cloth diapers range in price (depending on the type) from $300-1000 for a stash of 24-36 diapers and when your baby is out of diapers you can resell them.  Cloth diapers can be reused over and over again saving you a ton of money.

Did you know that it could take anywhere from 250-500 years for disposable diapers to decompose in a landfill?  Did you know that disposable diapers use twice as much water as cloth diaper; and that’s mostly in manufacturing.  Over 27 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills each year.  Cloth diapers are much better for the environment and will reduce our children’s butt-print (carbon footprint) significantly. 

I want to see cloth diapers on The Ellen Show because the only way to change a diaper is one baby at a time and if you could help us reach just one more family than Operation Fluffy will be a success. 

We are your fans and we look forward to meeting you and showing off our babies adorable fluffy butts.  I’m sure you would fall in love with all of them…especially this one…

Much love and and lots of dancing,

The Eco Chic and family 

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