The Non-Hippie Hippie
disposable diapers
a. account for approximately 3 percent of residential waste in Canada
b. are a never ending expense for the first couple years of a child’s life
I’d like to say we choose to use cloth diapers because they are more environmentally friendly, but really we’re just cheap. I’m sure many of our neighbours who’ve seen our son’s diapers drying on the line believe we are hippies but we know the truth. Diapers are so expensive! Some people think that what you use in water and electricity to launder cloth diapers makes them more wasteful and expensive, in our case this is simply not true. We use our high efficiency washer which uses very little water in comparison to a top loader and we line dry them. Not only does line drying cost nothing, but it naturally bleaches diapers back to their original white!
Cloth diapers are a lot more work as they add a couple extra loads of laundry to your list of things to do. However, there is something therapeutic about hanging your child’s diapers out on the line to dry. If the work doesn’t bother you and you’re committed to using them as often as possible they are worth it! I love looking out my back door and seeing a row of cloth diapers swaying in the wind, for some strange reason it makes me love being a mom even more.
Don’t get me wrong, I will use disposables; for instance I will not camp and use cloth ever again. I will not go on road trips with cloth diapers ever again and most importantly I will not use cloth diapers at night. It is many of these reasons that make me a Non-Hippie Hippie. I choose to put a cap on my commitment to cloth diapering. Never-the-less, our choice still helps the environment and saves a lot of money; that’s a pretty good outcome for a cheaper alternative. So in closing I’d like to say I love money in the bank therefore I love cloth diapering.
P.S. Cloth diapering while camping will increase the maggot population at your camp site.
The Price of Community
Anyone who knows me well, will attest to the fact that I’m a bit of a germaphobe. I’m the mom who makes sure her kids don’t touch anything in a public washroom except toilet paper, tap water and paper towel. I wipe down handles, light switches, railings and toys more than often. I switch my dish rags and hand towels regularly. I do not like paying for food with coin or touching the buttons of an interac machine and then eating without washing my hands. If one of us is sick my already vigilant hand washing regiment kicks into overdrive with continual reminders to cough or sneeze into your elbow.
However, despite all of my precautions, our family still gets sick; colds, flu’s, pink eye- you name it we get it. So why is my family so susceptible to illness. Well, despite the fact that we have wonderful cases of immune deficiencies such as asthma, allergies and anaphylaxis in our family, we are also a highly social family. School, neighbours and friends fill up so much of our time that we are bound to cross paths with some unwanted bugs along the way.
Right now I’m experiencing increased neuroticism towards contracting viruses as we have a fairly new baby in our household. We’ve already gone through two flu’s, one cold, and a single case of pneumonia since his introduction to the world, but we’ve survived. As much as I hate my family being sick, I know that many times it the price we pay for community. I can take my precautions, but I can’t stop our family from building relationships and interacting with those around us.
My hands may be raw from hand washing, but I refuse to let go of our community for the sake of reduced illnesses.
Everything has it’s price, lol.
P.S. Don’t forget to sneeze into your elbow.
mamadizastre
MAMA DIZASTRE 