Sunday, July 19, 2009

Green Baby Update: Summer 2009


As you may remember, we are taking steps to try and limit Bodhi's environmental footprint from the get-go. It's hard to believe that he's 10 weeks old already, but even in that time, our eco-motivations are paying off:
  • Recycled Clothes -- Bodhi is growing at a tremendous rate. Since coming out at a whopping 10 lbs. 6 oz. and 21.5 inches, he's put on over three pounds and two inches. Needless to say, we've had to dig into Brother Will's old stuff sooner than we thought. Thank goodness we kept so much of his clothing. That's really helped save some money and eliminate the need to buy more stuff.

  • Eliminating Waste -- We're using the gDiaper system. This enables us to compost Bodhi's pee-only diapers (flushing is also an option but we're giving our septic tank a break on this one). On average, we're tossing about 5 lbs. of pee-pee diapers (that's about 6-8 individual diapers) into the compost pile each 1.5 days. That works out to 100 lbs. of used diapers being kept out of the landfill per month. (30 days/1.5 * 5 lbs.). Not too shabby.
Of course, we could be doing other things. Cloth diapers always comes up as a topic, but for us, it wasn't a good fit. I think this is a good example of finding the balance between saving the planet and saving our sanity. With two other kids to take care of, cloth diapers could not fit into our daily routines.

So what's next for Bodhi? Hopefully, our garden escapes the stranglehold the weather has on it, finds it groove and can start producing some veggies that we can use to supplement our solid food expenditures come the fall. Beyond that, it's a boatload of recycled toys that will start to make their way from the basement into our living room and a bunch of new handmade outfits that Sara plans to make for him in the coming months.

Anybody have any other green baby tips worth sharing?

2 comments:

Samantha said...

Hi-- I just stumbled across your blog. It's a great read with lots of interesting information. I was eager to read your take on diapers as not so long ago that was a huge topic in my household. Sadly, I was disappointed that you've given up on them. Here's a blog I wrote about my own experiences with cloth diapers:
http://bristolbullraker.wordpress.com/2009/05/03/post-ideas/
Since Bodhi is stil young maybe you'll reconsider.
Have a great day!
Samantha

BILL GERLACH said...

Hi Samantha,

With two other little ones running around the house, it's all about balance. For us, it just wasn't a good fit and frankly, the gDiapers weren't working all that well (lots of leaks and blow-outs).

I like to think that all the other things we do to lessen our footprint make up for it. It's about doing what you can, when you can, with what you have. Then helping others in an encouraging manner to share knowledge and know-how. Poo-pooing (pardon the pun) doesn't get you fans.