Happy Holidays!

Well, we have survived our first winter holiday season as a family with an infant. I stayed up very late more nights than not sewing, painting and gluing. V was very patient and let me use her tiny hands to stamp shirts and press ornaments without fussing. Everyone had a wonderful time and no one went too crazy with the gift giving, except my father, who gave us a very nice digital camcorder to record these precious moments. Of course V refuses to roll over on camera now that she's been rolling for a little over a week. :)

I hope everyone has had a nice and comforting holiday and that they are looking forward to the new year with hope and positivity.

Holiday giving on a budget

So as you have probably figured out, I don't like to spend a lot of money. Especially on things I can't guarantee the recipients will like. So this year I decided to make, or customize, every single give I'm giving.

I am a huge fan of Michael's craft stores.  I know, not very eco, but if you hit a good sale, it can be very frugal.  I found some amazing jewelry supplies this year that I swear I've been waiting for.  I snatched up several pieces for the women in my family and have made them all little pieces of wearable wonderfulness (details after they receive them).  Then there was the three for $6.00 photo ornaments. I had to have those. And there are going to be wearable pieces of baby related stuff for the men... It was a very nice way to create keepsakes for the family of the first baby holiday.  So I've (obviously) been staying up very very late the last few nights playing with scissors and glue and paper and model magic and my baby girl.

For wrapping paper I intend to snag a newspaper from my parents and use leftovers that my husband has hoarded over the past year. I am not spending any money on fancy holiday paper ever again. Maybe I'll dip her hand in non-toxic tempera paint and make baby print paper. ;)

Tea for four

As part of my UU Church's annual Service Auction, I offered up a
Saturday afternoon tea and two people signed up. It turned out that my
Gram was going to be here for the event when she came down to meet
V for the first time.

I was lucky that my hubby has been paid well for some jobs recently but
I also wanted to have this event without spending a lot of money.
I ended up buying tea using my husband's employee discount. I baked a
simple, few ingredient cake and chai tea biscuits, and made cucumber
sandwiches. Not expensive, but well presented. What mattered most wasn't
what was on the plates (even though my food was awesome), but what
happened around the table. We had four generations of women sharing tea
and snacks and life stories. It was wonderful.

Fun with friends

V and I had a wonderful, and affordable, day with friends
yesterday. My Friend Jess and her daughter Grace came over and we baked
cookies using ingredients I've had for ages, assembled a gingerbread
house and played with V. She even got to experience her first
snow.
This gem of a day was proof that you don't have to spend a lot of money
to have a wonderful time. All you need is good companionship,
conversation and if you are lucky, cookies.

Hair cutting at home continued

So I decided after several days to revisit my hair cut and take about four or five more inches off, mostly in the back because I like my hair at least as long in the front as it is in the back, if not longer.  My darling husband didn't even notice the change.  He claims he hadn't noticed how long it had gotten.  Okay fine.  Anyway, he is planning on cutting his almost shoulder length locks in order to be more promotable in his job in the discount department store that shall remain nameless.  Since he finds his hair to be a vital part of his external personality, he has decided to live vicariously through me and has requested that I now "have fun" with my hair since I am no longer in the public workforce and accountable to no one but myself.  His request?  "Pink with green tips." Seriously.  My 43-year-old husband really wants me to chop off my hair and dye it crazy colours.  I'm not ready to go as short as he wants it yet, it did after all take two years to grow out some bad bangs, but I think there might be some discount hair colour in my future.  I told him green doesn't tend to take very well, but if I can find a bluer green maybe it won't look too much like baby poop when it starts to fade.  I wish he had requested purple.  Maybe I'll go purple anyway.  I know crazy hair colour tends not to be very eco, but it is fun and does sometimes make me feel better about myself.  And since I'm already a non-traditional mother in a lot of ways, this won't shock anyone.  

Black Friday

Is there anything less eco-frugal than Black Friday? Stores open since 3:00 a.m., delivery trucks making extra trips, people driving all over town, targeted/time limited display advertising...Not to mention the
potential injuries and even deaths in the crowds. I feel terrible that my mom is actually going to be working 14 hours today at a Walmart. I'm just glad she's a pharmacist and therefore out of the crowds a bit.

My response to Black Friday? Participating in "Buy Nothing Day." I will be spending time with my daughter and my dad, working on computer things and relaxing while a huge portion of humanity goes insane for 24 hours.

I am planning on making holiday gifts anyway. I would elaborate on those plans, but my family reads this blog and that would ruin any surprises. ;)

Friends with food

So the most fun way to be eco-frugal I've found so far?  Have a wonderful friend cook food for you.  I have a dear friend, Serena, who has similar eating habits to mine who enjoys coming to our house to cook for me and play with V.  We always end up with leftovers for everyone and a wonderful time together.  Next time she comes over, I'm cooking for her though because I'm starting to feel guilty. :)

Today's menu:

Lemon Leek Frittata

Mixed Green Salad with Citrus and Red Onion

Citrus, Olive, Shallot Salad 

Yummy!!!!

Some times you just need a day off

I would love to be able to share a new tip or trick I've tried or am going to try, but actually, I just haven't done anything today but nurse V, wash and dry diapers (outside and in the dryer) and put a few clothes away.  I'm emotionally and physically spent and trying very hard not to be depressed or angry that my husband does almost nothing around the house any more.  He is working more than full time on his own natural landscaping company and working two or more 2:15 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. shifts a week at a local discount department store.  I know he's tired and that is very difficult to acclimate into, but I need him to at least not make my life harder.  I find that if I put something on the bed for him to put away, he just moves it over to where I used to sleep and goes to bed.  If he's relaxing and I'm trying to get V ready to go somewhere and she's screaming, it takes a very long time for him to think to ask if he can do anything to help.  I love this man, but I'm frustrated.  The latest straw is when I text him to find out when he's coming home, in case V lets me put her down long enough to make dinner I like to know when is a good time to start it. The response is always "soon" which apparently does not mean within the hour.

I need a vacation.  I didn't even get my two hours a week this week when I go to a class at my Unitarian Universalist Church, because he was too tired to watch the baby. I had to bring her with me.

I love being a full time mother, but sometimes it is really hard work.

Got the razor

This has been a personally tragic week but I'm still going so I am still posting.

Before I get started on the razor review, I just want to send out a prayer to the powers that be that V isn't making too clear memories.  Yesterday we had to euthanize the cat we took in after my grandmother died in July, and V was in the room while OC died. I had one hand on OC, and was rocking V's Kick & Play chair with the other.  Not a situation I recommend anyone go through.

Today after we buried OC, I got my Weishi double edged safety razor with 25 blades in the mail.  I very much appreciated that the seller did not use much packaging at all to mail everything and the blades themselves have minimal packaging. The razor was in a plastic travel/storage case with mirror and one wrapped blade.  Nice and simple.  Some people sell the razor with a fabric travel bag, so if you are plastic free, look for them.

After V went down for her afternoon nap, I treated myself to a very non-eco long hot bath.  I really needed some "me" time and that was what my spirit needed at the time.  Since I was soaking in hot water I decided to try the razor.  I don't have true shaving soap yet, but I did get my brush and soap mug which I put a sliver of Jasmine soap into and used that to lather up.

The razor was very easy to use.  Inserting the blade is a breeze with little risk of ever cutting myself.  The razor has a nice weight without being too heavy.  I was able to shave almost as quickly as with a cartridge razor and with almost the same results.  I have several brands of blades to try before I make my final decision on which blade to use, but in the mean time, I am perfectly happy with this choice.  And even though I was sitting in the bathtub with my foot up on the side of the tub, I didn't nick myself at all.

Hair cutting at home

When I was in high school and college, I changed my hair weekly.  I cut, coloured, permed and eventually shaved my hair gleefully.  I'm very much interested in showing my individuality clearly on the outside, and purple hair was part of that for a long time.  The last time I died my hair with anything permanent was August of 2008.  I got chunks of blonde and red put in for an event I attended.  For  a while after that I was dying over it with semi-permanent raspberry colouring.  Very pretty.  Then I got pregnant.  I stopped dying my hair and only had it cut once or twice during the pregnancy because I didn't want to even be in a salon while V was gestating.  Now I have an infant daughter, limited funds and absolutely no time to go to a salon.  And a head of half died hair with split ends that is shedding like crazy now that I'm three months post-partum.  Basically, my hair has been making me sad.

So how to fix it?  Going to a salon right now is definitely not an option.  A full head of colour is not an option because I'm breast feeding.  But if I feel those split ends again, I'm going to use my new razor to shave it all.  I decided I just had to reclaim the experimental spirit I had in college, grab the scissors and take my mane into my own hands.  The difference between my hair in college and my hair now is, it's long(ish) now.  In college if I screwed up, in a few weeks, months at the most, it would be all grown out and fixed.  Now my hair has been below my shoulders for a while and I'm a bit attached to the length, so I would rather not screw up a whole lot.

I did some research online and found some articles on cutting layers into your own hair.  I have very thin, fine, shedding like crazy hair and long layers add a tiny amount of fullness and texture to what is otherwise not that impressive.  Eventually I decided to combine the methods I read about and go for a fairly conservative attempt at trimming my hair just enough so I wouldn't obsess quite so much.

I already have hair cutting scissors from all my previous adventures in hair cutting.  And I needed to shower and give V a bath anyway, so washing and conditioning my hair was on the menu for today anyway.  What I ended up doing was brushing my wet hair up into a tight ponytail on the top of my head and carefully cutting off about two inches of the end of the pony tail, which was held straight up from my head.  Then I took my hair down, bent over and brushed it all forward and down (head pointing toward the floor) and trimmed straight across.  The results aren't that much different from what I had, but some of the ends are neater and I did not completely screw up my hair. I might have to trim strays over the next few days and eventually I have to do something with the colour, but right now, I think I can rest a little easier.

This is the completely un-styled, air dried,  result of my home hair cut.  You can see that there are some tapered layers in there.  The front is so much shorter because I've been growing out poorly thought out bangs for a year and a half.

So how is cutting hair at home eco-frugal?  No gas spent getting to the salon.  No resources spent on the tools for the hair cut.  No money spent at all.  And hair clippings can be put in the compost or given to the birds for nesting material.

Few ingredient dinners that can be reheated

It drives me insane that my husband would be perfectly happy living on Wegman's prepared foods. First of all, they are not cheap, and they are loaded with extra salt and fat, and basically it's insulting.  As I'm trying to get into the habit of cooking dinners, I would love it if he would stop bringing home packages of macaroni and cheese or garlic mashed potatoes.  Mostly the expense bothers me, but they are all packaged in a lot of plastic and while it is recyclable it is still a resource drain on our planet.  So I'm trying to ween him off that and make good foods that satisfy his cravings and can be reheated as leftovers.

My mother was down from New Hampshire for a few days this week and was able to entertain and take care of V while I cooked.  After my grocery shopping extravaganza earlier in the week I had the makings for some of my favorite meals and a new experiment.

On Wednesday I made smashed pumpkin, brown basmati rice and Quorn Chik'n nuggets for dinner.  At about 8:00 p.m. I decided I wanted chocolate cake, so I made Chocolate Wonder Cake which is vegan and takes a total of about 45 minutes to make and bake.  Yesterday I made soup with potatoes, carrots, celery, spinach, onion and garlic, a potato and onion frittata and sweet noodle kugel.  Today I rested and ate leftovers.  Tomorrow my friend Serena will be bringing us dinner, gluten free pasta primavera and pumpkin muffins.  These are very good things.

Other than my current soda obsession, I'm being very good about eating healthy foods that I prepared myself.  I'm hoping to not only increase my own health, but decrease my grocery budget by continuing to do more home cooking.

My razor will be here shortly

I found an even better price on a double edged safety razor and blades than I expected on eBay.  I took advantage of the deal and purchased a Weishi razor and 25 blades for $17.49 with free shipping.  According to my research, Weishi is a good introductory razor when starting out with wet shaving.  Not too light or heavy, doesn't slip, allows the user to learn what they are doing.  All in all, I think this was a very eco-frugal deal.  Hopefully it will arrive soon because I really want to shave my legs!

First steps toward eco-frugal shaving

I just ordered a cruelty free shaving brush and shaving soap mug from the brand Herban Cowboy. With shipping it came out to just about $13.00.  Tomorrow or Thursday I will order the razor set that I've been looking at and then hubby and I will be good to get eco-friendly shaving.

Another nice thing I thought about regarding this eco-frugal method of shaving is that I can soap up without actually being in the shower.  By using the brush and soap and going slowly, I can theoretically shave using a sink of water or even V's bath water when she's done with her bath.  This could save us even more resources.

I know it seems like a truly little change, but these small changes add up.

Honey

There are few substances in this world I love as much as honey.  I love honey so much I am seriously considering keeping bees.  I will eat almost anything if you put honey in, on or around it.  I consume honey straws, whipped honey, honey comb, chunk honey, raw honey, crystallized honey... You get the idea.  The nice thing about honey is that while is primarily carbohydrates and water, it also contains small amounts of several vitamins and minerals and has antimicrobial aspects.  So when your mom gave you a spoonful of honey to soothe a sore throat, she was also helping to cure it!  Honey can also be used to dress minor scraps and burns and it is a humectant making it suitable for beauty products.  Since honey is an anti-irritant it can be used for sensitive skin and baby products as well.  There is anecdotal evidence that eating raw honey from your geographic region can help to reduce hayfever by acting as a vaccine to the local allergens.  Think of it like taking allergy shots that taste good.

I obviously love eating and drinking honey, but one of my favorite uses for it is as a beauty product.  I have been known to spend truly inappropriate amounts of money on skin care products and that is one of the first places my frugal habits started.  It is so much more economical to make my own luxury items at home than to pay someone else to make them for me.  Granted I can't replace everything I use with a home made product, but I can certainly do some of them.

I mentioned before that I love long hot baths.  Now with V I take not so long, not so hot baths, but just because I'm sharing the tub with a baby doesn't mean it can't be a beautifying experience.  And since honey can be messy, using it in the bath is ideal. Here are some of my uses for honey as a beauty product. (Disclaimer: I am not a health professional, these are my uses and experiences ONLY.)

• Moisturizer:  Used all by itself, honey is a humectant with anti-irritation and anti-bacterial properties.  Simply smooth on skin (all over is fine) and relax for ten or more minutes.  Rinse off and enjoy very soft skin.  Can be used as a cleanser this way too. 
• Face Mask: For when my skin is really irritated and broken out, I'll pulverize a few tables of vitamin C and blend that with a few teaspoons of honey and a small amount of jojoba oil.  I dab that heavily on my warm water washed face and relax for about ten minutes then rinse.  I always feel incredibly smooth after that. If I don't have vitamin C, ground cinnamon works as well, but can be irritating and doesn't stay on as long.
• Face Scrub: I don't use scrubs very often because I wash my face with a wash cloth and that works very well to gently exfoliate.  There are times though when I just feel like truly getting all the dead skin off and starting from scratch. Crystallized honey (got too cold in the jar) with a bit of warm water to soften the edges of the crystals, used very gently, works well. It is also great on feet and dry rough hands. 
• Hair Conditioner: Honey melted into warm water and rinsed through hair works very well as a conditioner in a pinch.  Let sit for a little bit and rinse. 
• Bath Softener: 1/4 cup of honey in a bath will get you soft and smooth all over.  Cleopatra bathed in milk and honey and was renown for her gorgeous skin. 

So how do we make the frugal part of using honey also eco?  The best answer is buy very local.  That isn't always possible though, so when buying your pound of honey (anything less is just silly) try to make sure it is produced in your country, preferably in your geographic region.  Or if you want to be super green, become a bee keeper yourself!

Food shopping since deciding to be eco-frugal

We had almost eaten everything in the house, and I was starting to eye the canned fruit salad that has now been in at least three cupboards, so I had to go food shopping.  In a perfect world I would be surrounded by local farmers' markets and be able to buy absolutely everything within five miles, organically and fresh. In a perfect world.  In this world, I shop at Wegman's.  Wegman's is a regional grocery store that actually has some good reputation as a place to work and as a philanthropic organization.  A few years ago there was a major protest at how Wegman's egg suppliers treated their chickens.  I don't buy their house brand and never will, but I can't find any recent protests about cruelty issues.  I am eventually going to look into discount warehouse shopping and a store a friend has told me about that sells organic and natural surplus foods and recently outdated foods at a deep discount.  But today, I needed to go to Wegman's.

Most people who are not Wegman's shoppers claim they can't shop there because it is too expensive.  And yes, their pre-prepared foods are pricy, but I wasn't going to be hitting their gourmet bakery or take home dinners sections.  I had a list that I needed to stick too primarily, and a willingness to bargain shop.

First of all, as I have mentioned, I primarily purchase organic foods.  I find that I just feel better about not having pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics or growth hormones as part of my food.  Granted I do eat out sometimes and that is rarely organic, and not even everything we purchase is always organic.  In fact the colas we buy never are.  And yes, I know cola is bad, that's a topic for another day.  So while I prefer organic options, I have to save money. So it was time to make choices.

All the fresh vegetables I bought, except for the jicama I want to try, were organic.  My soy milk was house brand, but organic. All pasta except the egg noodles for noodle kugel were organic. All the beans for spicy bean soup, organic.  Basically anything we consume very regularly was organic.  I did purchase Kashi cereal, which is not organic, but my rice cereal and oatmeal are and I have quite a lot of them.  Treat items, like cola, ice cream and french fries were all house brand.  I did go to a non-organic house brand loaf of bread.  I couldn't spend the extra three dollars for a smaller loaf of organic right now.  I am hoping to relearn how to make bread at home which will make that a non-issue as I have quite a lot of organic whole wheat flour looking to be used.

In the end I filled a medium sized shopping cart and spent about $120.00.  Had I not compromised, it could have easily been much closer to $200.00.  Of course the hubby complained that I didn't get much "snacky snacks" for him, but he's going to have to adjust as well.  I got a lot of food to make meals that will last and feed us several times.  If only I had been able to get coupons to use as well...Maybe next time.

Probably too much information...

I said this blog would be honest, so if you are uncomfortable with the topic of menstruation, this is not the post for you.

It has been a year since I have had my period.  Between pregnancy and breast feeding, I've been spared the monthly discomfort of cramps, mood swings and food cravings.  Okay, thats not entirely true since all three of those things are part of pregnancy, and I swear I'm eating everything in sight this week with nursing hunger. But at least I haven't bled for a year. But if I did, I would have saved a ton of money in comparison to the average American woman.

I have not purchased a menstrual product in I believe eight years.  Imagine the savings that has afforded me.  I have a fairly long and heavy menstrual period, so figure two boxes of tampons per cycle at approximately $8.00 per box, that's $192.00 per year. After eight years I've saved $1.536.00!

When I used tampons, I used o.b. brand believing they were the  most environmental option, minimal packaging, and because there is no applicator you have to get comfortable with your body.  Of course being able to put several in a pocket without anyone being the wiser was also a benefit.  However, these traditionally produced tampons still use cotton, and I believe rayon and some plastic packaging and they get flushed or tossed in the garbage.  Not to mention concerns about TSS.

So, what did I give up my o.b. for?  Washable cotton menstrual pads and a Diva Cup.  Initially I used sea sponge but that raises concerns of ocean pollution, over harvesting of sponges and sustainability.  The Diva Cup is the silicon sister of the Keeper which has been available for decades.  I have a latex sensitivity and therefore cannot use the Keeper, although as a natural product I would have preferred that option in a perfect world.

Approximately eight years ago I purchased my Diva Cup from their website in size B (before childbirth).  The cost with shipping was about $36.00 at that time. Three months of menstrual supplies.  I've had that cup for EIGHT YEARS! I also bought a collection of washable menstrual pads from Glad Rags, Pandora's Pads and another brand I can't remember and can't read on the tag any more. I use the pads as back up in the rare case the cup leaks (three or four times in eight years) and I used them as postpartum pads after V's birth.

Long story short, economically, environmentally and physically, reusable menstrual products are the best option. And, whenever I start menstruating again, that is what I will continue to use.

Here comes the sun

I'm trying to make the best of every fair weather day we have during this lovely autumn season.  Whenever possible I like to dry V's diapers in the sun.  This is a great practice for several reasons. A: The sun bleaches out any stains completely, and even lightens the unbleached Indian cotton pre-folds to a lovely pale ivory colour. B: I don't have to pay for electricity to dry them. C: The sun is our world's best sanitizing agent.  While I feel very confident in my washing method, I know that if the diapers spend a couple of hours out in the sun they are ph neutral, clean, sanitized and perfect for sensitive baby skin.  Plus they smell great.

In keeping with my eco-frugal lifestyle, the heat has also been turned off for this gloriously sunny and only slightly chilly day. I am wearing layers and V is in two footy pajamas.  We are nice and toasty.  Since it is breezy outside I'm hoping that the diapers will dry completely in spite of the less than strong sunlight I get in November.  If not a few minutes in the dryer will dry them the rest of the way and I saved 90% of the energy I would have used drying them completely in the dryer. I use two metal folding drying racks and can fit the entire load of diapers and wipes on them. And I set them up in my driveway.  Not pretty, but I don't care if the whole world knows I'm saving energy by drying things outside.

Changes I'm working on...

There are a list of things I would like to change to start saving money and reducing my environmental footprint.  Some are already in effect, some are coming down the road. These are the initial steps in my eco-frugal mothering journey.

Water conservation: Water is a precious resource, as well as a utility for which I pay dearly.  I need to find ways to conserve water.  One way is to stop taking extremely long tub baths that require refilling the tub with hot water.  I can't guarantee that I'll never take another one of those, but I have cut back substantially, although it is something V loves, because she loves to float in the water and splash. What I do most of the time is use her tub to collect water while I am waiting for the temp to come up to were I like it for my shower.  Her tub gets a mix of cold and hot water and doesn't get too hot for her and I put her in the baby tub, in the tub while I take a quick shower.  Then I bathe her, and we're done!

Another method I'm using to conserve water is a pitcher on the kitchen counter.  When I need hot water from the tap I use the pitcher to catch the cold water and then use that to fill the cats' water bowls or my water bottle or glass.  I also use a glass in the bathroom which I fill with water and use that to take my nightly vitamins, dampen my toothbrush and rinse my mouth after brushing.

Shaving: I know this doesn't seem like a big deal, but cartridge razors are expensive and loaded with plastic and excessive packaging.  I was in my grocery store a few weeks ago looking at Mach 3 cartridges and couldn't believe $18.00 for a package of eight! Right below that were double edge razors 50 for $4.50.  So I started researched double edged safety razors and the classic art of "wet shaving."  This is a change I've convinced my husband we are going to make.  The initial investment is a bit more than that $18.00, but then it's pennies a week for our shaving needs.  I am going to invest in a butterfly style double edged razor with 15 sample blades for approximately $26.00, a cruelty-free shaving brush from Urban Cowboy for $7.00, and I'll have to get a puck of shaving soap and a mug or bowl to keep that in.  And according to my research this will give me a shave like nothing I've ever experienced.  And if you are concerned about safety, as one blogger stated, "they are called safety razors for a reason." I'll let you know how it goes.

Grocery Shopping:  I am a fan of organic food options.  I believe they are better for the environment and my health.  I know I tend to pay more for organic than non-organic options and I am trying to figure out ways to save money.  I am looking into online coupon sites, but having difficulty with my dial-up internet connection.  Mainly I am instituting a "no grocery shopping without a list" policy in our house.  We are notorious for going food shopping as a night out.  We are blessed to have a lovely grocery store, Wegman's, with a ton of luxurious organic options, soothing music and lighting and pleasant atmosphere.  It is very easy to spend way more than we intended.  I also plan on buying more house brand products.  Currently I am making sure things get eaten before they go bad and I even shared food with a friend to make sure it wasn't wasted.  I have a lot to learn and a lot of bad habits to break here.  This is going to be an ongoing project.

Electricity: Turn the lights out! My husband is the worst with this.  We don't have working lights in our hallway so he leaves a light on in the bedroom to see his way.  This light might stay on for 5 hours or more.  This drives me crazy!  He also turns on lights for the plants in the basement and in our guest room where the cactus reside and forgets about them.  My feeling is the plant lights can stay on as long as the sun does. If the sun sets at 5pm, the lights go out at 5pm.  I think I will get an efficient LED candle style light to put on my jewelry armoire in the hallway to light the hubby's way so he stops leaving lights on in the bedroom.  Eventually I hope to break him of the habit of sleeping with the television on.

Oil: Our furnace is set at 64〫F during the day and 60〫F at night.  I hadn't turned it on until the weather was to hit freezing at night and not get above 50〫F during the day.  We have forced hot water heat so we do not have a water heater, our furnace heats our water.  So the same ways I conserve water, help to conserve oil as well.  We also have a wood pellet stove.  Pellets are made from lumber saw dust, so are a recycled product.  My pellet stove tends to be set at 66〫F when I am home during the day, 64〫F when I'm not and I turn it off before I go to bed.  We burn less than 40lbs of pellets a day.

Breast Feeding

It is pretty common knowledge that human breast milk is the perfect food for human infants. However, as a breast feeding mommy, I'm still surrounded by people questioning my commitment to breast feed my daughter.

When V was born the hospital provided a lactation counselor to help us figure this whole thing out. I was surprised at how not natural breast feeding feels initially. As an American I was basically ingrained with a disconnected relationship to my breasts. Our culture both revers and despises anything remotely sexual in nature so breasts, and more importantly their natural function as a food source, are not considered appropriate. One of the things I found most ironic about my hospital experience was the diaper bag full of free samples I was given. It was put together by Similac, the formula company. Even as a breast feeding mother I was sent home with eight prepared bottles of infant formula, coupons for formula and information on how fabulous formula is and how close it is to mother's milk. Now I understand formula can be a lifesaver if there is a condition that prohibits the mother from breast feeding her child, but I'm doing fine with providing for V and don't need supplementation. I am annoyed by all these attempts to separate my daughter from her most appropriate food supply.

Then there are the people who had to give advice on preparing for breast feeding and getting my nipples ready. Seriously. Thoughtful and well intentioned friends and acquaintances recommended everything from rubbing with a washcloth to using prescription lotions. I did nothing. Instead when V was born, she and I worked on making sure her latch was always correct. At almost three months, I have had no problems with cracking, irritation or plugged milk ducts. I understand things can always change. And there are times when I am a bit sore after a marathon nursing session, but for the most part, we are doing great.

Now the anecdote:

Everyone around me is getting sick. My husband is sick. V's godfather is sick. Half the people I used to work with, and my friends still work with, are sick. H1N1 is everywhere in the news. It is a scary time to have an infant.

A little over a month ago I did get a pretty vicious cold. Nothing flu like, but one of those end of summer colds that really knocks your legs out from under you. As I oh so classily say, I was "living in a world of snot." My husband got it even worse and was almost flat out for over a week. He didn't recover as quickly because he continued to work hard running his landscaping business. He works alone so he wasn't exposing anyone else. Then there was V. About two days before I realized I was sick I had a rough night with her. She was fussy and uncomfortable, spitting up a little more than usual and had a lot of diaper changes in the middle of the night which is unusual for her. Her temple temperature was slightly higher than normal as well, but far from concerning. The next day she was fine. And that was the extent of V's experience with the cold virus. Granted I wash my hands like crazy, but I was still blowing my nose over her while she was breast feeding and I couldn't sterilize myself. She was quite simply much more inoculated than we were. And so far she is perfectly healthy in spite of everyone around us being miserable.

And the very best thing about breast feeding?

It is free.

And natural.

And I get to cuddle my baby very close many times during the day.

Cloth Diapering, 2+ Months

I'll admit right now I'm new at all this mothering stuff. V is my first, and only, child. When my husband and I really started planning on having a baby some things just weren't even worth discussing for us. We both knew we would use cloth diapers. But I'm the one who had to do the research.

If you do any reading on cloth diapers you are bound to find people fanatically on both sides of the fence. There are those who say it is unconscionable to use disposables due to their almost eternal presence in landfills, the questions about the safety of the absorbent gels and anecdotal issues with diaper rash, to name a few issues. Others will question the environmental impact of washing and drying cloth diapers, claim they also cause diaper rash and wonder if they are truly sanitary.

Here's my stance.

No matter what your views are, disposables are sitting in landfills just adding to our trash pile. Plastic doesn't breath and I don't like the idea of strange chemicals near my daughter's sensitive skin. And since babies are messy, I would have to do more laundry anyway.

When I started doing research on cloth diapering I learned that there are way more options I ever thought possible. Here's a quick outline:

• Flat Diaper: A large rectangle of fabric, folded into absorbent layers and wrapped around the baby, covered with a waterproof diaper cover or soaker. Quick drying and handy for traveling light. Affordable, but not always easy to find.

• Pre-fold Diaper: That large rectangle of fabric, pre-folded and sewn in shape, wrapped around baby or laid into the waterproof diaper cover or soaker. Most are from China or India. Very affordable ($1.00 - $3.00 per diaper), require pre-washing to make absorbent before first wash. Chinese pre-folds are often bleached whereas Indian pre-folds can be unbleached. Organic options exist but are very expensive in comparison.

• Diaper Cover: A generally thin pant style waterproof wrapper that goes over a flat or pre-fold diaper. May close with hook and loop closure or snaps, or be pull on style. Often some sort of soft breathable material with a thin laminate on inside of diaper. Prices range widely from $5.00 for pull on style nylon pants to $20.00+ for fancier styles.

• Soaker: Most are made out of wool, some are polyester fleece. A soaker is a diaper cover that actually absorbs any fluid that goes through the diaper, keeping it from reaching the outside layer by being super absorbent. Wool soakers need to be treated with lanolin on occasion to maintain there absorbency.

• All-In-One (AIO): A washable version of a disposable diaper. Absorbent fabric close to baby's skin, with a waterproof outer layer. Prices range widely but seem to be between $15.00 and $25.00 per diaper.

• Pocket Diaper: A stuff-able diaper with a "wicking" layer next to babies skin, waterproof outer layer and a pocket for inserting absorbent materials such as inserts specifically for that diaper or folded pre-folds. Tend to range around $17.00-$25.00 per diaper for most common brands.

• One-Size: Generally a pocket diaper that has a system of snaps allowing the diaper to "grow" with the baby. Often the size range is from approximately 7lbs to 35lbs. Pricing is the same as pocket diapers.

• Hybrid Diapers: A cross between a washable diaper and a disposable. These are generally a washable pant that is either waterproof or has a waterproof liner, and a disposable insert.

I'm sure there are options I haven't listed and more are probably being invented as I type. But these are the options I've come across in my limited time researching, and using, cloth diapers.

So what have I tried?

• Unbleached Indian Cotton Pre-Folds with Pro-Wrap Classics Diaper Cover: This is my main diapering method. I have used three sizes of the pre-folds in V's almost three months. For the first few weeks I did manage to fit my long and lean baby into the "premie" size, surprisingly enough. She wore those with the newborn size diaper cover with umbilical scoop and that worked very well. My one complaint is that if the cover isn't really "stuffed" with diaper, there can definitely be a poopy blow-out, particularly with my exclusively breast-fed daughter's more voluminous bowel movements. Most of the time though, even if poop gets into the wrapper itself, it rarely gets on her clothing. It is necessary to have extra covers on hand.
• Little and Bigger Weeds Hemp/Cotton Blend Diapers: Not really flat or pre-fold I wanted to try these because they are organic. Unfortunately they don't really work like a pre-fold, but I might be able to use them just folded and placed into the diaper cover. They work wonderfully as burp cloths!
• All-In-One: I believe the brand I have is Kissaluv. They are hand-me-downs though and have lost some elasticity in the legs and because of that, they leaked, so I can't give them a proper review.
• BumGenius 3.0 One Size Pocket Diapers: These are very absorbent and easy to use, but on the smaller settings they are very bulky. And I'm still not sure about the use of so much polyester materials. But I'll admit that I often reach for these at night to keep her dryer longer for sleeping. Most nights she uses two, each stuffed with it's regular insert and a doubler for extra absorbency.
• gDiapers: Hybrid diapers designed by crafty Australians. The insert can be flushed, tossed in the garbage or composted (wet only). These aren't a whole lot cheaper than disposables, and poop almost always gets on the plastic waterproof liner the inserts get into making changing diapers and cleaning that a pain. Flushing required deconstructing the insert and "swishing" it in the toilet which is also a lot of work. I used one package of them and probably won't get more. Plus they also have some sort of absorbent gel that makes me wonder.

V will be three months old next week. I have experimented numerous times with the diapers I have, trying to find the perfect diapering options. Right now I find that either doubling up her "infant" size Indian Pre-Folds, or even using the "premium" size works well in her slightly too large "small" sized diaper cover. I have used her "premie" sized pre-folds in the gDiapers as a washable insert. They work alright but she is a heavy wetter and would need something more absorbent to be really useful. And I have used her little and bigger weeds like pre-folds, which doesn't work quite as well as I would like them too, but I'm not done figuring them out.

Now, since I use cloth diapers, how do I keep them clean?

Washing cloth diapers is not hard. I have a diaper pail in my bathroom with a washable waterproof diaper bag (and a spare bag on hand). When the pail is full I take the bag and all diapers (and washable wipes) to my washing machine. I run a short prewash with cold water and a very small amount of Ecos Free & Clear detergent. When that is done I wash them again with hot water and a very small amount of detergent. My washer washes hot and rinses cold on that setting. Then I do a final cold rinse. If it is a sunny day I put the diapers outside in the sun to dry and to bleach any stains. If it is raining I dry them in my clothes dryer. That's it. So far so good. I am hoping to get a lot more of the premium sized pre-folds so I don't have to do laundry quite as often and I can do a full load at a time, which would safe energy and resources. Some day I hope to be able to afford an HE washer/dryer.

Cloth diapering really isn't hard at all and I feel good about not putting chemicals near my daughter's very sensitive baby skin and her developing body. Plus, those pre-fold diapers will have a million and one uses when she's no longer using them. Washcloths, dust rags, pet carrier liners, a quilt, you name it, they can do it.

What do I mean by Eco-Frugal Anyway?

Welcome to my latest project, Adventures in Eco-Frugal Mothering.

"Eco-frugal" illustrates my attempt at being both ecologically aware and conservative and frugal in raising my new daughter. I've always appreciated the environment and tried to do what I could to minimize my footprint. I know I can always do more, and I'm in no ways perfect, but with the addition of V to my life, I know I have to make even more changes. I have decided to be a stay at home mom (sahm), and with my husband running his own natural landscaping company and working another part-time job to make that possible, I'm trying to be financially responsible as well as environmentally responsible. Again, I know I'm not perfect, but this is an adventure and a journey and I hope to share what I learn along the way.