Kitchen tip

To avoid the bin smellies, we toss the chicken carcass into the freezer until bin day. Great idea, until bin day comes and I forget. Then, before you know it, there's more meat scraps in the freezer than edible meat.

Solution: Write on the bag. Ground breaking stuff, I know. No more opening a bag to work out if I'm throwing out a meal. Win.

Yes, I do feel the need to point out the massive luxuries assumed in this post. If we skip over electricity, internet access and abundant food in general, we can move on to enough freezer space to 'lose' something in there, meat 'scraps' being tossed without a second thought, a hot chook shop a five minute drive away, a car to drive in and enough money to run the car and pay for the chook and the elecricity for the freezer and the internet, and of course the magic rubbish truck which comes weekly to take rubbish 'away'.

 

Cloth nappies (diapers) while travelling

 

We’ve been using MCNs since Chubs was a newborn, and have travelled several times with and without them. Here’s the decision making process that I think through when deciding to take them or not.

 

Trips where we didn’t take the MCNs and used disposables only

-          When Chubs was 14 weeks old we flew 800km to visit my in laws for 10 days. Dear Husband had some work at the time as well.

-          When Chubs was 5 months old we flew 1000 km in the other direction for a five week stay; also with Dear Husband’s work.

 

Trips where we have used mostly disposables and a few MCNs

-          When Chubs was 10 months old we drove and had two nights in an apartment at the beach (100 km)

 

Trips where we did what we do at home – ie mostly MCNs with disposables as spares and at night.

-          When Chubs was 18 months we drove 800km to visit my in laws for 10 days.

-          Shortly we will be going to a remote island for a week; I plan to take MCNs then.

 

So how do I decide what to take?

1.       Swimming

If we are somewhere where we will be swimming, the at least a few MCNs is a must. Since we use pocket MCNs, they readily transform into a swim nappy – just leave out the insert. Disposable swim nappies are expensive and wasteful and regular disposable nappies explode when the polymer crystals expand, spilling the crystals ev-ery-where.

If Chubs is in her clothes and an MCN (even with the insert) then it’s generally no worries for some impromptu water play. The MCN with the insert will sag, but it won’t explode with icky chemicals everywhere.

2.       Luggage

When going by air, then the MCNs may need to be left behind. Each time we have flown with Chubs we have been going to major cities where disposables are easily purchased. By the time you add a portacot, stroller, car seat and nappy bag to all your usual travel gear (keeping in mind that a lap child has no extra luggage allowance for her clothes) then fitting in a few days’ worth of MCNs might be too hard. Whenever we have gone away and taken MCNs we have been travelling by car.

If disposables can’t be easily purchased at your destination, then cloth is probably the way to go as reusable cloth will take up less room than single use disposables, especially if you are going for a week or more.

3.       Washing facilities

At home I have my MCN washing routine down pat, and that’s one of the things that makes using MCNs so easy. However, if the washing routine falls apart then it very quickly comes a disaster. One trip (when we were away for five weeks) we were in a serviced apartment with a combination washer dryer and no hanging space. Thank goodness I hadn’t taken the MCNs. The washer dryer was a disaster – it took over four hours to dry a half load and was too noisy to have on at night.

Recently we drove to visit my in laws and we were sleeping in their rumpus room; the laundry is a sectioned off part of that room. This meant that I couldn’t do what I normally do, ie run the nappies at night. It was all ok in the end, but it’s something else to consider.

Another factor is drying – if you plan to line dry, what will you do if it rains for days on end?

4.       Availability of more

When we head away for our remote-ish holiday, nappies will be available if we run out but they will be very expensive and possibly in short supply. I may not be able to get the brand or size that fits, they might be sold out that week and they will be over three times the regular price. I will be taking disposables for night time and spares, but the reusable MCNs will hopefully guard against having to buy more.

5.       Environmental impact

One of the main reasons that we use cloth is for environmental reasons. To head to a World Heritage Listed National Park and leave behind 50 disposable nappies which take hundreds of years to break down didn’t sit well with me.

6.       Ease of use

Our MCNs are pull ups, which is a huge help for a mobile toddler. Especially in summer, a standing up change underneath a dress is so easy. The disposables we use aren’t pull ups so we can’t do that.

7.       Aesthetics

The most trivial of all my points, but I do think that cloth looks much nicer under skirts and dresses than sposies.

MCN update

I've blogged before about how we use Modern Cloth Nappies (MCNs) . We've made a few changes to our system so I thought I would update.

I now wash every day or every second day, not twice a week. Some of the nappies that we had started to delaminate on the PUL (waterproof layer). I'm not sure if this is because they were sitting around wet for several days or just because I bought cheap nappies to start with. Either way, I thought that a switch to daily or twice daily washing was in order.

I have also purchased some higher quality nappies. These new ones are still pocket ones. (Pocket MCNs have an outer layer which looks like a disposable nappy with waterproof PUL cover and snaps, and a fleecy lining. The insert goes inside the nappy/ diaper and gets pulled out for washing.) The new nappies are mostly bamboo (both the fleece lining and the inserts) with a small amount of microfibre. They are so much more absorbant than the 100% microfibre ones we already have; the microfibre ones look so cheap in comparison. In addition, the new ones have a higher quality PUL. Since they were more expensive than the first lot that we had, I really want to make sure that I look after them, hence the more frequent washing. The new ones can be pulled up; I'm looking forward to this when toilet training starts. They also have separate snaps for the legs as well as the waist which gets a closer fit and less leaks (most MCNs and all disposables only have one pair of tabs/ snaps to close to fit both the leg and the waist.)

We rarely use disposables at all now, except at night. I got some more mini wet bags too, which is perfect for a trip to the shops with one or two nappy changes.

Some of the cheaper ones I will throw out soon. I don't regret buying them. One set has lasted 12 months, another set six months. The ones which are delaminating I will get rid of, but about half of them are still in good condition. Even the ones which aren't have been used several times a week - for a rough very conservative estimate that's 100 times. They initial cost was about $5 each, so at 5c a wear (plus a tiny tiny washing cost) I'm very happy with our investment. Expensive nappies last years, but cheapies can be easily replaced. Disposables work out to about 30c each plus the huge environmental cost, so I'm happy with that.

I have purchased some more bamboo inserts, so I'm using them in the microfibre covers too for increased absorbacy. The new nappies I have are only available in plain colours (no patterns) but I would have purchased plain colours anyway. As I said before, patterned nappies look cute on their own but always seem to clash with Chubs' outfit, so I prefer to have plain colours and several double ups (eg four nappies in each of three colours rather than 12 different coloured nappies.)

I rarely use the disposable liners now, except for the first nappy of the morning (which is almost certainly a poo nappy.) TMI altert: Now Chubs is on solids - and a lot of them - her poos are generally soft but formed and roll off the nappy easily. We rarely get a newborn style poo-nami any more, so the liners really aren't needed.

Cloth nappies/ diapers are very easy for us with huge environment and financial savings. I've made a few updates but we're definately a MCN-ing household for the long haul!

Linked

Party box

Chubs had her first invitation to a friend's birthday party recently. I also hosted my first kiddy birthday party for our beautiful niece, and I'm planning Chubs' upcoming party too. Needless to say I've got kids' parties on the brain! We've also had several other functions and adult's parties too, so I'm all cake-d out for the time being, but I think I'll recover quickly :)

I found myself starting a party box for all the leftovers. I've kept disposable tableware and cutlery before but I never seem to check what I have before I buy more since I need them so infrequently. I looked at my stuff today and I had three packs of disposable butter knives, each with one or two which had been used. I don't throw out left over balloons et cetera, but do you think I can ever find them again the next time I need them months or years later?

My new solution - the party box. I've put in all the left over disposables as well as party decorations like balloons, streamers, candles etc. I don't think I'll 'stock up' - it's only a small box intentionally since I really don't need heaps of party gear but it will help me to make use of what I do already have.

In it at the moment are streamers, balloons, candles, paper napkins and the like as well as all those knives - not buying them for a while!

I hope my system will allow for a better use of resources. Do you have the need for a party box? Does it work for you?

The prize for...

... something I'm grateful for is having a wheelie bin garbage service! I must admit I enjoy the modern luxury of having a truck come and pick up our garbage and take it away - wherever 'away' is.

I've blogged before about how we used cloth nappies, but we still have some sposies which fill up the bin quite quickly. We don't have a compost bin since we don't have a garden, and we recycle what we can. (The recycling bins are around the corner in the photo.) I use reuseable containers for Chubs' and my lunches and we try to avoid food that is in individual packaging to cut down on rubbish.

I still get the feeling though that we are making way too much rubbish for three people. What do you to to cut down on the amount of garbage your household produces? Do you have any suggestions for me?

Lots of people are Thankful on Thursdays!

ETA: Not all the bins in the photos are mine; they are the bins for the whole building complex, in case you thought I had four binsfull per week.

How MCNs work for us

I'm a big fan of modern cloth nappies - here's the howwhatwhenwherewhywho of what we do.

What do you use?
We use pocket MCNs with microfibre inserts. We also use disposables at night and on occasion during the day.

Why do you use cloth nappies/ diapers?
The two main reasons that we use cloth nappies are financial and environmental.

The last box of disposable nappies which I bought (with 81 nappies in it) took Chubs five and a half weeks to work through. If she was using them full time it would last 10 - 14 days. The initial cost of cloth nappies isn't significant, especially when compared to the ongoing cost of disposables. I also only purchased 12 to begin with, and then another 12 later when we were sure we would keep using them to spread the cost.

The environmental cost of disposables is huge - every single disposable which has ever been used is still in landfill somewhere. Disposables are made of chemicals and use energy and water to manufacture. Of course cloth nappies are made of chemicals too, however each is only produced once and used many times. Based on our current usage rate and assuming that Chubs toilet trains at two and a half, then each of our 24 nappies will have been used roughly 100 times each. There is obviously a water and energy cost when it comes to washing the cloth nappies. To be honest I'm not really sure about what the actual cost is for disposables since it's very hard to find data. What is in my control, however, is to minimise the environmental cost of washing the cloth nappies. I wash in cold water, line dry and don't iron the nappies. (Seriously, I once read a study where people ironed their nappies, and they used that to work out the energy and time cost?!?!?)

As well as the production and washing cost of nappies, there is the breakdown of nappies and the transport. A disposable nappy/ diaper needs to be delievered in trucks from the factory to the shop, transported home from the shops, and then taken away to the dump by a garbage truck for every single nappy change. Cloth nappies only need to be transported once. Using our rate of usage as I said above, that means that we have 1% of the transport impact that Chubs' nappies otherwise would if she was in sposies full time. Assuming we throw out her nappies when she toilet trains (and that they last as long as that) then there will also be a lot less nappies sitting somewhere in landfill.

How do you use them?
The cloth nappies we have are very simple to use. The microfibre insert goes inside, a disposable paper liner on top and then it snaps on the same as a sposie. When it's time to take it off the paper liner (and any interesting 'presents') go into the bin, the insert gets pulled out and the cover and insert go into a regular rubbish bin. If we are out, then I still pull the insert out and put the cover and insert into a wet bag or a plastic bag. When we get home I empty the bag straight into the washing bin. No pins, no plastic pants, no folding, no soaking - woo hoo!

Where do you use them?
We use cloth nappies almost always when we are home and when we are out. As I said above, the nappies go into a bag (a cloth wetbag or just a plastic grocery bag) if we are out. We use disposables sometimes when we are at home and overnight as they are more absorbent than our MCNs (although there are dedicated night cloth nappies available). Chubs also uses her cloth nappies at day care. In our spare/ emergency packs in the car, at Nanny's etc we have disposables.

Each time whe have travelled, either for a business trip or to visit rellies, we have used disposables, mostly to save space on the plane trip and also because we don't always have access to a line to dry (only tumble dryer). Next Christmas we are spending at World Heritage listed Fraser Island and I will probably take the cloth nappies then so that Chubs' nappies don't stay not-rotting there forever. Fresh water is also abundant/ unlimited on Fraser because it's a sand island (which provides a natural desalination filter) so washing won't be a problem. Not sure what we will do if it rains though, I will have to think about that more.

When do you wash?
I wash twice a week overnight. On Saturday and Wednesday nights I empty the bin bag of nappies into the washing machine, fill it with water, normal detergent and nappy soaker. Some places recommend not using nappy soaker, but I find it makes them brighter and I haven't noticed any damage. I pause the machine and delay it several hours so the nappies can soak overnight. The machine comes on at about 5am and I hang them out in the morning.

If it's rainy or we have a crazy week, then I just take the bin bag, tie a knot in it to contain the smell and chuck it in the corner of the laundry. If I run out of cloth nappies then we just use sposies for a few days. I do like having the 'wiggle room' of using the disposables - it relieves much of the pressure to get the nappies washed and dried.

Who has the time to use MCNs?
Well, I do. It's important for me to spend lots of time with Chubs, and I can do that with cloth nappies. From a financial point of view, keeping out costs down means that I can work less hours. Washing nappies isn't time away from Chubs, either. She 'helps' me hang out the nappies, we got for stroller rides around the washing line and hang up one nappy each time and we play peekaboo when getting them off the line. Last week it took me over an hour to bring the nappies in. It would have taken me less than five minutes if I'd just gone and taken them off, but with all the giggling, hiding in washing baskets, making nappy towers and singing silly songs it was a lovely hour well spent :)

This post is part of Works For Me Wednesday. Pop over to Kristen's blog to see what others' tips are.