https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 04 Jun 2026 20:19:27 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2238049 Thu, 16 Jul 2015 06:02:56 +0000 BSB 2238049@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh, my sister is also earth conscious (environmental engineer) and she uses cloth diapers and cloth wipes. She said she only uses cloth wipes for wet diapers and disposal wipes for poopy diapers. Sometimes she put the wipes in the cloth diaper and it ends up in the wash. Sometimes she'll re-use them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2238041 Thu, 16 Jul 2015 05:56:09 +0000 BSB 2238041@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For me we are going to plan to try cloth diapers (I am pregnant with twins and know things might not be practical), cloth wipes, cloth nursing pads, and I've taken any hand me downs and requested on my registry that I'll gladly take them. </p> <p>For home related changes, we already compost (our trash company picks it up), thinking about switching to cloth napkins and this may be gross to others but I used to use (pre-pregnancy) a diva cup (instead of tampons) and cloth menstrual pads. Oh, I use cloth grocery bags when I remember. There was the thought of using a bidet type acessory instead of toilet paper has come up but it would be something only I would use and not DH.</p> <p>Oh, I am involved in a vanpool to commute to work. I have used public transportation (buses, light rail, car shares) currently and in the past but Seattle's public transportation system is much better and sometimes reliable than other cities I've lived in. This switch was based off saving money and being sick of the stress of commuting alone and using vanpools allow us to use HOV lanes. Plus, it saves me gas and money and reduces the mileage on my car, therefore resale cost when I trade in my CRV. I know it's an SUV but it's only a 4 cylinder and just what I need and want. I love it though. Anyway, the switch to using buses was a money saving tip and it's nice that I'm doing my part towards helping the environment.</p> <p>I'm not crazy obsessed with saving the planet but I'm trying to use cloth alternatives and try to buy used instead of it going to landfills. In my area, since we compost at work and home and I pay for the amount of trash that we have picked up. It really makes me more aware of what we buy, use and toss.</p> <p>I do admit that I do these things for reducing costs first, then also helping the environment. </p> <p>I am aware others say that using cloth products increase the amount of water I use, so some may argue that it's not completely helping. I think it's better than sitting in a landfill forever. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2238020 Thu, 16 Jul 2015 03:18:04 +0000 MenagerieMama 2238020@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are pretty similar to you folks, eco mindful and a bit gear minimalist, these are some things that we did:<br /> - cloth diaper (highly recommend!!) and cloth wipes<br /> - glass bottles (life factory ones were the nicest but the super cheap Evenflo ones worked great and fit my medela pump better too - pumped straight into them)<br /> - froze into 4 and 8 oz mason jars with the screw on plastic tops to reuse until I realized I had an oversupply and just used milk bags I got in trade for donating my extra (though my first donation ended up being in the mason jars so lucky bonus for that mama!) and then just froze a bottle or two if I needed it<br /> - stack of baby wash cloths for face/hand wiping after eating for BLW<br /> - bamboobies nursing pad were great, only used disposable pads once, saved a lot since I leaked for months<br /> - PnP with bassinet for in room sleeping for first few months and then now use the PnP for travel and our safe baby "jail" for play, helped keep gear down<br /> - no swing, had a baby bjorn bouncer that we can still use due to the high weight limit, super simplistic, nice looking and folds up really slim, I just wasn't really into "baby containers" for the newborn stage<br /> - lots of babywearing, Moby when young and now RS and Ergo, mostly Ergo, probably could have even skipped the stroller if I hadn't planned on trying to get back into running!<br /> - BLW has been great to cut down on buying extra baby food for LO and she loves it<br /> - we use a clip on high chair at the table to keep the bulky gear down and LO loves being at the table with us and we eat our meals together, also travels well!<br /> - most of our clothes were gifts but we did get a few things from consignment<br /> - nursery was decorated with gifts (crib) and Craigslist finds (glider, changing table dresser, etc)</p> <p>That's all I can think of right now! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237974 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 22:54:05 +0000 lamariniere 2237974@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Look into gDiapers if you are unsure about cloth or disposable. They give you the option of a cloth or 100% biodegradable insert. I've used them on both of my LOs and love them. </p> <p>I agree with others about not buying too much gear, and buying gear second hand. So many baby items have such a short lifespan that you really don't need everything brand new. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237962 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 22:25:50 +0000 JoyfulKiwi 2237962@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DesertDreams88: we ended up not having "enough" diapers for a good wash schedule. We'd wash with too few or we'd wait longer between washes, but either way we'd get problems with getting them clean enough and I think laundry troubleshooting is the toughest part of cloth diapers. When we did full-time (minus nighttime, because our son was a heavy wetter and we did a disposable overnight), we kept a good wash routine and almost never had issues with ammonia or build-up. Also, I found that there was also a reason to use disposables for a "bit" (bad rash, vacations, etc), so if you plan to use disposables on the regular you may find you're using more than you'd like. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237942 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 22:03:55 +0000 DesertDreams88 2237942@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks everyone! I think you've all convinced me on the breastmilk bags, you raised a lot of good points to understand the usefulness of them!</p> <p>@joyfulkiwi: could you go into a bit more detail about how going part-time with CD gave you difficulties? I naively see it as a happy medium... not too much laundry, not too much trash.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237920 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 21:48:20 +0000 JoyfulKiwi 2237920@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did cloth diapers but regular wipes, because the hassle of cloth wipes at daycare was too much for us. I'd think cloth wipes with grandma at home would be very easy. Also, if you're planning on letting grandma do disposable diapers, I think cloth will end up being a bigger hassle. Anytime we went "part-time" with our cloth diapers ended up bringing us a lot of grief. I didn't need nursing pads, but I'd imagine reusable ones work just fine. However, I agree with PPs about using bags over bottles for freezing milk. It's for a relatively short amount of time and it is infinitely easier. Being a full time WOH pumping mom (not to mention the added stress that pumping as a teacher can bring) is a challenge and you'll want to give yourself some grace in certain areas of your life. Plus, like @danda: mentioned, logistically it's a nightmare (if you use your freezer now for food, you'd have to dedicate so much extra space for all those bottles and there'd be a ton of added time for you/your husband for cleaning, defrosting, etc).<br /> Babies don't have to equal tons more trash. :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237899 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 21:23:54 +0000 honeybear 2237899@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think the best way to be environmentally conscious with respect to babies is to buy as little gear as possible. A lot of the stuff that people buy for babies is super, super short-lived and it all ends up in the dump eventually, even if it is used again or bought secondhand. </p> <p>I think sticking carefully to the (actual) basics--meaning a place to sleep, basic clothing, diapers/wipes, basic feeding supplies, and a car seat and/or baby carrier--will help reduce your environmental footprint immensely. </p> <p>With respect to cloth diapers and wipes, I bought pocket diapers and baby washcloths for wipes and just used water on the wipes. You might run the idea of cloth diapers past the mom who will be your caregiver, because at 3-4 months she won't need to spray the diapers off since the baby won't be eating solids yet. They'll be exactly like disposables from her perspective, they'll just go in the wet bag rather than the trash.</p> <p>ETA: I'm not a minimalist by any stretch, but all of my baby stuff/clothes for the first year, minus a fold-up cosleeper (which was our crib until we decided to cosleep/short-term baby-parking area for when I had to put LO down), the pump bag, and the car seat, fits into a single 70-quart Rubbermaid container. And I had way more stuff than I needed. Go easy on the gear. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237874 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 21:01:16 +0000 Astro Bee 2237874@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The breastmilk storage bags we use, Twist, are fully recyclable, and have adapters that connect to all the major pumps. You can also choose to feed directly from the bags, although we poor into Avent Natural bottles bc LO likes the nipples better. </p> <p>We also do cloth all-in-ones and pocket diapers, and hang them to dry. We use cloth wipes at home with water only, and use disposable wipes when out, but that may change shortly. We also use disposable diapers at night, or when travelling far. We just got back from vacationing in New Zealand and used disposables the whole time. I know some people like Grovia because they are supposed to be travel-friendly, but I think you are still throwing a lot out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237869 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 20:51:12 +0000 danda 2237869@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We do cloth diapers (we do pocket style Bumgenius 4.0 and daycare is fine with it as it's as easy as disposables...my dad actually changed my daughter's diapers twice recently when I wasn't around and I hadn't provided instruction and he put the disposable on backwards but got the cloth right). We use disposables very rarely... for newborn stage (did newborn rental last time but newborn size pockets aren't the best), for travel, and for any bad diaper rash (can't use strong rash cream with cloth). </p> <p>We use disposable wipes because my husband is opposed to cloth wipes, but I think cloth would potentially be easier because you can throw the wipes in with the diaper laundry rather than separating them.</p> <p>I HATED disposable nursing pads because I have sensitive skin and must have been allergic to something in them...I got very itchy until I stopped using them. If you use cloth nursing pads just be careful to keep clean ones on hand and change them out if they get wet, as moisture sitting for a long period of time can lead to infections...disposables are more absorbant/stay dry so this is slightly less of a concern for disposable use.</p> <p>Initially I wanted to keep all breast milk in glass bottles but it wasn't sustainable. Two drawbacks...1) frozen milk in a bottle takes forever to thaw, and 2) you need a lot of bottles that take up a lot of space. I had oversupply and wanted to build up a stash before returning to work...at peak I had about 400-500 ounces in our chest freezer...that would have been 100 bottles which would have been very expensive and probably wouldn't have fit.</p> <p>Another thing think about is using wash cloths or "unpaper towels" instead of paper towels and/or napkins especially when your kiddo starts solids. We were going through tons of paper towels to clean up my daughter after meals and we barely use any now that we switched. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237855 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 20:33:49 +0000 Anya 2237855@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ive seen several brands of milk storage bags that are recyclable. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237847 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 20:18:16 +0000 DesertDreams88 2237847@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@anya: and @lady grey: My caregiver for ages 3-4 months will most likely be a decidedly non-crunchy SAHM with a 1 yr old and two 3 yr olds, besides my infant, so... I just know she won't be open to CDing :) And I don't want to ask it of her. Maybe I will try to convince Grandma though, since she'll be taking care of LO starting at 7mo, in my home. </p> <p>@anya: We have used a clothesline in the past but don't have it set up in the new house, I will reconsider that?</p> <p>Sounds like cloth wipes are an easy option. Thanks for those explanations! </p> <p>I still don't know about breastmilk bags vs. bottles.... I know it sounds crazy, but we don't even use Ziploc bags for ourselves! Instead we use a ton of pyrex and gladware, and I view it as a good investment in cutting down on trash and making food prep simpler. I think there are similar parallels with freezing in bottles. And hopefully the bottles could be long-term for LO2 or LO3. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237821 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 19:53:28 +0000 Anya 2237821@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I use cloth except when traveling and my babysitter uses them too- I don't know what style you are planning on but I use pockets and leave them prestuffed for the sitter and it hasn't been an issue- the only thing that makes them different from disposables is the wash routine which I do myself so that limits the amount of time I have to truly use disposables. So I'd see if your caregivers are on board, it's easier than they probably think! </p> <p>Instead of wipes I keep a squirt bottle of water at the changing table and spray her off with the diaper still under her to absorbe the water, and use a cotton ball or strip of cut up tshirt if need be. I only use wipes for outside the house so i buy them very rarely. </p> <p>Do you have a clothesline? That helps with the extra laundry needs, at least you don't have to use the dryer as much. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237796 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 19:15:41 +0000 peaches1038 2237796@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Great Post. Following :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237786 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 19:04:00 +0000 birdofafeather 2237786@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we did cloth diapers and wipes for most of her diaper wearing time (did a newborn cloth rental the first time, but not going to bother with that this time and just do disposables until DD2 fits cloth). cloth wipes are super easy to make yourself (flannel or cotton!) and we just sprayed with diluted solution as we used them and then tossed the diaper and wipes into the same wet bag. easy peasy.</p> <p>there are things that i thought i'd make myself and did for a while (laundry detergent, cleaning spray) and then i realized i didn't care as much and our budget allowed for me to buy as i went (not a lot of storage). if you're working FT and pumping for baby, milk bags for freezing are going to be best because otherwise you have to have that many bottles to put in the freezer, which seems crazy because i didn't work FT and i went had upwards of 40 bags of milk in my freezer at a time.</p> <p>i used reusable nursing pads, but also disposable in the beginning because i was VERY leaky and needed more absorbency. i got milkies to collect milk from the side DD wasn't nursing from....</p> <p>think i answered most of your questions, but we found as a newborn, DD didn't really add a ton to our laundry because her clothes were so tiny and CDing just fit in easily and her trash wasn't an issue either because of the CDing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237785 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 19:02:48 +0000 lady grey 2237785@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We chose to cloth diaper and I think its saved us a ton of money. They are really not hard so you should at least try to teach other care givers how to use them. Also you do so much laundry with a newborn, doing one more load of diapers wont break the bank. We have always done disposable diapers at night though, beause my son has always been a heaver wetter and I cannot deal with diaper issues &amp; leaking in the middle of the night.</p> <p>As for wipes, we took a cloth diapering class and they suggested makign your own. We use cheap target baby "wash cloths" as the wipes and make our own solution, I can send you the recipe if you'd like. Then we keep a little tupperware of wet wipes at the changing table and refill as needed (every 2-3 days).</p> <p>Now for breastmilk, I never was able to figure out a good solution for avoiding the plastic breast milk storage bags. Using these trays to freeze milk then keep in a larger container may work: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Baby-Easy-Breast-Trays/dp/B0007CS4EU/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1437004935&#038;sr=8-10&#038;keywords=baby+food+freezer+tray" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Baby-Easy-Breast-Trays/dp/B0007CS4EU/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1437004935&#038;sr=8-10&#038;keywords=baby+food+freezer+tray</a></p> <p>edit: I should also add that we used newborn disposable diapers for the first few weeks just to make life easier, but quicky switched to cloth. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eco-friendly-options-how-did-you-decide#post-2237761 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 18:35:30 +0000 DesertDreams88 2237761@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH and I trend towards the eco-friendly side. We recycle almost everything (our max weekly trash is 2 grocery bags), our yard is xeriscaped with drip irrigation &amp; desert plants, we keep our AC at 80 in the summer, we buy secondhand clothing, we carpool &amp; own one low-mpg car, we don't use plastic food baggies or paper towels, etc.</p> <p>Yet, we don't compost (don't create enough food waste anyway), I use disposable cleaning wipes in my classroom, we don't make our own personal care or cleaning products, etc. We have a tight budget since we are both teachers in a low-paying state. </p> <p>So, now that LO1 is supposed to be coming in January, I'm trying to figure out what kinds of products we'll be using. A lot of the products seem to have reusable vs. disposable options, with some "sustainably-made" options thrown in (7th Generation, Honest Company.) I'm thinking about diapers, wipes, nursing pads, freezing breastmilk in disposable bags vs. bottles, etc. I just really can't fathom how much trash a baby can generate.... but then again, reusable items generate tons of laundry / washing. </p> <p>What route did you take with those items and why? What was your rationale, and did you end up switching permanently or mixing it up?</p> <p>We're leaning towards cloth diapering when we're caring for LO but disposables with other caregivers. I have no idea what to do about wipes or nursing pads. We're leaning toward freezing breastmilk in bags in the beginning / if there's low supply, and in freezer-safe bottles once there is enough supply. I apologize if I sound totally clueless here.... because I am ;)</p> <p>ETA: I will be home with baby 0-2 months and 5-6 months. Not sure about 3-4 months (probably pay a SAHM friend) and Grandma will take over at 7 months. </p>