february change: get organized!

From the beginning our intention has been to use this One Small Change exercise as a way to slowly reduce our waste until we are throwing away/recycling very little. We wanted to start with diapers and move on to other things like tp, baby wipes, paper towels, plastic produce and bulk food bags as well as other plastic packaging. Over this past month we have realized that if we are going to commit to lasting change we have to get more organized and clear out a whole lot of clutter. Our main living areas are basically clutter free, but we have various not so visible areas that are a disorganized mess. I don't know what we have or even why we have it. We've moved around a lot. In the eight years Joe and I have been together we have called two cities and nine places home. We are renting the house we are in now so there will be at least one more move in our future. Each time we relocate we move the same boxes of stuff that never seem to get unpacked. Each time we lament this but quickly shove the boxes with their mysterious content out of sight and don't think about it again until our next move. Or until I am trying to find something I think I remember having once and rifle through the boxes until I either find what I am looking for or give up. This results in the big jumble of stuff you see here:


So, our focus for February is to go through the detritus of eight years of almost constant motion and clear it all away. Anything we don't love or can't use will be yard saled or Craigslisted or given away. I feel like once all this stuff is out of our lives that we will have the space ~emotional, physical, spiritual space~ to move more fully into living the life we have imagined for ourselves.

I am interested to uncover what I have packed away and refused to face for so long. I expect to learn a bit about myself and to release some fears and old ways of living in the process. Here's to personal growth, huh?

january update

I want to say, first of all, how wonderful it has been to be a part of this One Small Change project. I am delighted to see how many people are involved and wonder how many more are inspired to think a little deeper about the choices they make. We have been moving towards a more sustainable way of life for a while now. Being a part of something so big has made it that much more meaningful to us.

Now, on to the update...

I ended up making six prefolds and they turned out pretty well considering my newly acquired sewing skills. A friend gave me six more prefolds that she wasn't using, so that makes twelve and with those we are able to keep Iris in cloth diapers during the day. Here is most of my stash:


She is taking to her new diapers very well.

Although, I don't know how long we will need them because this is a sight we are seeing more and more of lately...


We are still using a disposable at night as well as disposable wipes. I am not as far along as I had hoped to be by the end of the month, but we have had some challenges to overcome this month and in the interest of being kind and forgiving with myself and our circumstances I will accept where we are and move forward with more determination, without guilt or recrimination.

I will be back in a day or two to share our change for February. We have had a lot of ideas and it's been a challenge in itself to figure out what the next step should be. More soon...

progress

Well, there has been a lot of cutting and pinning and sewing going on around here this weekend and I only have three and a half diapers to show for it! I am such a newbie at this that every project has a huge learning curve. I made the unfortunate choice to start my first diaper using jersey fabric which, as it turns out, is a bugger to sew with. I abandoned it after my third failed attempt to get all four layers to stay aligned and moved on to an old cotton duvet cover that was much more forgiving. I made two diapers out of that and then went on to an old flannel sheet which is so far my favorite, both to work with and as the finished product. I am using the pattern out of Handmade Home of which I am sure you are all aware (if not, get thee to soulemama.com immediately!). I don't have a serger, but my sewing machine has a serging stitch that I used to finish the edges and I think it turned out pretty well. I don't have pictures to show because I kept putting Iris in the diapers as soon as I finished them so they are all in the wash right now. They work great though and the covers I used before still fit. I did make the dipes a bit smaller than the measurements called for in the pattern. So far, so good.

I must say, that while there were more than a few moments of frustration and despair, I found it deeply satisfying to fill a need in my household using what I have on hand without spending a dime. A big part of this make-your-life-more-sustainable thing for me is to learn to do things myself. I never learned to sew or knit or cook or garden as a child and it is a daunting task to try to learn all of it now, in my thirties, while trying to navigate life with two small children. Daunting, yes. But also fun and exciting and a great way to show my daughters that you don't have to be afraid to try and keep trying until you figure something out. So, I will keep at it with the intention of having all the diapers and wipes I need to see us through the rest of Iris's diapering days by the end of the month, hopefully sooner. And that jersey hasn't seen the last of me. I will prevail!

On another note, I have never been much of a picture-taker, but I realize that if I am going to do the blog thing it is something I will have to be better about. I'll work on that for next time.

One more thing. Clara was watching me make diapers for her sister this weekend and asked when I would be making something for her. I asked her what she wanted me to make and she replied, A yellow dress with snowflakes, please. Uh, a dress? Yikes. How about a headband?

One Small Change: cloth diapers

Since this is a brand new blog and my first ever blog post I thought I would introduce myself and my family to you all. My name is Rose and I am married to Joe and we have two daughters, Clara, 41/2 and Iris, 19mos. We live in Spokane, WA where Joe and I both grew up. I stay at home with our girls and intend to home school (unschool, specifically) both of them as they grow. We have been moving towards a more natural way of living since becoming parents, but we have a long way to go to get to the place where we feel our lifestyle truly reflects our values. We are excited to participate in this challenge mostly for the opportunity to go on record with our intentions and make ourselves accountable to the people we know and the people we will meet along the way.

Our first change will be to use cloth diapers exclusively. While pregnant with Clara I discovered Mothering magazine which exposed us to a way of living we had never heard of before. As a result we changed a lot about our lifestyle. We ended up having a home birth, co-sleeping, breastfeeding for years instead of weeks or months. We switched to natural cleaning products and organic food. The one thing we never did was use cloth diapers with Clara. We used chlorine-free disposable diapers which made us feel a little better, but they were still disposable and that always bothered me. I guess with all the other changes we had made in our lives there wasn't room for one more. When Iris was born we continued to use disposables until a couple dozen second hand kissaluvs found their way into our lives. We used those happily until Iris grew out of them and then we fell back into the well worn groove of disposables yet again. Considering that Iris is a toddler already ( how does that happen so fast?) and we don't intend to have anymore children, we don't want to invest a lot in a fancy cloth diapering system. So, I am going to make prefolds using some old baby blankets and sheets we have around the house. I think the covers we used before will still fit and if not I will attempt to make some wool covers using old sweaters. I just learned to sew a few months ago so the idea of making covers is intimidating, but I will give it a whirl and see what happens. I had intended to have the diapers made already, but a bout with the stomach flu set my plans off a bit. So, I will get to work and hopefully have some pictures to post by the end of the weekend.