Wasteless Wednesday: Slow Your Roll!

Okay, this week's post may not be for everyone~ some of you may be a bit queasy about some of these suggestions, but if you take into consideration the waste produced by these common problems, you might think twice!

Toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, baby diapers, baby wipes. 

The U.S. produces 160 million pounds of waste just from the 17 billion toilet paper tubes  manufactured annually!  iReuse.com claims 40% of the waste in our landfills is paper products. Keep in mind most of the toilet paper we use goes to waste treatment facilities. So factor in our 17 billion rolls of toilet paper and the mind starts to reel.

Diaperpin.com does an excellent job breaking down the materials found in baby diapers and argues the case for cloth diapers. Polyethylene, polyacrylate, wood pulp, fragrances, not too mention the packaging and inks, all eventually wind up in our landfills. Heather L. Sanders wrote her article in 2002 and back then we were using 18 billion disposable diapers. That figure is now estimated at 28 billion!


We could go on and on.


Perhaps now the following seven alternatives will seem more attractive.


1.

Reusable Paper Towels~ Darling Discoveries

2.

UnPaper Jumbo Everyday Napkins~ Love For Earth

3.

Cloth Baby/Family Wipes~ Lover of Life Designs

4.

Eco Potty Wipes~ EcoFamily777

5.

Cloth Diaper Kit~ PoshDirect

6.

Wool Soaker Diaper Cover~ Chickadee and Me

7.

Cotton Handkerchiefs~ Whole World Bags

So, there you have it. Pretty products for not so pretty messes. You'll find them all on Etsy, as well as countless other handmade alternatives. Isn't it ironic that in our efforts to clean up our act, we're making an even bigger mess. Think about it.

Have a fantastic week~ and Remember to Waste Less!