Green Product Reviews
While we've definitely got a long way to go before we can claim to have a truly 'green' household, we're doing what we can. To this end, we've tested a few different products that are in high-use such as more environmentally-friendly baby wipes, diapers and some cleaning supplies. Having heard very mixed reviews on 'green' diapers in general, we were curious.



Wipes

Amazon.com has fair prices on bulk stuff, so several months ago we purchased a case of the Seventh Generation baby wipes. Bottom line: in addition to finding these unscented wipes to have a slightly offensive scent, they are too thin and not wet enough--necessitating use of way too many of them, thereby defeating the purpose! For now, our favorites are still Huggies Natural Care Fragrance Free. We're now testing out the Kirkland brand wipes, which have come highly recommended.

Diapers


Most green diapers don't get the best of reviews so we were quite curious as to how the Nature Babycare nappies would perform. Developed and patented by a Swedish mommy--former law firm partner, Marlene Sandberg, these diapers are 100% chlorine, latex, fragrance, and TBT free. Further, with no plastic, all parts of the diaper are 100% compostable! For those who may not know it--every year that a baby is in diapers = 1,000 pounds of used nappies in landfills. (Believe it or not, traditional diapers take around 500 years to completely biodegrade!) Since there's also been alot of debate about how the cleaning-process of cloth diapers impacts the environment, no good solution to the dilemma has henceforth presented itself.

Anyway--we tested the Nature Babycare diapers for about 2 weeks now and they are really great in the ways that count most: namely protection/leakage and overall fit. They are, admittedly, slightly bulkier and more...'old-fashioned' feeling/fitting than the most high-tech Pampers and Huggies. (Think diaper technology from when we were kids), but hey--isn't a slightly bulkier-feeling diaper a small price to pay for the environment? They are still soft feeling and comfortable, overall. Plus--I've heard that modern diapers are so darned unobtrusive to a child's life that many don't even care to be potty trained. Price-wise, they are more expensive but my view on paying for 'doing the right thing' is that it's worth it. Paying for a prestige-logo or brand? Not so much. The thing is that we have gotten so used to everything being so cheap is part of what perpetuates not only child-labor, but unfair trade practices on the whole. But that's a blog posting for another day. Bottom line: you pay one way or another. We've been buying our nappies and wipes on diapers.com --so far they have fair prices and free shipping for orders over$50.

Bottom line: Despite being slightly bulkier, these are great diapers and much easier on the environment. When we move to Portland, I think we'll even start composting them.

Addendum: Mike adds one drawback to the diapers: the tape on these isn't like the velcro-like technology of the higher-end mainstreamers--meaning that after you are going to dispose of the diaper and go to do the 'poo/pee-fold-re-tape', there's not much adherence left for the last part.


Household Stuff

Laundry Detergent

I picked this up at my local health store and have really loved it. By Biokleen, this Citrus laundry powder does a great job at brightening whites and colors, is super-gentle and very concentrated. In fact, I ran out of it the other day and had to buy All-Free at the grocery store and discovered that on a per-wash basis, Biokleen is about the same price.

Tub & Tile
7th Generation Emerald Cypress & Fir--Tub & Tile cleaner does a great job on all bathroom surfaces. Plus, it's biodegradable, hypo-allergenic, non-toxic, has no dyes, phosphates or petroleum-based solvents and isn't tested on animals.

Bottom line: we'll keep it.

Veggie Wash
Since we're not at the point where we buy all organic produce, we soak our fresh foods in BioKleen concentrated produce wash. It removes pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, waxes and soil , while holding natural taste and appearance longer, without the use of preservatives.

Bottom line: there's no residue or taste and one bottle is so concentrated that it lasted me almost a year. (Hmmm...does that mean we don't eat enough greens?)

Mrs. Meyers

Ok, I have to admit that in addition to being biodegradable and environmentally-friendly what initially attracted me most to Mrs. Meyers products was their cute vintage packaging and original scents (geranium!). But here's the bottom line: like the hand soap, hand lotion and countertop spray. The dish soap sucks. (You have to use a ton and it's not effective.

So there you have it. A few reviews on a few products that are hopefully easier on your earth and health. I'm still too cheap to shell out the $ for green tp and paper towels. Can someone convince me, please?