#LightentheLoad with Ecover

This week is a busy one.  Work is bonkers at present, I've got a series of medical appointments, a meeting at school and to top it off, Mr. B. is away from home.  I'm juggling.  It is on weeks like this that I'm glad I'm naturally a fairly well organised person and things such as keeping on top of the laundry are so ingrained into my routine that I don't need to juggle the chores so much as keep them ticking.  That said, the laundry is time consuming so I've welcomed the arrival of some tips from Ecover of how to lighten the load of the weekly wash with their Non-Bio Concentrated Laundry Liquid.

I haven't blogged a lot about cleaning, nor about the environment for a good while but those who have been following for some time will know that trying to make a few green savings here and there is one of the things I like to do.  Ecover's plant-based Non-Bio Concentrated Laundry Liquid is one of the products I use to help keep my family's laundry clean without making such a big dent on the environment.  Actually, one of the main reasons I like to use Ecover is because I've found it to be very gentle on the girl's skin (they both have incredibly sensitive skin).

Ecover know that we can't escape the laundry duties forever but that with a few simple steps you can take some of the drudgery out of the task and make the load faster, smarter and more environmentally friendly.

First up, Ecover recommend that every once in a while you run a cleaning cycle in your washing machine to help it keep working at its best - you can't get laundry clean inside a washing machine that is itself dirty!  It is a VERY long time since I've done this to my machine so I filled it full of an entire bottle of white vinegar and ran it through a hot wash.  Lots of the unpleasant gunk in the door seals worked loose and the washing machine does seem to have a bit of extra sparkle.  I was worried that the entire machine would smell of vinegar but it is surprisingly odour-free!

Next up, Ecover recommend that you keep on top of the washing loads by creating a weekly schedule.  Apart from staying organised, they've also noticed that a schedule means you are more likely to wash full loads which can save you a couple of loads of washing a week.  This means less water and detergent used.  Yay.  Planning ahead also helps reduce the feeling of rush - I tend to schedule my wash to complete while I'm out at work so that it finishes as I step through the door in the evening.

In-grained stains are a regular feature in our house - particularly in clothes that Holly wears to nursery.  Rather than running your clothes through the wash multiple times to shift the stains, there are other products around the house that you can use to eliminate stains instead,  Shampoo can help remove greasey stains, hairspray can help remove biro and sliced bread can help remove make up stains.  For me, one of the most effective natural stain removers is a lemon - it doesn't work the wonders that some chemical whiteners can, but a whole lemon's worth of juice in a regular white wash does seem to help to keep our towels looking white rather than grey.

I'm a big fan of small natural alternatives than can make a difference around the house and if you've never tried some of the Ecover #LightentheLoad tips above, I'd really recommend giving them a try.

Lara Joins...The Weekend Box Club

This weekend Lara and I spent quite some time together getting crafty, cooking and playing in the garden inspired by the contents of a Weekend Box.  The Weekend Box is a subscription club where, every fortnight, your child received a parcel packed with weekend ideas for children; creative, healthy and green activities to keep your little ones occupied throughout the weekend.

 

Last Friday Lara was unwell and couldn't go to nursery so I stayed at home with her and we cracked open the Weekend Box. The little box came with everything we would need to complete two different craft activities, a gardening activity, cookery activity and a story activity... and it really was pretty much everything we needed.  In a regular box you receive 4 activities in each box.

At first I was a little sceptical about the concept of the Weekend Box but I think I've been won around.  As a family who already do quite a few craft activities together, actively encourage the girls to help us in the garden and ALWAYS have little helpers in the kitchen, I wasn't originally sure that the Weekend Box presented good value for money because many of the contents of the box are already things we have around the house.  But then when I thought about it I realised that with a regular subscription you aren't just paying for the materials to conduct the activities but also for the inspiration and the reference sheets - each activity comes with instructions on a printed sheet which can be used again and again.

 

OK, so we are quite unusual in that we have odds and ends of craft materials and gardening products available for the girls at most times but for many families, it would cost an awful lot of money to go out and buy full-sized versions of all of the materials provided in the Weekend Box and they may never be used again. So yes, now I've thought about it, I think that the Weekend Box is pretty good value for money, especially when you sign up to a regular delivery.

On Friday Lara got busy with the creative activities.  She made these fun pom pom animals from wool, PVA glue, sticky eyes and foam pieces.  Then Lara was inspired by a green activity which involved up-cycling fabric off-cuts to make fabric letters... she chose to decorate the letters from her own name.

On Saturday Lara and I planted Basil seeds in the garden in a recycled egg box.  Lara absolutely loves being out in the garden and always seems her happiest when planting and watering.

 

On Sunday Lara and I made carrot soup for lunch using our Weekend Box recipe and the special sachet of magic spices.  Unfortunately Lara was a grumpy boots and refused to try the soup she had made (she's always been a bit funny about soup... right from day one).  But me and Mr. B absolutely loved the soup!

We still have a story activity to do together which involves creating a story from the characters on the prompt sheet... perhaps we will do that as we drive off on our holiday!

For me one of the most admirable things about the Weekend Box is the green credentials.  100% of the contents of each box is recyclable and 95% of it came from recycled sources in the first place.  The instruction cards are all printed with acid- and alcohol-free inks on FSC approved paper.  Lots of the activities in the Weekend Boxes are designed to encourage in our children an interest in eco activities and the world around us.

I think that the Weekend Box would be perfect for children from about 3 years to 8 years and would work brilliantly well during school holidays when you need lots of inspiration for ideas for activities for children.  You can follow Weekend Box on Twitter (@WeekendBoxClub) or Facebook (/WeekendBoxClub) for exclusive content, competitions and much more!

YOU CAN GET YOUR FIRST WEEKENDBOX FOR JUST £5 WITH THE CODE WBEMMA2

Itti Bitti Tutto Cloth Nappy Review

I like to think that I've become a bit more open minded when it comes to different styles of cloth nappies the second time around. Different styles work for different parents and different babies which is why I was really excited to try out the new Itti Bitti Tutto all-in-one nappy.

Itti Bitti is the very first brand of cloth nappy that I ever heard of and the only one that I knew before I became an expectant parent but until now I had never tried any of their nappies.

The Itti Bitti Tutto is designed for use from birth right the way up until potty training. It uses a series of snappers to alter the length and width of the nappy as your child grows. On the outside there is a gorgeous and fun fluffy fabric but on the inside where the series business of absorbency goes on it is made from stay-dry suedecloth to try and keep your baby's bottom dry. A series of different snap-in boosters are used to alter the level of absorbency needed.

I loved the fluffy fabric of the Itti Bitti nappy, it really makes it stand out from the other nappies in my collection but the fluffiness did diminish a touch after the first wash. I found that I needed to pre-wash the nappy a lot before it was able to offer a level of absorbency I was happy with (I think about 8 washes).  I also find the Tutto nappy to take the longest to dry of all of my cloth nappies.

I really like the shape of the Tutto nappy as it sits against Holly's bot - it is nice and tight around the legs without seeming to restrict her movement. The design of the inside of the nappy is unlike anything else I have seen - it has a raised edge which they call their 'poo fence' which really does seem to work to stop wet tiny baby poo leaking out. The number and shape of the different snap-in absorbent layers bamboozled me a bit and I'm still not sure that I have entirely settled on the right combo for us but I would imagine that Holly's needs will change as she grows and I will have to re-learn which pieces to use inside the nappy.  You can get the inserts in microfibre or bamboo - we use bamboo and they tend to take longer to dry but I believe give a better absorbency level.

Due to the time it took to build up a good level of absorbency in the nappy, I haven't been brave enough to try the Itti Bitti Tutto at night time yet - I should do one day really though to see if it is up to the challenge.

One of the things I like best about the Tutto nappy is that there is one extra snapper right back by the hips that allows you to really make sure that the nappy is tight all the way around a small baby's waist. This is an area where many other all-in-one and snapper-based nappies can struggle. As Holly grows older, we probably won't need to use this extra snapper but at present it prevents the 'wings' from working loose.

If I were to give the Itti Bitti Tutto a mark out of 10, I would go for a 7.

The Mio Solo Reusable Nappy Challenge

I was a little bit late to the party for the Mio Solo Nappy Challenge in which a number of bloggers put the new Mio Solo all-in-one reusable nappy through its paces. As you may know, I am a massive fan of the Bamino Mio classic two-piece nappy which I used very successfully with Lara and so Bambino Mio asked me and Holly to try out the Mio Solo cloth nappy. Here is how I got on with the different challenges.

1. The Stay At Home Challenge
At home you can change a nappy as frequently as you need so absorption isn't so much of a problem. I liked the stretchiness of the Mio Solo nappy - much more stretchy than any of its competitors so it has a really nice fit around the leg and will grow with Holly as her legs and tummy fill out. I liked the wrap-around overlapping velcro tabs which meant that on Holly's teenie tiny newborn belly I could still make a one-size nappy fit well with no leaks.  I would say that it doesn't have as much flexibility in terms of size adjustment of the nappy itself compared to other brands of one-piece nappy but actually I quite like this because too many poppers tends to blow my mind and I never know what buttons I am supposed to be popping together!

2. The Out & About Challenge
I don't find the Mio Solo to be a very absorbent nappy - at first I thought this might be because it was still new and needed to go through the wash a few times but now, 9 weeks in and having been through plenty of nappy washes, the Mio Solo is still one of my least absorbent nappies (the Charlie Banana nappy beats it for leaks!) - for this reason I no longer take Holly out in the Mio Solo. In fact, I don't often go out with reusable nappies anyway because I'm a chicken when it comes to lugging dirty reusable nappies home with me.

3. The Overnight Challenge
I tried this once! We always use a Mio Boost super-absorbent insert at night, regardless of what brand of real nappy we are using that night. A Mio Boost or an equivalent booster insert means that you have peace of mind knowing that the nappy won't be totally dripping wet if your baby happens to sleep all the way through the night. I didn't have the confidence in the Mio Solo to go the whole night, even with the additional booster.

4. The Dad Challenge
I think Mr. B. feels the same way about the Mio Solo as I do - it looks fabulous on Holly but in fact the old style Bambino Mio nappies are more effective. Mr. B. always seems to opt for the one-piece nappies when he is doing a nappy change but he quickly took a dislike to the Mio Solo because he found it hard to get his big hand into the slot where you fold in the absorbent core. Like me, he found the core to bunch and stick to the waterproof outer lining, making it hard to get the core to lie flat in place.

5. The Washing & Drying Challenge
Now this is somewhere that the Mio Solo does really well. The flip-out core means that it is fast to dry because all of the fabric can be out in the open. I like some of the nifty features such as the ability to fold back the velcro tabs during washing (it always drives me around the bend that velcro nappy tabs get stuck to each other, or to my nappy bag during the wash cycle).

I will honestly say that I don't rate the Mio Solo as highly as the BumGenius one-piece nappies (review coming soon!) but that my number one favourite reusable nappy still remains the good old Bambino Mio two-piece nappy (which features a waterproof cover and folded cloth insert)... I would definitely choose the classic Bambino Mio any day even though you have to buy different sized nappies and wraps as your child grows.

You can buy the Mio Solo and Bambino Mio Two-Piece nappies online at the Bambino Mio website.

During July and August Bambino Mio are offering a £2.50 discount off their two-piece nappy covers for every used nappy cover you return as part of their "Great Exchange".  The nappy covers are sent to developing countries through their charity partner, Real Aid. 

Earth Friendly Baby Wipes and Nappy Sacks Review

As you may know, I am a bit of a baby wipe snob. I am also someone who would always choose the environmentally friendly option, if it were as effective as other options which is why we have been reviewing some of the baby change products from the Earth Friendly Baby range.

When Lara was first born Earth Friendly Baby was one of the very first brands of baby wipe that we tried. I'll admit that I had totally forgotten that we had tried them but as soon as the packet of baby wipes arrived to review, I recognised the packaging. I was delighted to find that the scent of the Earth Friendly Baby eco baby wipes had improved since we first try them back in spring 2009 - the interesting fact here is that they are actually unfragranced, which means that you are at the mercy of the smell of the ingredients that the wipes contain. It seems that now the soft, floral smell of natural chamomile and calendula is strong enough to fight off the slightly raw, plant smell of aloe vera.

All of the plant-based ingredients in the Earth Friendly Baby eco baby wipes are organic in origin and the wipes are 100% biodegradable which for me is the single most important aspect of a baby wipe, given the volume of them we use with our babies in the UK. The strength and texture of the wipes is good, better than the supermarket own degradable wipes that I use. There are 72 wipes in a pack which makes the Earth Friendly Baby wipes a real competitor when it comes to value for money. My only negative comment is that I found the pack hard to open and because I had to yank the packet open at first, this made it tricky to reseal properly in the future.

I have found the wipes to be effective and kind to Lara's skin and I'd be happy to use them on the new baby when they get a little older.




The Earth Friendly Baby nappy sacks to me don't look any different to any supermarket branded nappy sack available. The material doesn't feel any different, size and number is no different (you get 50 to a roll) and the perforations between bags are no different. I found the bags hard to tear off the role, but then I found that with other brands too!. The only difference, as far as I can see is that the Earth Friendly Baby nappy sacks are 100% biodegradable, whereas many supermarket own brands ones are not. The nappy sacks have tie handles and are unfragranced. Simple and useful to have in your changing bag for when out and about so that you can take all your mess away in one go.

Earth Friendly Baby wipes can be bought in some supermarkets including Waitrose and John Lewis, larger Mothercare stores and in numerous online baby boutiques. You can follow Earth Friendly Baby on facebook for details of offers and competitons.

How I Save £2,228 a Year Being Green!

Last week I took the Tesco Greener Living quiz and found that, according to Tesco, I save my family £2,228 a year by making small changes to my lifestyle that help both the environment, and our finances.

The survey asked me a series of questions about my household activities such as the temperature at which I run my thermostat, whether I have a Hippo water saving device in my toilet cisterns, and whether I've insulated my home.

I don't feel extraordinary, but I managed to give positive answers to all but three of the questions which accounts for my massive 'savings'.

Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Yes, I KNOW I use the tumble drier too often and I KNOW it is just about the most expensive electrical item to run in my entire house but as a working mum, in the winter, I find it indispensable. I have however, invested in a small collapsible clothes airer that I can put up in my (bliming freezing) garage and I also have an electricity monitor attached to my meter so I am painfully aware of the cost to me of using the goddam tumble drier. Apparently, if I reduced my reliance on it, I could save another £58 a year.

I DIDN'T know that there existed such a thing as a shower water regulator – I shall investigate! Thank-you Tesco.

And I DID know about Solar energy but I haven't yet found a supplier who acknowledges that as a working family, we really don't want to buy back energy during the weekdays because our energy consumption is nil during these times – if it costs me the same as normal to use power during the evenings and weekends, I'm not interested.

So, with my £2,228 worth of savings, what am I going to splash out on? Ummm.... nothing! I don't feel like I'm saving anything. To me, this is real, every day life. I'm not about to buy us an overseas holiday (that WOULD counteract all of my green efforts, wouldn't it) and I'm not going to buy us a day out or any goodies. I'm going to just keep on doing what I'm doing. Saving water, reducing energy usage, re-using where possible. Small, simple steps that make a real difference.

There were one or two questions I felt were missing in the Tesco Greener Living Survey such as questions about metering of utilities, water usage/re-use and general product re-use but I guess that these aren't in the interests of Tesco because they can't sell me anything to solve the problems. Despite this, I feel the survey is worthwhile, and thought-provoking.

Now, I'm not going to get into a discussion/fight about Tesco and their attempts to reduce their enormous impact on the nation/globe because I'll probably shout at someone... but if you do fancy reading about their attempts to reduce packaging (weight) then you can do so here.

I'd be interested to know what your scores are! Are you a green dreamer? or an eco-saint? how much cash could you be saving?

Would You Reuse Your Baby Wipes?

Have you ever thought about re-using baby wipes?

When Lara was first born, I did. Given that I had chosen to use reusable nappies, it seemed sensible to use reusable baby wipes too. When she was just a few weeks old, once I thought I was on top of things, I did try using a few cut up pieces from an old bed sheet as baby wipes but I wasn't impressed. I found that they didn't clean well and that it was hard to shift any solids from them before I put them into the nappy bucket.

At the time, I did look at branded reusable baby wipes but they seemed like a big expense and I wasn't sure that they'd be any more effective than my hand-made attempts.

And so, I reverted to disposable baby wipes. You will know from my Baby Wipe Index that I tend to opt for biodegradable wipes where possible but the cost still adds up and the amount of waste we generate is phenomenal - it seems a shame to be adding it.



A few weeks ago I blogged about how I had been converted to toddler wipes and I got a bit of friendly criticism on twitter about how this went against my green credentials. I promised to try re-using the toddler wipes that we use on Lara's face and hands after a meal.

Since writing that blog post back in October, I have used only 1 pack of the Vital baby face and hand wipes. Each time we finish a meal, I clean Lara up (using between 1 and 5 wipes) and then place the used baby wipes in a little pot on my window ledge. When I next come to do a white wash, I put the used wipes in to the washing machine.

I've tried this with some of the other baby wipes that I've had around the house and found that 'most' of the wipes just about survive the wash but that the Vital baby ones come out as good as new. I can put the Vital baby wipes through the wash umpteen times without worry of them disintegrating.

After they are clean and dry, I put the wipes into a sealed tupperware container with a little bit of calendula oil and a sprinkle of water. When I first started, I also added one or two drops of lavender and tea tree oil but I found I couldn't get a small enough amount evenly distributed over the wipes and the ones which ended up with all of the oil on irritated Lara's skin.

I have found that with just water and calendula oil the wipes smell lovely and are NEARLY but not quite as effective as they were when they first came out of the packet. I'm really happy as I am saving money and reducing my waste. I'm still not brave enough to give it another go with the nappy change wipes though!

Future Friendly Mums

I haven't told many people this yet, but I was recently voted one of the EDF everyday green heroes! I think I was nominated for my pragmatic approach to eco-friendliness... I'm prepared to give everything a go to see if I can make a difference but I'm careful not to be Green for Green's sake. To me, if you can make just a few small changes to your lifestyle, that is a great step forward. If something is green and it doesn;t fit with your way of living, then carry on and find something else you can do for the world.

I recently found out about this set of videos of real mums and their small steps towards a greener future. These are all little things that each of us can do to make a small difference. Lots of small differences add up to make bigger differences.

This is my favourite of the videos - its about saving water in the home - something I think I'm pretty damn good at given that I have just received my first non-metered water bill in my new house (I've been on a meter in my old house for 5 years). The new bill for the year nearly made me sick it was so huuuuuge. Water metering is definitely the way to go if you want to take control of your water usage.

This following video is about small steps you can take to reduce your own waste in the home.

Have a think and see if there are any small 'future friendly' steps you can take.

Is Pampers 'Dry Max' A Green Step Forward?

As someone who only uses disposable nappies as a convenience when travelling, or when I'm out and about, I was particularly fascinated to be invited to tour the Pampers research and development facility in Schwalbach near Frankfurt. Because I only use disposable nappies about 30% of the time, I don't take them for granted. I'm very aware of their effectiveness, of their fit, of their price and of their construction. I'm fussy when it comes to disposable nappies.

If you are a user of Pampers nappies then it can't have escaped your notice that a short while ago, the Pampers Active Fit nappies changed. I was invited to Germany to find out more about the research and technology behind the new Dry Max technology. And so, with a handful of journalists from Prima Baby, Mother & Baby and Think Baby / Made for Mums, I spent a day finding out about the new Dry Max technology and the 10 years of research and development behind it.

The journos squidge a nappy full with 500ml of liquid!

I promise to share with you some of the exciting tales and photos later in the week but for the time being I wanted to talk about the issue that was most important to me on the day.

I use reusable nappies. I use disposable nappies. The two can work together.

I cook healthy, scrumptious home-made food. I buy convenience food. The two can work together.

I have been using disposables a lot recently due to our trip to the USA last month. As I passed through Heathrow airport on the way to Frankfurt for the Pampers trip, I couldn't help but wonder what people had done before the days of disposable nappies when travelling with babies. I can't think of anything I'd like to do less than lug a bag full of stinky nappies around in my hand luggage. In the days when my parents travelled the globe with me, disposable nappies were REALLY bulky, plastic-wrapped, rectangular lumps that offered little protection from leakage. But, even so, my parents still chose them over cotton nappies when they travelled. The new Pampers Dry Max technology is the biggest technological breakthrough in disposable nappies for around 10 years and it means that disposable nappies of the future will be compact and ultra-absorbent – ideal for travel.

Me examining the difference in bulk between the old and new Active Fit nappies

At the end of the day in Schwalbach, Proctor and Gamble brought out the big guns - The Environmental Expert – to tell us why the new Active Fit nappy is going to save the world. Now, as a green mummy, I'm more than aware that the environmental impact of my reusable nappies is similar to that of disposables (as they kindly pointed out to me here). That's assuming that I use evil washing detergents and evil tumble driers (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't) and that I'll never have any more kids (which, I hope, is unlikely). I'm also aware that for every reusable nappy that Lara wears, it is one less disposable, non-biodegradable nappy piling up in UK landfill. And anyway, I don't only use reusable nappies for their environmental impact; I use them because Lara's skin is always 100% free from nappy rash when she wears a cotton nappy (but she gets a rash with just one day of disposables); I use them because I find it easier (and she finds it easier) to identify a wet or dirty nappy when it happens and I use them because they smell and look nicer.

The new Dry Max technology involves more of this crazy absorbent gel

P&G were quizzed by us all about the environmental impact of the weird gel that is now the primary active element of their new nappies (The gel is also known as Super-Absorber – read more about it later this week on Mellow Mummy). To be very honest, they coped well under pressure – Pampers are not designed to be biodegradable in any way and their primary focus is performance. P&G were keen to point out that the new Active Fit nappies with Dry Max have a significantly lower environmental footprint than their predecessors; from raw materials right through to disposal. Each nappy now has about 20% less bulk which means less space being taken up in landfill. To me, it doesn't make an enormous amount of difference to which brand or style of nappy I buy, but if I am going to use a disposable nappy, then yes, I would like to know that the manufacturer was making attempts to reduce their impact on the planet.

So no, Pampers with Dry Max will NOT save the planet but at least it is a small step forward and now, having spoken to the real scientists behind Pampers disposable nappies, I know that the thought is there and that somewhere in the depths of their research centre there are small steps being made to research a greener alternative, perhaps another 15-20 years in the future.