Not in my Landfill!!

I promised SoHubby that with this baby there was no need for any new expensive equipment.  I had done it right the second time and bought what I wanted and didn’t worry, too much, about the price.  Also, I have learned the baby doesn’t care what kind of stroller, swing, crib, mattress, sheets, etc he has as long as it doesn’t irritate his wee delicate skin, then he is all good.  Then a certain blogger ( I would link to her, but she has asked that we not) started talking about her prepareness for her new baby and I found something that stuck with me, cloth diapers. 

Ask anyone, go ahead I dare you, I am so far from the crunch set I can’t even smell their granola, but I have started down their road for very selfish reasons.  That is right.  I am not considering cloth diapers, or use my reusable grocery bags, because I want to save the planet for my kids.  I figure they need to learn to fix the problems of their ancestors just like the rest of us and they will be many.  I do these things out of my own convenience.  I use my grocery bags, because I hate having a million plastic bags tumble out of my pantry everytime I open the door, they stand up nicely in the back of the Suburban (I always chuckle putting my reusable grocery bags in the back of my honking SUV) and I don’t have one damn item in one plastic bag.  Although, I do have to assure the baggers that they can pile my bags as high and as wide as they can.  Sure I get funny looks and sighs, but it is getting less and, at this point, I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think of my bags they make my life easier and that is all that matters.  We use our bags for more than just groceries, too.

Why am I considering cloth diapers as opposed to the highly coveted disposables?  Because I am DAMN SICK of buying the DAMN things.  I have had 2 kids that have worn diapers for, at least, 3 years, which then you move onto disposable training pants.  Sam is still going strong with his plastic britches.  And that means we have spent about $3120 for those 3 years, for each kid.  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!   As far as I can tell with my starting research I may be able to get by with about $600 in start up and be done.  Sure I was on the bandwagon with the naysayers, cloth diapers aren’t really that environmental with the extra washing and drying, but like I said I am not really doing it for the environment.  Also, I am finding that most of the time these diapers can air-dry in about 30 minutes which ensures they last longer.  Really this is all because if I have to buy one more box of disposable diapers I am literally going to scream in the middle of Target.  I have better things to spend that $20 bucks a week on, like Icees and Swiss cake rolls.   

I guess in my old age I have become cranky and sick of our disposable lifestyles.  Don’t get me wrong there are still things that I will gladly use once and throw away, but it just gets out of hand.  Recently, we took a little walk through Best Buy.  We weren’t going to buy anything, just walking off our La Madeleine.  There was tons of pretty shiny and exciting new electronics that we lusted after.  The lust started to wane, and the sick started to set in, when we starting adding up the prices of a new entertainment system or laptops or desktops.  I just kept thinking what the hell are we going to do with the stuff we already have that is working perfectly fine.  I mean we have a TV and sound system that is only 7 years old and it works.  Sure we had our audio receiver go out and it had to be fixed to the tune of $200, but as the prices and garbage started to pile up I started to feel better about that cost.  Sure we could have bought a new receiver for less, but now we have a system that sounds just as good as when we bought, it matches and we weren’t talked into buying this cable, plug, whatever to ensure that our new receiver worked with our old system.  That is when I broke SoHubby’s heart and told him that it would be a long time coming before we bought a new flat screen TV, Blu-ray player, sound system that would blow our neighbors to the next hood or re-bought our entire DVD collection, AGAIN.  You see more technology means more money flying out of our bank account.  It is starting to make me physically ill.   Of course, the sales people will sit there and still you this picture quality is better, but the kicker is we would have to pay more with our cable company to get that picture quality.  And really, do I need to see Rachel Ray in crisp, clear state of the art picture.  Uh, no.  She is annoying enough with our mediocre picture quality.  I am sure the kids aren’t going to come home one day and demand to see Handy Mandy or Hannah Montana in the best picture, EVER.  And if they do, I will give them the want ads. 

Our whole society is built on who has the best toy, but the problem is no one ever wins.  You can never get ahead, because as soon as the latest and greatest comes out it is rendered obsolete by the newest latest and greatest.  I am just so tired of it all.  I am happy with our 7 year old TV, TiVo, sound system.  I mean I can watch TV and hear it, which is all I really ask.  I am happy with our 5 year old Suburban, as long as it doesn’t give me any troubles.  Sure I can get a hybrid, but the one we have now will be paid off soon and really I haven’t seen a hybrid SUV that is actually, you know, a hybrid.  I guess in my old age I have come to the realization that I would like to keep our money to ourselves instead of throwing it at the snake oil salesman of the 21st century.  And if I can keep the funk down from our neighbors, the landfill, then more the better.