Want to repair your tired diaper covers for just a few bucks and an hour of your time?  I learned how recently from my good friend Valerie Perrot.  As she began to cloth diaper her second child, she noticed the covers she had used with her first weren’t fastening correctly.  Upon closer inspection, Valerie found that the soft part of the Velcro closures wasn’t as deep as it should be.   Considering that she had purchased the covers used, she wasn’t surprised that they were worn–but she wasn’t about to go out and buy a whole new set for her second child.

After getting advice from a seamstress, Valerie decided to take matters into her own skilled hands.  She found an outdoor gear website called thegreenpepper.com that offered soft Velcro and heavy duty sewing needles for just under ten dollars. The Green Pepper has loads of patterns for making your own backpacks, fleece jackets and other notions, as well as fabric and materials. Honestly, the website is a bit difficult to negotiate, but they are very helpful if you call or email. 

Valerie stitched the soft looped part of the Velcro on right across the old, and within an hour had completely repaired all of her diaper covers.  She didn’t need to replace the hook side of the Velcro at all!  Not only will the covers work better on baby number two, but the high quality Velcro she used will allow them to be passed onto other babies for years to come. 

You might be able to score diaper covers in consignment shops or garage sales that are marked down because of faulty Velcro.  With just a little bit of work, they can be repaired and provide an easy and inexpensive solution for diapering baby. 

Thanks for joining us for a whole new year of Thrifty Green Thursdays!  If you’d like to be one of our contributors this week, click here to learn how to jump right in.   We hope you can share some frugal, eco-friendly tips with our readers in 2009!

For us, the craziness of life with a toddler takes over any moments we could use to reflect on our spending habits, but this is the perfect time to evaluate our family budget and make some positive changes.   We aren’t always thinking of our long-term goals or values when we run out to a big box store and come back with far more than we intended.  But we’ll start by acknowledging our progress this year.

1. What are our favorite thrifty green victories of 2008? 

• Haircuts.  I now cut Roscoe and Jett’s hair every month in the comfort of our living room or our backyard.  Since each of those cuts would cost around $15 a month, we’re saving about $330 per year!   In this photo, Roscoe’s Aunt Pauli is giving me a few haircutting tips. 
• A pantry.  I can now stock up on sale items and canned goods so that we always have alternatives to eating out. 
• Frozen berries.  My family picked several huge batches of organic blueberries this year and we’re still enjoying the fruits of our labors.  Next year I’d love to do even more.
• Thrift store clothes.  I’ve loaded up on cute, cheap maternity clothes and outfitted my son in adorable garments all for a fraction of retail prices.

2. How can we go greener and cut costs in 2009?  

How do you manage spending and assure that it aligns with your eco-friendly values?  Do you go through your budget each January and set goals for the coming year?  We’d love to hear how you are planning on saving money and energy in 2009!

Please add a link below if you have a way to jumpstart a money-saving, energy saving lifestyle.  If you’re not sure how to start, check here for directions.  We’d love to have you share your comments and input with the other bloggers who are joining us this Thrifty Green Thursday!

With a recession underway and holiday bills coming due, many families are feeling the pinch this month.  But even if you’re feeling comfortable financially, January is a great time to evaluate spending and consumption in 2008 and set new goals for the year to come. 

In my family we look through our bank statements and think about how they line up with our priorities. 

1. Did we spend too much on a few things we didn’t need? 

We’re making far too many quick trips to the market that result in rash purchases.  Our goal for 2009 is to plan our meals each week and try to limit our shopping to one major trip.  Also, we tent to go a bit crazy in Grocery Outlet at times, buying some organic processed foods to stock our pantry that we sometimes don’t like in the end.

2. Are we shopping more at secondhand shops or big box stores?

The answer is pretty clear to us.  We need to be sure to hit thrift stores first and patiently wait for things to appear.  When time is a factor, we might need to pick up certain items but we can frequent secondhand shops more this year.

Next week I’ll continue the budget review by focusing on our family’s thrifty green victories of 2008 and our goals for the year to come.  We hope you’ll join us again next week for  more eco-friendly, budget friendly tips. 

If you’d like to add a link to your blog below, go here to get directions.  We’d love to have you help us make 2009 a wonderful Thrifty Green Thursday year!

For most of us, going green isn’t about quantum leaps, it’s about tiny fledging steps that are made in the midst of our hectic lives as parents.  If you have a budget-friendly, earth-friendly tip (even one that seems a bit obvious to you) you’d be a perfect addition to Thrifty Green Thursday.  

What are the benefits of adding my post to the Thrifty Green Thursday carnival?

It’ll help you generate traffic for your site, put you in touch with like-minded bloggers, and give you a chance to pick up some easy tips for going green on a budget.

How do I join the carnival and link my post?

It’s incredibly easy. (And believe me, this is not coming from a cyber-genius!)  Just follow this link for simple instructions.  Also make sure that you include a link back to the Green Baby Guide in your post.  Email us if it doesn’t work or you have any questions and we’ll work with you.

When should I schedule my Thrifty Green Thursday posts?

The carnival is weekly and starts on Wednesday night at 7pm and runs through Thursday.  You can still add your posts after that, but it may not get as much traffic as if you post earlier.

What if my link gets deleted?

We’ll email you to make sure that you can correct the problem, but you want to be sure you include a permalink directly to your TGT post—not just to your webpage.  Then when people want to follow your link days or weeks later, they can still get back to your TGT post.  

Anything else?

It’s great to read one another’s posts and offer comments.  The Thrifty Green Thursday crew has grown into a community of bloggers because of those efforts.

We’re glad you can join us this week, and hope that you’ll make it a point to visit in the weeks to come.  Please check out the linked posts below to get a head start on saving green while going green!

I wanted a BPA-free sippy cup for my son, but I heard so many complaints about leaks and design flaws from other mothers, that I was hesitant to shell out the cash.   I was under the (misguided) impression that most BPA-free cups cost $15-20 dollars apiece, plus shipping, which was tough to swallow considering that I hadn’t heard great reviews.

The Tightwad Gazette offered the simple, thrifty solution of having a child drink out of a cup after turning one.  After all, what did people do before plastic was invented?

We tried instructing our child to gently sip with a straw, but a few dozen cups of spilled milk later, I felt we needed a better solution.  Just then, I read a post on Green and Clean Mom announcing the happy news: Target now carries Munchkin BPA-free sippy cups for between one and three dollars! Eureka!  In her post, Green and Clean mom apologizes for her wild enthusiasm about finding these cups, but I instantly shared her thrill. 

If there were rooftops to shout from, I would’ve.  We purchased four of the sippy cups and were initially impressed with their performance.  There was some occasional leakiness, but it was minor if we assemble them correctly.  They were easy to clean, Roscoe loved them, and the total for four cups was less than it would be for one BPA-free sippy cup anywhere else.  

Sadly though, our sense of victory was quickly quelled when Roscoe learned that he could bite through the silicone nipple.  It made the milk flow much more quickly, but also totally eliminated the “spill-proof” aspect of the cups.  They were quickly retired after one too many milk leakages on the sofa cushions.  

After sharing my depressing news with Rebecca, she tipped me off to a myriad of other inexpensive BPA free sippy cup options.  Here are a few that I’ve discovered since then:

The First Years Take and Toss 10 oz. Spill Proof Cups. A four pack costs around four dollars and they are surprisingly sturdy despite their supposed disposability.  The spout isn’t flexible, but Rebecca found that they held up nicely. They’re also easy to find in most stores.  My son, a biting maniac, has also managed to bite through several of these rigid spouts so they didn’t really work for us.

Evenflo Fun Sip 10 oz. Sippy Cup. A two pack is $8.50 and it’s also widely available.  They come with straws or spouted lids.

12 oz. Sipper by Nuby with Flip-It Straw. This cup costs just $4.50 and works well for toddlers who are transitioning from a spout to a straw.

And there are more!  Go to Safe Mama.com to view a quick cheat sheet of all the BPA free bottle and sippy cup options.   I’d love to hear from you on which sippy cups were easiest to clean, held up the best, and seemed the most drip-proof.  Parent reviews are the most dependable!

For us, we ended up loving the new BPA-Free Nalgene Grip-n-Gulp sippy cups.  The spout is hard and durable and looks like it will last throughout the rest of Roscoe’s toddler years.  It’s easy to clean and Roscoe enjoys toting it around by the little finger loop.  Occasionally the inner piece falls into the drink and it does leak a bit, but it’s easy to fix and far better than any of the other cups we’ve tried.   

Is it really green to replace plastic sippy cups when we already had a few?  This is where green and non-toxic become separate issues.  It may not have been as planet-friendly to buy new cups, but I can’t justify feeding my child milk out of cups that may be leaching toxins, just to save the planet.  I couldn’t pass the cups on either, since I wouldn’t feel good about anyone else using them, but we did recycle them.

Although I am thrilled to have safer sippy cups for Roscoe, I’m even more excited to realize that finally, merchandisers are listening to us.   Canada’s ban on BPA most likely helped the movement quite a bit, but if all of us create demands for safer products, even mainstream brands are going to respond.  Well done fellow green parents!

Although I’m always trying to shift my grocery selections to organic products, sometimes my inner tightwad cannot handle the sticker shock—especially with the recent rise in food prices.  Buying our produce through a Commmunity Supported Agriculture subscription and having our own raised bed garden has helped, but as a working mom, I depend on having some packaged products to feed my family. 

Store brand organics have come to my rescue with quality, eco-friendly products at reasonable prices.  I have found organic applesauce, crackers, and beans made by Western Family (a generic brand popular in the Pacific Northwest) at my local grocery store.  Even chain stores such as Safeway and Fred Meyer also offer their own organic selections, including baby food.

Trader Joe’s is my dream store, providing endless shelves of store brand organics for reasonable prices.  It’s a nice down-to-earth alternative to boutique grocery stores that always make me feel as though I’m spending my grocery money on their interior décor rather than my food.

So what’s not to love about store brand organics?  Some people worry that generics can undercut companies who are struggling with a tough economy in a very niche market.  Should we spend the extra money to support companies that care for the environment and consider it a contribution to green business?

What do you think?  Do you buy store brand organics?  Why or why not?  Thanks for sharing your stories with us on Thrifty Green Thursday.  

Don’t forget to enter our Baby Blend Tees giveaway by posting a comment on this post.  It’s over on Monday, so get your comments in to win an adorable t-shirt for your baby or as a perfect holiday gift!

Do you have a eco-friendly, budget friendly tip to share?  Just go here to find out how to jump into the Thrifty Green Thursday blog carnival this week!

I live in Oregon where we’re surrounded by evergreens and breathe in pine-scented air on a daily basis.  Every Christmas I’ve had a real tree, some of which we tromped out into the woods to find and others that we’ve picked out at our local tree farms.  It has always seemed like a normal part of the holidays to have a real tree, so I was shocked to hear others touting the eco-benefits of plastic holiday trees.  Say it isn’t so! 

Still, it’s good to consider the plastic vs. real debate and then think beyond it.  There’s certain to be a tree that will fit your budget and your green values.

Pros of Real Trees

• A fabulous woody scent
• Real trees absorb carbon for the time that they’re alive
• They can be composted or shredded into mulch (Available here but maybe not in other cities)
• More natural than artificial trees
• Don’t need to be stored year to year

 Cons of Real Trees

• Must be replaced each year
• Sometimes have to be shipped across country when local trees aren’t available
• Often raised using pesticides           
• If tossed into landfills, can take years to decompose
• Fire danger
• Messier than artificial trees

 Pros of artificial trees

• Can be reused for several years
• Cost less money over the long run
• Are less messy than real trees
• Don’t require a trip out to purchase a tree each year

Cons of artificial trees

• Have plastic smell, or no smell whatsoever
• Most are made in China and have to be shipped to the U.S.
• Contain PVC, a material that pollutes during production and releases toxins
• Have been known to contain lead
• Will take centuries to break down in landfills
• Have to be stored every year

 Thrifty Green Alternatives:

• Decorate a tree outside your home
• Plant a pine sapling in a large container and use it for several years.  When it gets too big, transplant it outside and start another one.
• Be creative with a branch or a bunch of cuttings.
• Use beer bottles!  O.K.  This photo is ridiculous and very UN-baby-proof, but it’s nice to know that people can think outside the box. 

If you celebrate Christmas, what sort of tree are you using this year?  Did you find a way to make it eco-friendlier? Thanks for sharing your input—and for joining us this Thrifty Green Thursday!  Please visit our amazing bloggers below and jump right in if you have a frugal, eco-friendly post to share.  

My life has become a bit easier this year with the addition of a freezer and makeshift pantry in our garage.  What a difference!  I’ve cut my grocery shopping trips down to one or two per month and been able to stock up on sale foods at peak times.  Our membership to a CSA fills in the fresh food gaps with local organic produce each week.

Since my state of mind has shifted toward stocking up, I realize that now is a great time to purchase sale priced products that will last for months.  After studying a few grocery store flyers, I’ve found myself stocking up on the following items:

Baking supplies: It’s a great time to load up on flour, spices (although they are cheaper and eco-friendlier if you can get them in bulk) , and chocolate chips.  Even baking sheets and pie pans are available at a discount over the next month or so.

Turkey and Tofurky: Both of these items can be purchased at fabulous prices at this time of year,frozen, and used later in the winter.  According to Turtle Island Foods, makers of the tofu-based tofurky roast, it can be frozen for up to a year before being used.  Trader Joes has some excellent prices on natural turkeys and  a few local grocers even have free range birds at great discounts.

Seasonal produce: Squash, sweet potatoes, onions and apples are all on sale now and can be stored for months in a cool, dry location.  If you store them separately (so that they aren’t touching one another) they’ll last much longer.  Also look for cans of organic pumpkin and jars of applesauce which both work as cheap organic baby food too!  

What are your grocery shopping tips for holiday savings?  Have you already purchased your groceries for the big meal next week?  Are you in charge of Thanksgiving dinner this year or can you happily just show up with an adorable baby at someone else’s table?  For your sake, I heartily hope it’s the latter.   

Thanks for joining us this week for Thrifty Green Thursday.  If you have a simple tip for saving the planet and a few bucks, please click here to jump right in.  We’d love to have you! 

Don’t forget to post a comment before Friday for a chance to win a Natural Pod organic t-shirt or onesie!

With a new baby at home, it’s tempting to crank up the heat on these cold November days.  When the energy bill arrives, however, it can be shocking to see how an increase of just a few degrees on the thermostat can impact the utility bill and your energy output.  Since heating the home takes up about half of a family’s energy costs each month, finding a few ways to cut back can make a huge difference in your expenses and your carbon footprint.

•  Don’t heat what you don’t use:  If you want baby to stay extra warm, you can heat up her room and keep the rest of the house a bit cooler.  Close the doors to unused rooms and turn the thermostat to 55 degrees to avoid mildew.

• Bundle up: You don’t need to forgo comfort to save the planet.  Just throw on an extra layer and snuggle your baby into a warm blanket.  A reduction of just three degrees can save you five percent on your heating bill—but remember you can still keep baby’s room warm if you’d like. Decrease your overall house temperature by one degree each week to adjust gradually.  Setting your thermostat just two degrees lower over the course of a year will save an impressive 2,000 pounds in CO₂ emissions.

• Turn down the heat when you’re gone: You may have fallen prey to the myth that it takes more energy to heat up a cold house than to leave the heat running.  Wrong!  Turning the heat down while away from home or sleeping always saves energy.

• Lower the temperature on your water heater: Having the temperature for hot water set to higher than 120 degrees is both wasteful and dangerously hot.  Simply turning down the water heater will cut your energy use by six percent—and you’ll probably never even notice the difference!

• Make sure your home is well insulated:  After four years of incredibly high energy bills, my brother just learned that his house does not have insulation!  He has been pouring heat (and carbon emissions) into the air and money out the window.   Believe it or not, good insulation makes more of a difference than having solar panels on your home.  It’s the least expensive and most effective thing you can do to save energy.  Many local utility companies will do energy audits to check whether your home is well insulated.

What have you done to keep your family’s heating bills in check?  Those of you who live in frigid areas must have some tips for limiting energy costs while keeping baby comfy.  Please share your wisdom with the rest of us!

We’d also like to announce that the winner of our My Little Pakora giveaway is Terra Jones from The Jones Journey.  Thanks for entering Terra! 

For more Thrifty Green Thursday tips, check out the links below.  If you’d like to join us this week click here to get started.  Thanks for visiting!

With grocery prices soaring, it’s nice to know that you can save loads of money on a simple, homemade snack.  We’ve been guilty of buying microwave popcorn in the past, but six months ago I began making it on the stovetop––it’s incredibly easy and requires almost no equipment!  Plus it will help you avoid the hydrogenated oils in packaged popcorns as well as the cost and packaging.  It’s great for the planet, your budget and your family’s health—and it doesn’t require a lot of work.  From start to finish you can expect it to take less than ten minutes, including cleanup.

• Find a large, heavy pot with a lid. (Most people already have one.)
• Generously coat the bottom of the pan with canola or vegetable oil and dump in about 1/2 cup of unpopped corn. (You can eyeball it.)
• Stay near the pot until the corn begins to pop.
• Shake it every thirty seconds or so. 
• When it’s done popping, season it with your favorite ingredients.

Here are some popcorn seasoning options:

• Olive oil
• Melted butter
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Dill weed
• Seasoning salt
• Brewer’s yeast

Not only is home-popped corn delicious, it’s outrageously cheap.  A bag of popcorn kernels in the grocery store is just 4 cents per ounce, while microwave brands cost three to six times as much.  Microwaveable popcorn costs between 30-90 cents for a family sized bowl while the same amount of the homemade version costs less than ten cents per bowl—including seasoning!

If your family goes through one box of microwave popcorn (4 large bowls) each week, you’ll save a whopping 52 boxes of cardboard trash, 208 cellophane wrappings, and 208 paper bags by switching to homemade.  The same amount of popcorn prepared at home would cost less than ten dollars and create just four plastic bags.  (If you buy it in bulk and recycle the bags, you’ll achieve zero waste!) 

Homemade popcorn is also a great alternative to chips, pretzels and other expensive snacks.  As long as you don’t douse it with too much oil or butter, it can be stored in air tight containers and will still taste great the following day. 

One word of warning for parents—you’ll need to wait until baby is about 18 months to begin offering popcorn.  Moms and dads of toddlers: beware the effects of popcorn!  It can result in some very scary diaper aftermath.  (Similar to feeding them too much fruit.)  So let your little ones share in this treat, but don’t let them overdo it.

We’re looking forward to hearing your Thrifty Green Thursday tips this week—and would also love to know how you doctor up your homemade popcorn.  Thanks for enriching our popcorn seasoning list!