Is it possible to have a small baby
and stay eco and efficient? Our son will be born 1-1.5 months from now, but as we prepare our water and electrical usage is already increasing, mainly because the washing machine is being used more often, and at a higher temperature. I wince at the thought of how much more it will increase once there is a newborn in the house.
So, any ideas on how to keep that impact at a minimum?
Here are a few things we are planning to do:
- Use reuseable cloth diapers to minimize waste. This will increase water and energy usage since they have to be washed very often, so...
- Replace old washing machine with newer, more efficient model. The new one we're looking for takes a slightly smaller load (4.5kg instead of 5kg), weighs the load to know how much water is needed, and spins at 1200rpm to squeeze out more moisture. The new machine also has an Eco program which saves even more if the load isn't too dirty.
- Wash the baby in a small tub, then use the water for other things - washing ourselves and/or flushing the toilet.
Any comments/suggestions?
Oh, and I'd like this thread to cover only the 'technical' side of efficient parenting, but if you can recommend any more general ecoparenting forums then please do
