Recently, I was inspired by a blog post and a link to Zero Waste Living. I’ve always been one to choose eco-friendly options and even work a little harder to put less garbage into the landfill (a reason we chose to do cloth diapering and reusable wipes), but as my husband and I got completely consumed by the Zero Waste site one night, we got some ideas to take a few more steps to live a little greener.

Within a week, I had an order waiting at my door from our friend, Amazon.com.

One of the things in the box: reusable cloth napkins! Okay, this one might be a no-brainer for reducing paper waste, but all the cloth napkins I came across in the past seemed too big for our day to day usage. So, I ordered these, cut them into fourths (well actually, my loving husband did), and am in the process of sewing around the edges. It’s some work, but I keep telling myself that these will be our napkins forever!

Also in the order were microfiber cloths to take the place of paper towels and also reusable breast pads. That last one was hard, I’ve loved the convenience of the disposable versions that never, ever leak. I’m in the process of trying to figure out how to make them work for me.

And lastly, how cool is this rain barrel that Pat made! This was actually something he had been thinking about for a while. We have a rain spout outside our kitchen door that leaks tons of water every time it rains. Until recently we’ve just put a bucket underneath it to catch whatever we could, but it was always overflowing.

After sitting outside for the last few weeks, the rain barrel got put to the test the other night. It works! Gianna absolutely loves it and thinks it’s her new toy.