Just like mom...

What has struck me recently is that many of the "green" things that people are starting to do are things that were normal not so long ago. I find myself going retro and doing things that my mom used to do:
1. Use cloth diapers
2. Use cloth napkins
3. Grease a pan with a little bit of butter (no PAM spray)
4. Use cast iron pans
5. Wrap sandwiches in waxed paper
...or that my Dad still does...
6. Use a hanky

Nothing revolutionary here. These are just tried and true solutions to daily needs. So today I'm going to blog about the exciting world of *Cloth napkins*!

My brothers and I grew up using cloth napkins, and I used them in my single life. For some bizarre reason, I switched to disposable for a few years after getting married. I've since switched back. Why? Because disposable napkins are disposable -- and why do we need to cut down trees to wipe our hands? It's just a waste. Cloth napkins feel nice, don't get all crumpled up and gross, and just seem classy. You'd have to use a ton of them to really add to the laundry, so I think that their impact (after being made) is really minimal.

If you're thinking about venturing into the world of cloth, here's my advice:
1. If you're serving spaghetti, use red napkins. Red is my favorite napkin color because of the stain factor. Personally, I don't really care that much about stains, because even though it might not look great, I know it's clean, but I don't really like to give groddy looking napkins to guests.
2. You can make your own napkins, or just buy some. I've found them at Goodwill. My favorite red ones come from Target, and they can easily be cut into 4 and hemmed -- you really don't need a 24" (or so) square to wipe your hands and clean your mouth. You should use cotton or linen. Don't get some polyester blend b/c it's just not as absorbent.
3. After dinner, just toss the napkin in with the laundry. (If it's a red one, don't wash it with the whites :) )

What's funny is that even though I've been using cloth napkins for years, I never used to bring them with my lunch. It's oh so nice to eat my lunch with silverware from home wrapped in a cloth napkin.

Enviromom blogged about zero waste birthday parties and I thought she had a nice idea -- she made cloth napkins for the kids to use and they kept them as favors. I think kids would like it -- now that my kids know that trash goes to the dump (and have seen some pictures of the dump) they are very interested in reducing waste.

Flashback to the conversation:
J: "Mom... what's a dump?"
M: "It's where the trash goes after the truck picks it up."
J: "What do they do with it?"
M: "They bury it."
J: "Why?"
M: (Um......) "So it won't be stinky for other people"

Etc...
Now everything we throw away gets "will this go to the dump?". Pretty soon, some of it at least will go to the worms!