What's lurking in disposable wet wipes?

I'm sure by now you've seen the news article circulating that exposes the terrible rashes little ones are getting from disposable wet wipes. Wet wipes are a quintessential "mommy staple" but the report of terrible reactions definitely makes one second-guess using them. Per the article, "..this is because manufacturers have bumped up the amount of MI [methylisothiazolinone] used in wipes 25-fold." Methylisothiazolinone is a powerful biocide and preservative within the group of isothiazolinones, used in personal care products.

Photo credit: Dr. Mary Wu Chang

Isn't that rash terrible? Ouch! According to the Skin Deep website, almost all of the wipes made by Pampers, Huggies, and Luvs score in the 3-5 range on their scale. Products rated 2 and under are encouraged, anything that scores over a two is cautioned. One variety of Pampers wipes even comes in with a whopping score of 7 on the Skin Deep scale. That is really concerning -- everything scoring 7 or more is considered a "high hazard". The good news is that there are easy alternatives to disposables wipes. eLeMeNO-Pee carries several different types of cloth wipes and cloth wipe solution also.


We carry three different lines of cloth wipes:  Bummas, Planet Wise, and Thirsties and each offer different materials and color options.

We also carry two wet wipe solutions, Hosie Naturals and Earth Mama Angel Baby (in unscented, orange vanilla, and calming lavender). As a comparison to the scores for disposable wet wipes, the Earth Mama Angel Baby wash we carry scores a perfect zero on the Skin Deep scale. That is a drastic difference compared to the disposable wipes available in most grocery stores. For those times you absolutely must have a disposable wet wipe, we also carry gDiapers biodegradable gWipes which also score very well (a one)  on the Skin Deep chart.

There are a couple common ways that people use their cloth wipes. Some people use a small bottle,  prepare the solution, and just spray each wipe as you're ready to use it. Others prefer to fill a recycled wet wipes container,  fill it with their cloth wipes and pour the wet wipe solution over it so they're ready to use when you need them. Either method works fine, it's all a personal preference.

Cloth wipes are extremely soft and so much easier on gentle skin. They are SO much softer than disposable wipes! They also make a great alternative to Kleenexes as well. We have all been struggling with major allergy issues in our household and we all prefer to use the cloth wipes because they are so much more gentle on our noses! The best part about cloth wipes is that they are such an easy alternative and they require very little maintenance. It's quite easy to get in to the routine of using cloth wipes instead of disposable because it's such a simple process. Give them a try, I know you won't be disappointed!

Are you feeling the burnout yet?

 

Did you, like many people, make a resolution to be more green this year? To ditch the paper towels in favor of cloth napkins, switch out the disposable diapers for cloth, and switch to making your own cleaning products?
We're just over three  weeks in to the new year. Are you feeling the burnout yet? Whether it was a New Year's resolution to lose weight or the New Year's resolution was to be more green, it can be easy to get over-zealous in your eagerness to improve and somewhere around week two or week three, I usually find myself getting burnt out on a new goal or resolution.

I've always heard that it takes 30 days to make something a habit.  I think there is a lot of truth in that but I also think it's easier to stick with a new lifestyle or habit if you ease yourself in to it.
My suggestion is simple but it's helpful : start small. Choose the most pressing issue in your home and make that switch.  Once you're accustomed to it, switch one more thing. I always tell myself it's a marathon, not a sprint. It's too easy to get burnt out by trying to change too much all at once. It's easier to stay the course if you take it one step at a time. When I first started making the switch to a more natural/eco-friendly home, I tried to change too much all at once and I got very, very overwhelmed. Once I decided to scale it back and incorporate one change at a time, it became a lot less intimidating to me.

You can do it and eLeMeNO-Pee would love to help you with that transition in any way we can. We carry so many amazing items to help get your home as green as can be! Pick one small focus, conquer it, and keep plugging along. No matter what avenue you choose, we have a product to help you in that transition.  From cloth diapers, to reusable menstrual cups and cloth pads, we're here! We also have natural bath and body products alongside green cleansers and detergents. Wanting to ditch the Zip-loc bags? We have reusable snack bags! No matter what your primary focus is for greening up y our home, eLeMeNo-Pee has you covered!

Planet Wise reusable snack bags

The new kid on the block ... kind of.

Hi there! My name is Danielle and  I am the new Social Media Director for eLeMeNO-Pee.  I'm new in this specific role but I'm definitely not new to eLeMeNO-Pee! I have been a consultant since 2012 but I was a customer long before then. I have been making the journey to a more natural lifestyle since 2009 when I found out I was pregnant with my first child.  I knew I wanted to do things differently than what I was being told was the norm and it snowballed from there!

To introduce myself a little better, I am a stay-at-home mom to my four year old daughter, Piper, and I have been married to Mitchell for six years. We live in the great state of Texas and love it. There is a big "crunchy" community here and it's nice to be surrounded by lots of kindred spirits!

The eLeMeNO-Pee blog has been pretty low key for a while but I'm here to get us back up to speed. I have lots of things on the horizon to discuss but I'm also  always eager to hear suggestions for something specific you'd like me to explore on the blog, too. Be sure to come back each week for new blog posts!

An Unexpected Reminder

Today as I read my (try to do) daily devotional, I was reminded of something awfully humbling.   Most of our readers and customers are parents, and it is easy to think of ourselves in the context of BEING a parent. But we are also all still children.   OUR parents' children.

I won't get too deep in this, but it is amazing how strict and direct God's instructions are for how children should treat their parents.  The Old Testament instruction is extremely harsh against children who rebel and disobey or even mock their parents (Proverbs 30:17, Exodus 21:15).  The punishment for hitting or cursing your parents was DEATH!  Wow!  And of course "honor your father and mother" is one of the ten commandments, so it is definitely something we should not take lightly.

Imagine if today's society paid any attention to the way we are supposed to treat our parents and others in authority! See, this is where I was humbled... "how WE are supposed to treat OUR parents." As a parent and someone with 17 years experience of being "an adult," I never think of myself as being a child. I am generally respectful of my parents and don't fight with them much, but if they get crazy I let them know about it and I talk to my friends about how ridiculous and unreasonable my parents are being without a second thought. When my friends tell me about the silly things their parents TELL them to do, I am the first to tell my friend not to do it because it is absurd. Shame on me!

Anyway, this was an unexpected reminder that put me in my place a little and thought that it was worth sharing. In case you are interested in the devotional that struck me, you can find it at BibleResources.org.  eLeMeNO-Pee encourages you to think about this as we go through the Christmas season and maybe practice a little bit more restraint than you want to, even if you have really difficult parents or inlaws and even if they treat you poorly or unfairly.   We are all still our parents' children and sometimes we need to be reminded of this.

Cloth Diaper Savings Calculator v1.0 Has Been Released!

This will be very short and to the point - eLeMeNO-Pee has just released our very first Cloth Diaper Savings Calculator at http://www.elemeno-pee.com/calculator.  This is the simplest calculator we have ever seen (and it was designed by us from the ground up!) - it only requires one input and everything else is just clicking some buttons!  

This includes moderate costs for laundry, but you can turn that off if you want to.  National averages for disposable diapers were used in the cost and you can quickly see how different choices could affect your total savings.   

You just put in the average cost of your dream stash to see how much you can save,  click a couple of buttons for how often you plan to wash, how long you expect to have your child in diapers, and what type of disposable you want to compare to, click Compare and you're done!  We hope you find this useful.  Please let us know what you think!

We've Been Busy Bees

Boy has it been a busy year at eLeMeNO-Pee!   Our first full retail store has opened up (and it's SOOO CUUUTE!!!), we have expanded our network of knowledgeable cloth diaper consultants to 7 states with several waiting in the wings, we have completely made-over our website and added FREE SHIPPING options, we have added several lines of products to appeal to wider needs of our customers, Allison has been educating the public on TV every other week, and there is still more to come!

Thanks so much to all of our customers, family and friends for making this year great!  Get ready, because there is still more to come!   Our holiday sales and promotions are in the works and we want to blow away all of our previous records, so keep an eye out as we announce new products and specials. 

For today though, we want to make sure all of our friends have seen these AWESOME InfinityMom Nursing Scarves.  They have been selling very fast, so make sure you go to our website to get yours before it  is too late.   These scarves are stylish and can be worn as an everyday scarf, or for those who are breastfeeding it doubles as an easy to use, lightweight cover up for snack time.   

Cloth 101: Getting Started!

Lots of families think about trying cloth diapers, but believe it to be a complicated process or get overwhelmed with what they don’t know and dismiss the idea completely! What you may not know, is that by purchasing and using disposable diapers, you are spending literally thousands of unnecessary dollars! Most children are in diapers for about 2.5 years, 1 cloth diaper can be used for more than two years and you can save all that money for more exciting things! eLeMeNO-Pee has put together a few Cloth Diaper Starter Kits to help anyone on any budget start out right! We have three different kits so you can choose one that fits your budget and lifestyle perfectly!

Our first package includes:

12 prefolds (Oso Cozy size 1)

5 covers (Thirsties duo covers)

1 medium wet bag

1 large wet bag

1 pack of snappis

1 pack of 50 wash detergent (Nellies)

Cost: Less than $150 and can last up to one whole year!

Our second package includes:

12 pocket diapers (bum genius 4.0)

1 medium wet bag

1 large wet bag

1 pack of 100 wash detergent

Cost: Less than $300 and can last until your child is fully potty trained! :D

And finally our third package includes:

4 totsbots all-in-ones

8 thirsties all-in-ones

2 bamboozles fitteds

2 thirsties duo covers

1 XL wet bag

1 medium wet bag

1 pack of wipes          

Cost: $500 and this package will also last until your child is no longer in diapers.

*some items may be substituted based on availability but all will stay within the Prices mentioned above and will meet the same criteria

All of these packages are great ways to get started with cloth diapering, and eLeMeNO-Pee consultants are always available to help!

Click here if you have any questions :)

& if you missed our segment on KPLC about how to get started with these tools, check out this link to catch up!

CLICK HERE

So give it a shot, it’s totally worth it!

Xoxo

Bri