Yaay - lots of reconstructed cloth nappies!

In Nappycino, I issued a sewing challenge to make a cloth nappy made out of recycled materials. Oh my, some of the stuff people are coming up with! They are amazing! I particularly liked Marnie's creation - making a pocket nappy out of a Size 4 t-shirt her older child has grown out of. The sleeves became the wings of the nappy and the neck hole the pocket opening. Very clever. To check out everyone's creations, this is the actual thread with everyone's stuff: Our Reconstructed Nappies Thread

I'm also going to cross-post my own creation here:


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Yaaay I actually finished something EARLY! Anyway, here's mine. Construction is:

Outer:

• Acrylic Machine Wool - former single bed blanket and washed in hot prior to sewing just in case it was going to go all weird on me - it didn't.


• 2 Layers of Polar fleece - scraps from a former ugly jacket which got turned into a wet bag.

Inner:

• 3 layers of denim - scraps from a former pair of jeans I had cut up and made into other stuff


• 1 layer of cotton - scraps from a second-hand t-shirt


• 1 layer of microfibre - from cleaning cloth we don't like touching cause microfibre felt "icky" to touch.


• 1 layer of polar fleece - scraps from a pair of fleece pants I made a long long long time ago.

Elastic was recycled from a project that went wrong. Touch tape were scraps from Kristymumto3 - Thanks Kristy!!!

Sewing stuff - its my first shot at making my own pattern!! Yep, I made it using my daughter's undies as a first template then modified to have wings, widened the crotch etc etc..... only problem was that I forgot all about seam allowance. So it ended up a lot trimmer than I wanted it to be. Ooops. Well, at least it fit. Its been on now for 1 hour and no wees yet. I want my son to wee in it so I can see if it works!!!

ETA: Well my son's wee'd in it and the nappy held it all in! Admittedly it was only a medium wee but I'm just so stoked that the whole thing held up! Wooohooo!

Consumption and my children

In 1929, the US government produced a report called "The Home and the Child". The report recommended that parents should recognise the independence of children and went further to to state that children should play a bigger part in household consumption (eg. choose their own toys, choose their bedroom things etc.)

Sounds quite reasonable doesn't it? However this passage rang alarm bells for me.

Through such experiences personality develops... [These] experiences have the advantage of also creating in the child a sense of personal as well as family pride in ownership, and eventually teaching him that his personality can be expressed through things. (White House, 1931, [Emphasis added by Robbins]; See also Leach 1993:371-372)

So has it finally come to this? That consumption is no longer a way to support our living but also a way to communicate who we are?

The Australia Institute produced a research paper on the use of mobile phones by "tweens" (children aged 6-13yrs). Again alarm bells rang for me when I read this passage:

... this paper finds that although they are marketed to parents on security grounds, the majority of children who own mobile phones are motivated by status and aesthetics in their purchasing decision. Fifty-three per cent of tweens believe the brand of their phone is important and 62 per cent believe that the way the phone looks is important. Similarly, children who own mobile phones exhibit signs of ‘competitive consumption’ as they try to keep up with their peers. Sixty-one per cent of child mobile phone owners want the latest technology and features and 54 per cent plan to upgrade their phone. (The Australia Institute 2007, [emphasis mine])

My children (currently 2.5yrs and 4 yrs old) have too many toys. Consumption has become one of the ways for me to show them I love them. Consumption has also become one of the ways I make up for my own perceived shortfalls in day-to-day parenting responsibilities - eg. I feel I can not teach them essential skills, so I buy them toys that can do the job for me. Is it laziness on my part? Or is it because consumption has become an essential in the way I communicate and relate with my children?

Do I really want to teach them that their personalities and self-esteem is only worth as much as their things?

No, no, no.... and I hope that my influence at home will be greater in the long run than the influence of their peers.

Wastewater Systems....I finally understand!!

Okay so after much discussion with council we have decided to go with the Super Treat system - and council will approve it. Its not as eco-friendly as the other systems (we still have to put chlorine tablets in every 3 months) but its better than pouring chemicals into a holding tank and getting that hauled away.

Having said all that, I have to admit, I was at a real loss with all the systems actually on offer and today, I finally cracked it and started to draw every system we have looked at as a diagram... I tend to think in pictures.

For those who are looking at building their own house in the future, here is a rundown of my interpretation of the systems. Please contact suppliers themselves over the ins and outs. :-)

Biolytix
This system won an Environmental Protection Agency award. Basically it goes like this:

Grey water (eg. laundry and shower) AND Black water (eg. toilet and kitchen sink)

goes into

chemical-free processing tank (uses combo of worms, soil (ie filtration) and aeration)

goes into

underground hoses under the property land

The water can not be diverted to vegie gardens but can be used for ornamental gardens. Downside is that relying on this system alone would mean we would need to use our fresh water to wash our cars, climbing equipment etc etc.

More info at: www.biolytix.com

Perpetual Water
This system is fairly new but has gotten endorsement by the ACT Master Builder's Association, the Master Plumber's Association, the Housing Industry Association and the Australian Water Association.

This was the system that council did not approve because they did not want any of the water to be used above ground. Having said that, this system has got NSW Health Accreditation and is in use quite widely here in Canberra.

The process basically goes like this:

Grey Water

goes into

processing tank (uses settling and filtration (not biological filtration though) method - small amount of settling agent)

goes into

storage tank (add small amount of chlorine)

goes into

Toilet OR laundry OR showers OR hand-held hoses OR above ground sprinklers OR drip hose

The great thing about this system is that it would have given us the flexibility to re-use the water to clean our cars etc. Like the Biolitix, however, we can not use the water for any vegie gardens. Further, it does not treat black water. That was why we were hoping to use this in combination with the Biolytix.

More info: www.perpetual.com.au

Super Treat Sewage System
This system is the oldest of the eco-friendly on-site treatment systems sold in Australia. They are approved in all Australian States and also in New Zealand.

Process is like this:

Grey water AND Black water

goes into

processing tank (uses settlement, compost and aeration - add small amount of settling agent)

goes into

24 hour holding tank (add small amount of chlorine)

goes into

under-ground hoses, OR above ground sprinklers, OR hand-held hoses, OR drip hose

Further there is an add-on to this system where we can install a UV filter so that we can store the grey water indefinitely safely for re-use. The reason why grey water needs to be used within 24 hours is that it could develop pathogens and spread disease. The UV filter will get rid of pathogens.

Anyway, so that's a run-down of how I see on-site wastewater systems.

More info: www.supertreat.com.au

Next big decision for us is to decide whether we go with a totally eco-friendly oven (ie one that doesn't leak air) or a "normal" oven and make the eco-friendly saving elsewhere.....

Denim Bag

Here is a school backpack I made for one of my daughter's school friends using a leg from an old pair of jeans, cord I found in the garage and I embroidered and appliqued it using wool and fleece scraps that I had around the place. Inside its lined with an old (but still nice and strong) pillowcase. Her friend loves flags so I put a few flags on it.

I wanted the straps to be adjustable but I didn't have a buckle so I made one using more denim and created two large button holes on it. So by threading the strap through and then over again, it worked the same as a buckle.

I had a wonderful time doing it and I got a nice card afterwards from his mum saying how touched they were. She also then made a bag for my daughter too. It is absolutely gorgeous and my daughter loves it. I will upload pics of the bag my daughter got soon!

Homemade Paper

For the last few weeks, I have noticed how much paper the kids were going through at home. While all scraps were going into the recycling bin, I still felt this was quite wasteful, so I decided that we should recycle our own paper!

So here's what we did:

1. Grab all bits of scrap paper - you can use anything (newspaper, magazines etc etc) as long as its not metallic paper. Tear or cut into smaller bits and place into a mixture bowl. (This in itself is a fun activity for the kids).

2. Add enough water so all bits of paper is covered. Now shred using a bamix. (You can also use a food processor if you want to for this, but since we don't have one, we used a bamix instead). Keep shredding until paper has dissolved into pulp. Add more water if the mixture starts thickening - you want to keep it a watery mixture.

3. Pour pulp into a larger container (we used a medium-sized esky) and repeat steps 1 and 2 until you have at least 15cm (about 1/2 a foot) of water and pulp in the esky.

4. Using a frame with a screen, scoop the pulp.

5. Dry in the sun.

6. Once dry, gently prise new paper off with a knife.

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Now it was our luck that I found the screenprinting frame in a 2nd hand shop but of course I only found one and I have 2 children. To save fights over who gets to use the frame, I also made one. Using tulle (found some in a 2nd hand shop) and an old picture frame. I stapled the tulle onto the picture frame. Worked like a dream!

Some other ideas for your paper - before it dries, you can decorate it using fabric pieces, leaves/flowers, little metal bits, glitter - skies the limit. You can also pour food dye into the mixture for colouring.

Note that if you use paper with lots of writing in it, then your pulp will be naturally grey. It would be a very dark grey when its wet but it does dry to a light grey when dry.

Here is a pic of a card we made for one of Jade's friend's birthday. We made it using our homemade paper, some leaves from the garden and recycled wool to hold it all together. (Note the side that dries on the screen/tulle is actually quite smooth - smooth enough to write on.)

Finally back online! ...and my own experiences of Climate Change

Well, after much drama, I am now finally back online!

We have decided to replace the laptop with an ex-government one (thanks for the suggestion smp). We decided to take the cash from the insurance and just buy the laptop. So technically, we *still* have not broken our challenge! The broadband company replaced the modem and the digital set top box on the TV.

Having said that, the children have been scared of the storms we've been having of late so we did break our challenge and bought them a child-sized flashlight each so they feel better at night if/when a storm breaks. We did make sure they are using rechargeable batteries though so that's made me feel a bit better about it. I was really wanting to get the solar powered ones but when I couldn't find any instock, that were also small enough for little children's hands. *sigh* I am regarding this as little slip-ups though rather than a full on break from our challenge.

Speaking of storms and weather, this site: http://www.abc.net.au/canberra/stories/s1858991.htm?backyard has some pretty amazing photos of one of the big storms. I just can't believe how it actually hailed and snowed in summer. The strange thing about this was that only 2 days before the big storm where it snowed, it was actually 35 degrees (95 degrees Farenheit), hot and sticky. Since that storm we've had a few more "little" ones.

In the 20+ years I have lived here, its never been humid but the last 3 summers have definitely been humid. With our altitude and terrain, the summers here should be hot and dry, but its not.

Anyway, all this stuff has really brought home to me the cost of Climate Change. On ABC radio today, I heard some weather expert from CSIRO say that they are seeing 100 year floods/storms are now occuring approximately every 17 years. The cost is not only higher insurance premiums but also a need to now upgrade building standards, changes in how we design our homes, our roads, offices etc etc. 15 years back, mosquitoes were a rarity, but now they are a regular feature during the humid summers - and so now we are also seeing more and more mosquito-related health concerns in this area where there were none before.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has some scary graphs on Australia's climate change: http://www.abc.net.au/canberra/stories/s1858991.htm?backyard

Speaking of which, another climate change event is responsible for me taking up this challenge......Canberra Bushfires of 2003. That event certainly made me realise how little of our material stuff really matters. But that is another story for later, I'm afraid I've rambled on enough.

Oh and a quick update - our plans for an eco-friendly grey water treatment system in our new house has been rejected by local council. They want us to stick to the "thoroughly tested" (their words) traditional water treatment systems involving us pouring chemicals to treat our water......BOOOO HISSSSS to that local council! We are going to try and offer another eco-friendly alternative. Unfortunately, it does mean we have to pay yet another $110 to resubmit our water and sewerage plans. Lucky we're saving money 'cause of this challenge hey!!