The Gateway to a Crunchier Me
This post may contain affiliate or referral links, meaning I may earn a sales commission at no extra cost to you. Please see my full affiliate disclosure here.
Everyone has that one thing that causes them to think in a different way. For us crunchier folks, a lot of times cloth diapers are the gateway to all things crunchy. Some start using them because they’re cute with a side order of responsibility but then get exposed to a whole new world that they may not have known about before.
Talk to a lot of cloth diaper users and you may find that a lot of them also prefer to use other environmentally friendly, more natural options in many other areas of their lives. Some were this way prior to using cloth diapers but a lot of them got more interested in these ideals after using cloth diapers.
Not me. Cloth diapers weren’t my gateway, but I’ll tell you what was.
About six or seven years ago, before I ever used cloth diapers, a mom group that I have belonged to since my oldest son was born was discussing reusable menstrual products. What?! I was pretty horrified. One woman admitted to using cloth pads and a few others admitted to using menstrual cups. I was shocked that people used these things. The thread continued for a few days and a couple of other women decided to try a cup. Women that I trusted and had posted some of our most personal life details with. As the months went by, the conversations continued. These women loved their cups. How could this be?
I decided to throw caution to the wind and ordered one. I tried it and after a few months, loved it and never turned back. But there was NO WAY that I was going to try cloth pads. Ever. Period (no pun intended).
Now that I also use cloth diapers on my son I met a new group of women who use cloth pads or mama cloth as it’s commonly referred to. There was still no way. I wasn’t interested. Then last month I had the opportunity to review cloth pads. It took me a few days to agree to the review but I kept hearing how great cloth pads are and figured, what have I got to lose? Now I’m eating a little bit of crow.
They stay put and aren’t as messy, inconvenient, or difficult to wash as I thought they would be. Aunt Flo isn’t a particularly pleasant guest no matter what kind of product you use during her stay but cloth pads are no more “gross” than having dirty ones sitting in a garbage can in your bathroom for a few days.
My biggest issues with cloth pads were how to store the dirty ones until wash day and how to wash them. If you’re already using cloth diapers you can store and wash them along with the diapers. If you don’t or are bothered by that idea you can store them in their own small wet bag until the end of your cycle.
There aren’t any special washing instructions though I would recommend washing a rinse cycle prior to the wash cycle. I’ve washed mine with both diapers and towels. If you’re worried about staining, the Pink Lemonade minky pads that I have aren’t stained at all.
I never thought that I would use, much less recommend cloth pads but here I am. If a diehard skeptic like me can finally try them and LIKE them, anyone can. What have you got to lose?
Was there anything that made you more crunchy?
Cloth diapers were definitely it for me. I did a few things here and there, but cloth diapers really pushed me along.
I’m pretty crunchy! I have no period yet because I’m still BFing, but I think it would be awesome to use mama cloth or a moon cup. Thanks for writing this! We cloth diaper, babywear, breastfeed, garden, have our own chickens, buy locally grown meat and cook naturally.
I guess I’m still with the “old you.” I’m pretty crunchy, doing a lot of veggie growing, composting, and of course cloth diapering, but until recently I hadn’t heard of mama cloth and I have to say it still kind of grosses me out. I’m still pumping/BFing my little one though, so perhaps there’s still time to reconsider before my period returns.
Menstrual Cups were actually my gateway into a more crunchier lifestyle as well! 😀
My husband and I always tried to recycle, and both love the outdoors. But, after finding out about menstrual cups, and then the website RecycleBank.com (which gives you points for learning about eco-friendly lifestyles, & you can exchange for gift cards, and high value coupons) I was hooked on being eco-concious! Especially when I realized the savings!
Many non-ecofriendly people would always say, “I’d like to be eco-friendly, if it were not so expensive!”, and I took them for their word. But once I started doing my own research, I realized, that doing the right thing for the environment, usually meant saving money (not loosing it like others preached)!
It all was exciting, and I started viewing it as a challenge to find ways to be more eco-friendly. 🙂
I still haven’t tried cloth pads, but the reusable menstrual cup was a life changer for me. Seriously. I can see how these were your “gateway” to crunchy.
I think DH would freak if I started doing that! I use cloth diapers about half the time though, and even that he doesn’t really care for. :-/
I have never delved into cloth pads. Still kind of freaks me out – but I’m freaked out by the toxins in the tampons too. I’ve thought about the diva cup before. I’m currently on break from my period b/c I just had another baby, so I have time to do some research.
We have used cloth diapers for over 8 years now and things have changed a ton since I started.
I do not buy paper towels or napkins – well let me say I buy one package a year and rarely ever use up the paper towels. We use microfiber towels for all cleaning.
We do baby wearing for sure. I don’t know if you consider gardening crunchy but I do.
First, I have a very UNcrunchy friend named Lea (no h) Johnson so this comment threw me for a loop at first, lol. I still use the pads as a back up for my cup on heavy days so it’s a little less scary. One of these days I may try them alone but I tend to get very paranoid with just a pad of any kind on and obsessively run to the bathroom to make sure everything is still cool.
Gardening totally counts as crunchy and I’m jealous! My thumb is brown. So very brown 🙁
Pink Lemonade pads are gorgeous. I haven’t used them yet, but I ordered them when she was doing some flash sales. I’m so glad I did!
I’m looking forward (as much as you can look forward to your period) to using them when I get my cycles back!
I love pink lemonade pads!
I don’t remember my eco gateway. I guess I was always a bit of a hippie. I got into it more back in college and looked at using sea sponge pads. I spent my childhood with my depression era grandparents,, and reusing everything was our way of life long before it was crunchy.
I’m a 70s baby born to a hippie mother so being environmentally responsible has always been on my radar as well.
I started considering cloth pads about 9 months ago, but my cycle hadn’t returned yet because I was still BF’ing. When my cycle did return (13 months PP! WOOO!), I only had it twice before getting pregnant again.. LOL! Soooooo maybe in like 2 1/2 years I’ll revisit 😉