Cloth wipes - the good, the bad and the stinky

The Cloth Wipe Challenge is coming up soon and one of the big concerns is hygiene, so I wanted to discuss some of the issues and misconceptions that usually come up with using cloth wipes instead of toilet paper.

When I was doing research into using cloth wipes, one thing I repeatedly read was that some people assumed that you are reusing wipes. In other words, using the same dirty cloth multiple times - e.g. on separate occasions. Now, I don't know how this idea came into being, it's just as disturbing as the fact that some people think recycled toilet paper is made from used toilet paper. So, I thought I'd clear this one up first and foremost - you use each wipe once and then they get washed.

I want to break down the use of cloth wipes for urine versus poop because they can be treated a little differently. (By the way, I'm going to just go with "poop" instead of stool, defecant, excrement, scat or any other of your favorite terms.)

First of all, if you plan on using cloth wipes for #1 (urine only), it is in my opinion that your risk of spreading disease is fairly minimal. Urine itself is sterile. Of course, you are also touching parts of your anatomy that are not sterile. It all comes down to your comfort level.

Some people soak all their used wipes in a solution containing some sort of antiseptic - tea tree oil is popular. Others just place their used cloth wipes in a mesh bag that gets plenty of air. I have found that the amount of urine on the wipe is actually pretty minimal so things dry out quickly. Then just wash the #1 wipes in hot water. If you're still paranoid about bacteria, follow washing information for #2.

If you plan on using cloth wipes for #2 (poop), then you're going to have to invest in a system to ensure that you don't have problems with two things that make most people cringe: stink and bacteria.

Now, if you have ever dealt with cloth diapers, then you are already equipped (at least mentally) to deal with adding your own poopy cloth wipes to the system (or resurrecting a system). Actually, I would say that since you are wiping, rather than "collecting", it's a whole lot less messy than dealing with cloth diapers.

Most people keep a lidded container or wet bag in the bathroom, throw the wipes in and then wash in hot water. Again, you can keep a soaking solution in the container to help keep odor down. If you're really concerned about bacteria you can do a baking soda pre-rinse and add vinegar to the rinse cycle. If you are planning on keeping a "dry" bucket, some people will add baking soda to the bucket to keep odor down and then wash the container out with vinegar every few days. Just make sure if you do a load of laundry with #2 wipes that you don't include kitchen towels, napkins, etc.

For some of you, I'm sure I probably didn't cover everything here to satisfy all your questions. If you've never dealt with cloth diapers you can read up on how to store and wash them over at Diaper Pin and adapt some of the ideas for your cloth wipes. And feel free to ask questions!

The next cloth wipe challenge post: how to make your own cloth wipes without spending a fortune. This is a challenge and I know you don't want to plunk down $100 on handcrafted custom wipes if this is just an experiment for you, so I'll share what I did to get started.

Cloth wipes: all you ever wanted to know

A few questions have come up regarding the latest challenge, the Cloth Wipe Challenge 2009. So, I've updated the content from a few posts that I put up over the years explaining some of the details.

The whole famdamily issue
If you are dubious about washing cloth wipes for six people in your household, then just try them yourself. No one said you had to drag family and friends into this. In our household, the kids don't use cloth wipes yet as they are too young and we would be spending far more in plumbing bills than we would be saving by having them use cloth.

Maybe when they are a little older and pay more attention to what should and shouldn't go in the toilet we'll have them use cloth. In the meantime, we risk just flushing the benefits down the toilet. So to speak. Anyway, just start small and see how it goes.

What about shared bathrooms with roommates?
If you live with other people who aren't as enthused about it as you, it's a little more difficult, but not undoable. You just need to be a bit more sneaky and run a covert cloth wipe operation. I would suggest going for #1 only - it will be easier to hide. Find a container of some sort and hide it under the sink somewhere. You can always go for some cammo patterned cloth remnants.

Even if someone asks you what it is, it won't be readily obvious what you're doing. Feel free to tell them, or just say you use them for cleaning your armpits or some other misdirection. It won't totally gross them out but it will keep them from fiddling with your wipes.

It's going to create too much laundry
Umm, unless you are repurposing ship's sails in their original size, you won't be generating much laundry. For #1 use for two people, we wash the "pee pads", as my mom calls them, a couple times a week. We just throw them in with the rest of the laundry and they don't take up any more space than a small t-shirt. The water usage and soap is negligible. You'll find you won't need a very big piece to do the job as cloth is way more absorbent than TP.

Why don't you try the "hand and water method"?
By gum, if you've got spunk enough to do that, be my guest. I just have a few words for you: fingernails and fecal matter. Someone brought up the whole drying after the rinse cycle issue and, unless you've got time to air dry, you're ending up using a cloth to dry, no?

How much does it cost to get setup? - Outside of the initial investment in wipes (see my doin' it on the cheap post), the costs beyond that are for a container to put the wipes in (if you use one) and whatever cleaning agent you use. If you are washing them with other stuff, the amount of detergent used over the course of a year is pretty small. On the other hand, toilet paper is expensive, especially if you are springing for 100% recycled toilet paper.

Is it more comfortable than using super Charmin? - OMG, I cannot even describe how much more comfortable it is to wipe using 100% cotton flannel than even the softest of Charminy TPs. Now compare that to the relative scratchitude of some recycled toilet papers. Enough said.

What's the environmental impact of washing the wipes? - This is the big one so I've broken it down.

a. Energy - Yes, washing cloth wipes does require some extra energy in your washing machine, but unless you are using a million wipes a week, there's no way you're going to fill up your machine. So just throw them in with your other stuff. #1 wipes can go in with anything (except maybe kitchen towels) and #2 wipes can go in with towels or the like. They don't take up much space. Really.

b. Water - Again, washing cloth wipes requires some water, but if you're throwing them in with a load of other stuff, it's fairly negligible.

Compare the minimal energy and water usage at home with how much water and energy is used in the production of toilet paper. It's a pretty water and energy intensive process. Even recycled toilet paper uses a lot more of both than what your using with cloth wipes.

c. Natural Resources - If you're not using recycled toilet paper, the amount of trees saved is equivalent to that little pile of cloth you have at the end of the day. Add into both regular or recycled TP extra waste in processing. Plus, don't forget the other natural resources used like water and energy (minus whatever went into making the cloth, amortized over time). You can also throw in the harm caused by whatever chemicals are used in the processing (most likely bleach).

In sum, the benefits are: you win with cost savings and comfort (with minimal extra work) and the environment wins every time you wipe!

In the next post, I'll go into more detail about the cloth wipe setup.

Cloth wipes - doin' it on the cheap

When I first cooked up the idea for the Cloth Wipe Challenge back in June, I did a lot of researching online into what constituted the best wipes, what were people's favorites, etc.

There are a lot of vendors and stay at home moms out there sewing up some really nice cloth wipes (usually referred to as "family cloth" to differentiate it from baby cloth wipes). I didn't want to throw down $50 - $100 on butt wipes, particularly since I wasn't sure I was even going to go through with it. Nor did I want to only buy a couple and run out and turn my business into a big laundry ordeal.

So, what did I do? Well you have a couple options for cheapo cloth wipes. Some people take old t-shirts and rip them into strips. The claim is that they don't fray and you are reusing something. I guess there can be joy in wiping with an old concert, marathon or convention t-shirt. "Hey, I remember cramping up on mile 18!" The concern I had with the t-shirts (besides that I already had donated all the ones I didn't want anymore), was the thinness factor. Generally, old t-shirts tend to be threadbare and I really didn't want to have my fingers poking through, if you know what I mean.

So, I went to Joann's Fabrics. There I found some really inexpensive fabric remnants. They are 100% cotton flannel of suitable thickness and are ohhhhhhh so comfy. I spent, maybe, $6. I marked the squares into 8" x 8" squares using my kid's sidewalk chalk, but you can use whatever you want. I then cut the squares using pinking shears to prevent fraying. I managed to get about 50 cloth wipes out of the deal.

What would I do differently next time? Well, the cloth wipes do fray a little bit, but I don't care and I really don't think they fray enough to warrant sewing or surging the edges. I would also make them a little smaller. If I were using them for #2, the 8" x 8" would be perfect, but it's just too much cloth for a little dab o' pee. Maybe 6" x 6" would be great.

The other thing I would recommend is that if you are planning on using cloth wipes for multiple family members, is to get everyone their own fabric print. So, if you feel squeamish out wiping your butt with something your husband went to town with after that trip to the Mexican restaurant you can rest assured that you have nothing to even consider. Or, if you want to use a color system for #1 versus #2, that would be fun. If you are lucky you might just find remnants in the appropriate colors: yellow for pee and brown for poop. No, I'm just kidding, that's too boring!

As for using baby washcloths - that probably would work if you had some lying about and didn't want to spend any extra money. But others have found them to be too small, too thin and (actually) too scratchy.

Next up on the cloth wipe challenge posts: putting the whole system together (for you detail oriented people)!

Cloth wipes - the benefits

Yesterday, I did a wrap-up on how to implement using cloth wipes during the Cloth Wipe Challenge. Today, I thought I'd review the benefits of using cloth for those of you still wondering why we are bothering to go through all this when TP is aplenty and readily available.

1. Cost - Outside of the initial investment in wipes (see my doin' it on the cheap post), the costs beyond that are for a container to put the wipes in and whatever cleaning agent you use. If you are washing them with other stuff, the amount of detergent used over the course of a year is pretty small. On the other hand, toilet paper is expensive, especially if you are springing for 100% recycled toilet paper.

2. Comfort - OMG, I cannot even describe how much more comfortable it is to wipe using 100% cotton flannel than even the softest of Charminy TPs. Now compare that to the relative scratchitude of recycled toilet papers. Enough said.

3. Environment - This is the big one so I've broken it down.
a. Energy - Yes, washing cloth wipes does require some extra energy in your washing machine, but unless you are using a million wipes a week, there's no way you're going to fill up your machine. So just throw them in with your other stuff. #1 wipes can go in with anything (except maybe kitchen towels) and #2 wipes can go in with towels or the like. They don't take up much space. Really.

b. Water - Again, washing cloth wipes requires some water, but if you're throwing them in with a load of other stuff, it's fairly negligible.

Compare the minimal energy and water usage at home with how much water and energy is used in the production of toilet paper. It's a pretty water and energy intensive process. Even recycled toilet paper uses a lot more of both than what your using with cloth wipes.

c. Natural Resources - If you're not using recycled toilet paper, the amount of trees saved is equivalent to that little pile of cloth you have at the end of the day. Add into both regular or recycled TP extra waste in processing. Plus, don't forget the other natural resources used like water and energy (minus whatever went into making the cloth, amortized over time). You can also throw in the harm caused by whatever chemicals are used in the processing (most likely bleach).

So, the benefits are: you win with cost savings and comfort (with minimal extra work) and the environment wins every time you wipe!

Cloth Wipe Challenge Kickoff!

Welcome to the first day of the Cloth Wipe Challenge! I hope you've got your cloth wipes stacked and ready to go. This should turn out to be a real easy challenge for you once you get into it if you are doing cloth wipes for #1.

If you are being more adventurous and getting busy with cloth wipes and #2, then it should be no more difficult than storing and washing cloth diapers. Actually, it's a ton easier than cloth diapers because you are neither peeing nor pooping directly into the cloth wipe. You are just, well, wiping.

If you are just now reading about this and want to know more, check out all the last posts on the topic about the basics and how to set up. For a real easy intro to cloth wipes that will cost you nothing and should relieve most of your squeamishness (for #1 at least), just take an old t-shirt and rip it into squares. Store the used wipes in whatever container you have lying about. Even an old large plastic tub with holes poked in the lid for air circulation will do, although I prefer a mesh bag of some kind.

Then wash the wipes with your other stuff whenever you get around to it. We've gone a few weeks in between washings without any smell or other issues. Remember, you are not peeing on them, just wiping so there's very little, if any, moisture left while they are "waiting" to be washed.

One of my readers sent me a rather well thought out email the other day asking if it really is more environmentally friendly to use cloth wipes over TP. I hope to get the chance to address her questions later this week.

In the meantime, start wiping!

Don't forget to wipe!

Don't be surprised, people. You should have seen this one coming from miles away.

It's the 2007 Don't Forget To Wipe (with cloth) Challenge! Now, I know you're out there... you've answered my polls intimating that you're ready to try cloth wipes. Maybe you just need a kick in the, ummm, ass. So, now's your chance to justify it to all your friends and family: "I'm doing it because it's a challenge! For two weeks!"

And the rules are soooo simple.... it's as easy as wiping your, ummm, ass.

Since I'm always looking out for you, don't think I didn't already do months of research and recon for you. I did - and I've been using cloth wipes since the middle of June. Why didn't you hear about it sooner you ask? Well, because I already had too many things going on and I wanted this challenge to get the spotlight, ummm, never mind.

Here are the rules. You can choose to use cloth wipes:

1. Only for #1
2. For both #1 and #2
3. Only at home
4. On the road

You cloth diaper people probably already have a system in place for laundering and transporting, so you have no excuse for doing the whole gamut. But, for you squeamish people, start with #1 at home. That's what I do. I'll go over logistics in a future post.

Also, you don't need to spend an arm and a leg on specialized cloth wipes. I'll soon teach you how to get started for a few bucks.

This challenge will take place the last two weeks of September. Are you with me? As usual, I will have a list of participants on the right nav bar so feel free to grab the banner, sign up on this post, and I'll add you.

By the way, I didn't realize how much toilet paper I used before I started this. Who knew I was a TP whore? I think I used more than the other three people in my household combined (granted my preschoolers aren't that fastidious about wiping, but really)! So, in addition to saving (in my case at least) hundreds of trees, you'll also be saving money too.

Potty Talk: Your cloth wipe questions answered

First off, I wanted to address a few questions that came up in regards to the upcoming Cloth Wipe Challenge at the end of the month. I'll be getting into some more nitty-gritty fun factoids in a later post.

The whole famdamily issue
If you are dubious about washing cloth wipes for six people in your household, then just try them yourself. No one said you had to drag family and friends into this. In our household, the kids don't use cloth wipes yet as they are too young and we would be spending far more in plumbing bills than we would be saving by having them use cloth.

Maybe when they are a little older and pay more attention to what should and shouldn't go in the toilet we'll have them use cloth. In the meantime, we risk just flushing the benefits down the toilet. So to speak. Anyway, just start small and see how it goes.

Shared bathrooms
If you live with other people who aren't as enthused about it as you, it's a little more difficult, but not undoable. You just need to be a bit more sneaky and run a covert cloth wipe operation. I would suggest going for #1 only - it will be easier to hide. Find a container of some sort and hide it under the sink somewhere. You can always go for some cammo patterned cloth remnants.

Even if someone asks you what it is, it won't be readily obvious what you're doing. Feel free to tell them, or just say you use them for cleaning your armpits or some other misdirection. It won't totally gross them out but it will keep them from fiddling with your wipes.

It's going to create too much laundry
Umm, unless you are repurposing ship's sails in their original size, you won't be generating much laundry. For #1 use for two people, we wash the "pee pads", as my mom calls them, a couple times a week. We just throw them in with the rest of the laundry and they don't take up any more space than a small t-shirt. The water usage and soap is negligible. You'll find you won't need a very big piece to do the job as cloth is way more absorbent than TP.

Why don't you try the "hand and water method"?
By gum, if you've got spunk enough to do that, be my guest. I just have a few words for you: fingernails and fecal matter. Someone brought up the whole drying after the rinse cycle issue and, unless you've got time to air dry, you're ending up using a cloth to dry, no?

Cloth wipes: the set up

So, you are planning on doing (or are fence-straddling) the Cloth Wipe Challenge and you want more details. Well, here's the wipe-up. Or, the wrap-up, whichever you prefer. These are my suggestions.

1. If you are just trying this out as a trial, but aren't convinced you want to do this for more than the week of the challenge, then get some cheap 100% cotton flannel or rip up old sheets or t-shirts and use those. For more details read my doin' it on the cheap post. Otherwise you can buy wipes made especially for this purpose (Google "family wipes").

2. If you plan on using cloth only for #1, get a mesh bag to hang on your TP roll holder or a small container with a lid (those compost pails with the filter work nice too). After you wipe, just throw the used cloth in your receptacle of choice and then launder with your other clothes. You can use a cold water wash if you use the dryer or line dry in the sun. If you're worried about bacteria, wash them in hot water.

3. If you plan on using cloth for #1 and #2, get a small container with a lid (again, the compost pail with filter is nice to keep the stink down). If you are doing a dry pail method, just throw the used wipes in the pail and toss some baking soda in occasionally if smell is an issue.

If you are using a wet pail method, fill the pail with the soak of your choice (tea tree oil, baking soda, etc.) and then throw the used wipes in there. Wash the used cloth in hot water. You can add a vinegar rinse if you like. For more info on cleaning, see my stinky post.

That's pretty much it! Any more questions?

What are you waiting for? Sign up now!

Using cloth - the wipe up

So, you are planning on doing (or are fence-straddling) the Cloth Wipe Challenge and you want more details. Well, here's the wipe-up. Or, the wrap-up, whichever you prefer. These are my suggestions.

1. If you are just trying this out as a trial, but aren't convinced you want to do this for more than two weeks, then get some cheap 100% cotton flannel or rip up old sheets or t-shirts and use those. For more details read my doin' it on the cheap post. Otherwise you can buy wipes made especially for this purpose (Google "family wipes").

2. If you plan on using cloth only for #1, get a mesh bag to hang on your TP roll holder or a small container with a lid (those compost pails with the filter work nice too). After you wipe, just throw the used cloth in your receptacle of choice and then launder with your other clothes. You can use a cold water wash if you use the dryer or line dry in the sun. If you're worried about bacteria, wash them in hot water.

3. If you plan on using cloth for #1 and #2, get a small container with a lid (again, the compost pail with filter is nice to keep the stink down). If you are doing a dry pail method, just throw the used wipes in the pail and toss some baking soda in occasionally if smell is an issue. If you are using a wet pail method, fill the pail with the soak of your choice (tea tree oil, baking soda, etc.) and then throw the used wipes in there. Wash the used cloth in hot water. You can add a vinegar rinse if you like. For more info on cleaning, see my stinky post.

That's pretty much it! Any more questions?

What are you waiting for?

For those of you that just need a little extra enticement, I'm throwing some prizes into the deal. Check back Friday to see what wonderful cloth wipe swag you can win if you take on The Challenge!

Tomorrow I'll be reviewing the benefits of using cloth...

Cloth wipes - uppin' the ante with prizes!

Do you need one last push to doing the Cloth Wipe Challenge? Would some potential prizes help you make the leap to the best wipe you've ever had?

Well, for those people who sign up for the Cloth Wipe Challenge and complete the two weeks (and want to continue), one lucky winner, who shall be randomly selected, will receive their choice of:

Three dozen Wallypop Toilet Wipes - Basic Style in the color(s) of your choice (you can choose three different styles if you like - make sure you check out the wild animal print!)

If you are doing just #1, I can throw in a brand new plastic (machine-washable) mesh bag you can hang on your TP holder.

Now. What are you waiting for again?

[For a great look at how another reader has implemented using cloth wipes, check out this Capturing Today's post.]

Wipe your bum and save the earth

While the 2008 Cloth Wipe Challenge is at a close, that doesn't mean you should stop using your cloth wipes. In fact, if you didn't participate during the challenge here are a few more tidbits that will help convince you to start wiping your bits with something other than toilet paper, or at the very least switch to a more environmentally friendly TP.

According to Charmin, consumers on average use 8.6 sheets per trip to the bathroom. That's a total of 57 sheets per day and an annual total of 20,805 sheets. There are 230 million adults in the U.S., each averaging a roll and a half per week. Since each roll of toilet paper averages about .5 a pound of paper, that's about 40 pounds of TP per year.

That equals 4,600,000 tons of TP used each year. And that's just from adults. To take the calculation even further, if all U.S. adults used only Charmin toilet paper or the like (aka "virgin fiber" with 0% recycled content or post-consumer waste), the environmental cost is approximately (not including the issues with Dioxin):

78.2 million trees

1.35 million tons of air pollution

32 trillion gallons of water

2.1 trillion gallons of oil

18.75 trillion Kilowatt hours of energy

Seems rather ridiculous, no? Just for wiping our butts. Fortunately, not all the toilet paper used is such an environmental disaster. Of course, the higher percentage of recycled paper you use in your toilet paper, the less environmental impact you make.

If you just can't make the switch to cloth toilet paper, at the very least switch to 100% recycled TP. And stay away from Charmin, Cottonelle, Angel Soft and other virgin fiber toilet papers out there.

For those of you who took the cloth challenge, how did it go? Will you continue to use cloth wipes? Did you run into any problems?

New challenge headin' your way!

Since the Cloth Wipe Challenge started off with a bang, but ended with a dud (because I went offline for a while), I'm cooking up a new challenge.

This one should be more accessible to everyone. I am impressed at how many people at least tried out the cloth wipes. I'm convinced that, once you try cloth wipes, you'll be damaged goods - it's hard to go back to forest or recycled paper products.

So, in the spirit of goading you all into doing something you might not normally do, I'll be hosting a brand spanking new challenge, which I will announce on Friday.

This won't be any ordinary, run-of-the-mill, one or two week deal. No, sirree, this is a goin' for broke type of challenge. It just won't involve butts or vaginas (for you squeamish readers out there) and it's something even your grandmother can do.

Also, stay tuned for a new discussion post for the Animal, Vegetable, Miracle book club, next Tuesday, October 23rd.

Potty Talk seminar slides

For those of you who attended my seminar in Eugene titled Potty Talk where I covered recycled toilet paper vs. conventional, using cloth wipes instead of T.P. and using urine as a nitrogen rich plant fertilizer, I've posted the slides up on Scribd.

So, if you want to check them out you can see them here:

Potty Talk

They may not make total sense without having seen the presentation, but you've got them for your viewing pleasure nonetheless.

Note: There are two photos that I use in the slides that I don't reference at the end, one is the cloth wipes picture from Wallypop and the other is a cloth wipe bathroom setup from SortaCrunchy's blog.

Another reason to choose cloth wipes

I was reading some statistics on the New Scientist the other day about toilet paper usage, one of my favorite topics. According to the article, 60 million rolls of toilet paper are flushed away in Europe every day.

You think that's bad? The average American blows through 57 sheets a day. That's six times the global average. So, if you think you are a light user, someone out there is making up for it. In fact, someone out there is hand over fisting toilet paper over their hands and, er, fists.

The bigger (messier?) problem is the fact that, in the U.S., 14.5 million tons of office paper and newspaper will be dumped this decade, despite being ideal for recycling as toilet paper. The benefits of recycled toilet paper are that it consumes 64% less energy and 50% less water and creates 74% less air pollution compared with paper made from virgin wood pulp.

Why are we not using recycled? Demand. Apparently, the biggest obstacle to using recycled paper is our preference for the luxury, multi-ply TP that doesn't leave dingleberries that are apparently plaguing hairy assholes nationwide:



Unfortunately, this problem isn't just contained to western nations (or bears). The use of toilet paper is increasing in China and Africa. What does this mean? More huge amounts of waste being created just to wipe our collective hindquarters. So, use less toilet paper and choose 100% post-consumer recycled toilet paper.

Finally, if you are up for it, choose cloth wipes. The end result is resource conservation and cleaner air. And no dingleberries.

Cloth Wipe Challenge check-in

How's the Cloth Wipe Challenge going for those of you participating? Are you finding it easier or a lot harder than you expected?

I know when I first started out, I felt like I was doing something illicit. Like wiping my ass on the bath towels and not telling anyone. Or picking my nose and wiping it on the carpet. Well, you get the idea. Once you get over that strange feeling of wrongness and embrace the softness of cloth wipes, one can become rather giddy with excitement. Or something like that.

So, how's been your experience? Are you ready to sing from the rooftops, smile secretly to yourself, or give up the wipes?

Interview with Ed Begley, Jr.

I recently watched the entire first season of Living with Ed, thanks to Greg Glass (who has a hand in producing the show and sent me copies on DVD). I have to admit I don't watch much TV. Well, any TV, really.

But this is one of those shows that I would scrape the dust off the remote to watch, mostly because it's funny and the topic is right up my alley. The second season of the show starts its regular weekly time on Monday, August 27th on HGTV. For those of you who've never heard of it, it chronicles Ed Begley's green lifestyle and the conflicts he has with his family over his green choices.

I had the good fortune to get an interview with Ed, submitting my questions along with some of the reader's questions that were entered in last month's contest.

I thoroughly enjoyed his answers - he's heee-larious. I hope you enjoy them as well:

CC: If you could influence all Americans into making one singular change to living a greener life, what would it be?

EB: Get out of your car! One day a month or one day a week take a walk or ride your bike instead of driving. Use public transportation once a month or once a week. Pick another mode of transportation and get out of your car.

CC: What new and exciting things can we expect from Season 2 of your show, Living with Ed?

EB: We’re going OUT of our house this season to meet up with some of my Hollywood friends and acquaintances who are either doing great environmental things or who are looking for my help and advice as they start their own green journey. We’ll check out Larry Hagman’s amazing solar electric system, and I just recently watched Jay Leno install a new high efficiency gas water heater called the VERTEX that is really cool and very efficient We’re also going to visit some regular everyday folks who need help in their homes too…and hopefully help them! It should be fun. We’ll still have a few projects at the Begley home as well…

CC: The show oftentimes exposes some of the differences in thinking with your wife regarding some of your lifestyle choices. A lot of us face similar situations with our spouses and partners when trying to integrate greener changes into our lives. What advice can you give people about getting them on board?

EB: Don’t marry a crazy woman like I did!! No, seriously, everything is a compromise. I think I’m winning her over…over time. She is actually very concerned with the environment and our carbon footprint – she’s just much more interested in form and beauty than I am – I’m more focused on the functionality of things as opposed to what they look like. I’ve learned a lot from Rachelle – our home, our garden – everything looks much better than it did when I was single. There are great compromises out there. In season 2 of the show, you’ll see how Rachelle solves the issue of having more light in our home by using some new skylights…That is a great compromise.

CC: We hear a lot about some of the bigger things you do such as using solar panels, solar cookers, alternative transportation, etc. I want to go out on a limb here and ask you to describe what you do for more, shall we say, personal habits. Have you thought of a composting toilet, using cloth wipes instead of toilet paper? Do you use 100% recycled paper products? Do you hang your clothes out to dry? Or would some of these be a deal breaker with your family?

EB: Composting toilet – no, that would be a family deal breaker.

Cloth wipes – no, that doesn’t sound right for us.

100% recycled paper products – yes, our toilet paper, paper towels and home office paper are all recycled products.

Hang our clothes out? Yes we do – we’re lucky that we live in Southern California where we can do that almost all year round – and we do it a lot. It’s a great way to save on energy.

Some other things I do:

- Gardening – I grow a lot of food on-site – fruits and vegetables

- Water – I try to conserve water any way I can with shorter showers, rain barrels for watering the yard etc. I need to do more!

- Lights – CFLs all around, and shut them off when they’re not in use. I also have a GREEN SWITCH installed in the house that allows us to have a master shut off to all of the programmed outlets, so we can shut down TVs and other things that draw power even when they’re not in use.

CC: You have a book coming out next year. Can you tell us a little about it?

EB: The book is called LIVING LIKE ED and it’s really a summary of my lifestyle from the 1970s to today – all the things that I have done and continue to do to save energy, resources etc. and live a simple and healthy life. There are a lot of ‘green’ how-to books out there, but this book is more about the things that I have done and tested – it’s really from my personal experience. Every story and every tip in the book is something I have done. Hopefully, it can be a book that helps people start that climb up the mountain too. The book also has some humorous stories in it and some comments from my beautiful wife. The book also has a little checklist / workbook section where people can track their progress as they try some of the things that I do. It’s been a lot of fun working on it. It should be out around April 2008.

CC: I recently had a poll on my blog asking people to rate their favorite celebrity environmentalist and you kicked ass against the likes of Robert Redford and Leo DiCaprio. I think it really comes across that you are passionate about your beliefs and that you are willing to put yourself out there in spite of what people think, which is unusual for a celebrity. It seems like you have quite a few celebrity friends who are environmentalists. Of those, which one inspires you the most?

EB: Many celebrities inspire me – but if I had to pick one, it would probably be Darryl Hannah – she has an even smaller carbon footprint than I do. She is really dedicated.

CC: You have the new season of the show and a book coming out next year. What's the next big environmental challenge you'd like to tackle? Either personally or inspirationally?

EB: Well, as I said, I really want to find new ways to conserve water. Southern California just set a record this year for the least amount of rainfall ever! We really need to lower our water consumption. I just installed a new Toro watering system that should save me some water. My next BIG project is to build an underground cistern for storing all of the rainwater runoff from my roof and also to store certain grey water sources from the house. That is a big project I want to tackle this year!

[And now a few questions from my readers:]

CC: What do you hope to do/buy/not use this year to live greener?

EB: Again, the cistern / grey water system is a big one for me that I want to accomplish this year. I recently added a wind turbine to the roof of my garage which should make a few 100 extra watts. I’ve started looking at LED lighting as an eventual replacement for CFLs.

CC: Has "Living with Ed" changed your relationship(s) at home?

EB: Well, I hate Rachelle a little less than I used to because we are getting paid! No, seriously – we are both working very hard to make the show entertaining and it’s brought us closer together than ever. The production crew isn’t too invasive and they are great people to work with. It’s been fun for both of us.

CC: Do you find the show to be a motivator to do even more?

EB: Absolutely! I’ve gone from just thinking about getting rid of Rachelle to actually going out and hiring a hit man! Ok, jokes aside, the show has gotten a lot of my home projects on track – the wind turbine, the skylights, the new Energy Star appliances, the new cotton insulation, the Green Switch energy management system – these are all projects that I focused on getting done knowing that people would want to see how to do it. It’s been a great motivator. And, I think the payback will really put money in my pocket over the next few years. That’s the best part about it.

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Thanks again to Greg Glass for arranging the interview, and to Ed Begley, Jr. for taking the time to answer our questions! (See, this is why he wins the most popular celebrity environmentalist polls.)

Cloth Wipe Challenge Wrap-up

Today wraps up the Cloth Wipe Challenge for 2009 and I know more of you are participating than those who responded to the check-in earlier in the week. For those of you who haven't weighed in yet, now's your chance. Now that you've had a whole week to try it out, what are your thoughts? Will you continue or are you gonna hang up your wipes?

For the rest of you, here's a poll, because we haven't had enough lately!

Would you ever try using cloth wipes?

Cloth Wipe Challenge 2009

Holy smokes, people! I almost forgot to host the cloth wipe challenge for this year. But, lucky for you guys, I remembered just in the nick of time. Whew!

For the last two Septembers I've been hosting a Cloth Wipe Challenge and I'm always impressed by the number of people ready to change the way they wipe. The idea is somewhat daunting at first, but giving up using toilet paper is really not that big a deal.

As for the last two challenges, the rules are quite simple... ya'll already know how to wipe. Now you just need to learn to do it with something more (or less?) traditional. For this challenge, you can choose to use cloth wipes just for #1 (as my family does) or you can go all out and clean up for #2 as well.

I'll be going over the details again this time around but if you want to get a jump start on what to expect, you can read all the posts from the last challenges here (from the 2007 challenge) and here (from the 2008 challenge).

I estimate that we've saved about $360 in toilet paper since we've started using cloth (we normally get the Seventh Generation 100% recycled toilet paper so it's a tad more expensive). We only use it for #1 so the hassle is a lot less, it's a lot more comfortable than TP and we're saving tons of paper products.

Need some convincing?

According to Charmin, consumers on average use 8.6 sheets per trip to the bathroom. That's a total of 57 sheets per day and an annual total of 20,805 sheets. There are 230 million adults in the U.S., each averaging a roll and a half per week. Since each roll of toilet paper averages about .5 a pound of paper, that's about 40 pounds of TP per year.

That equals 4.6 million tons of TP used each year. And that's just from adults. To take the calculation even further, if all U.S. adults used only Charmin toilet paper or the like (aka "virgin fiber" with 0% recycled content or post-consumer waste), the environmental cost is approximately (not including the issues with Dioxin):

78.2 million trees

1.35 million tons of air pollution

32 trillion gallons of water

2.1 trillion gallons of oil

18.75 trillion Kilowatt hours of energy

Seems rather ridiculous, no? Just for wiping our butts? If you are appalled by these numbers, now's your chance to join in with a group of intrepid wipers and make the switch.

This year's challenge will only be a week long, so you have no excuse to not give it a try. To sign up, just add yourself to the comments. I know this is a tough one for you guys - there are a lot of mental and cultural barriers to making the switch, but I guarantee if you just give it a try for #1, you'll be hooked!

If any of last year's participants/converts want to add your encouragement, please do!

Finally, if you aren't interested in the challenge, but you are interested in finding out how people wipe (I know, I ask weird questions), check out this poll.

Sleeping Naked Is Green: Discussion 3

Welcome to the third discussion post of Vanessa Farquharson's book, Sleeping Naked Is Green. For those of you who are just joining us, we are smack dab in the middle of the book. Vanessa is the writer of the green blog, Green as a Thistle and the book summarizes the 366 green changes she made over the course of a year. In this installment we'll be covering the fall chapters.

September: During September, Vanessa stops using toilet paper for #1, stops buying DVDs and rents them instead, switches to eating ethically raised fish, switches to cloth menstrual pads instead of disposable ones and exterminates bugs with eco-friendly solutions. Finally, that slut uses a natural lubricant instead of K-Y and stops using birth control pills.

I see now that she switched to cloth wipes for #1 during my first Cloth Wipe Challenge. I can't remember all the participants that first year since that was the same time my husband was diagnosed and I immediately ended up in a fog for a few months (some might say years).

Anyway, this month Vanessa realizes her relationship with Mark isn't really going anywhere and punts him back to Oregon. This is immediately remediated by a funny interview with hottie, Jake Gyllenhaal, where soul searching questions revolving around pets and cilantro ensue. Life could be a whole lot rougher.

October: In October, our heroine starts working from home twice a week, lowers the temperature on her water heater, starts air-drying all her laundry and switches over a menstrual cup. I totally loved her description of the rotting mass collecting in her now-turned-off freezer. But she never said what she ended up doing with the infestation.

Vanessa had a few issues when first using the DivaCup. Apparently, she has a black hole for a vagina and couldn't retrieve it after first inserting it. But, Vanessa managed to overcome the escape velocity issue and, with a little counseling, she figured it out. Or, rather, got it out, and she was officially a happy convert.

November: November is a little bit light as far as changes go, but she still manages to eek out learning how to sew and mend clothes, knit her own scarves and mittens, ask for only green gifts and make soup broth from scratch.

There were a lot of homey, craft oriented changes this month, which makes sense given the holidays and season. Oh yeah, and given the fact that she bought a house and just about had a nervous breakdown. But, those are minor details, really.

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Random discussion questions:

Would you be brave enough to stop using toilet paper for pee? If so, sign up for this year's Cloth Wipe Challenge (insert shameless plug here).

Do you use an eco-friendly form of birth control?

Do you air dry all or part of your laundry? Even if you live in a small place?

Do you use a menstrual cup, like the Diva Cup (ladies only)?

Do you know how to sew your own clothes and mend them? Or do you tend to just throw them out or donate them?

Related posts:
Sleeping Naked Is Green: Discussion 1 (Spring)
Sleeping Naked Is Green: Discussion 2 (Summer)

GladRags giveaway

If you missed out on last week's LunaPads giveaway, or you didn't win, you have an opportunity at another great giveaway for a set of cloth menstrual pads.

Last week's giveaway was in honor of my preparations for this weekend's seminars at the Eugene Home, Garden and Living show in Oregon. I have two presentations prepared. I'm not sure which ones I will end up giving since there has been some concern about whether or not the content is family-friendly or if I may offend any of the more conservative attendees.

What am I planning on talking about? The first talk I have planned is called Potty Talk and will cover everything you ever wanted to know about switching over to cloth wipes (instead of toilet paper) and using urine as a nitrogen fertilizer. The second talk is called Sex and Sustainability and will cover alternatives in menstrual products, contraception and the chemicals/materials in adult toys.

I'm really hoping to be able to do the Sex and Sustainability talk since I think the information in it is valuable and not at all salacious. Anyway, this second talk will have a show n' tell section at the end with items from what I'm covering: cloth pads, a DivaCup and alternative adult toys. That part will be salacious :)

One of the items I'll have with me will be a sample GladRags pad so people can get an idea of what they look like if they've never seen them before. As such, this week's giveaway is sponsored by GladRags themselves and they have generously offered up this almighty starter set, the Color Pad Sampler Kit, and the winner gets to pick out whatever print they want!

The Pad Sampler Kit contains the following lovelies:

3 Day Pads

3 Pantyliners

1 Night Pad

1 Classic Carry Bag

1 Mesh Laundry Bag

To enter to win this GladRags Set, they ask that, in addition to adding your name to the comments of this post, you comment with something from their site. For example, something new you learned, a product you would most like to try, or a print you like the best.

You have until Saturday, January 23rd, at midnight PST to sign up. I'll announce the winner when I get back next week. Good luck!