Green for the Green-Cloth Napkins

As I've mentioned in my other Green for the Green posts, most of the "green" things that happen in this household are all about saving cash. Sometimes it's for moral reasons. Sometimes it's for our health. But nine times out of 10-it's the pennies that I'm trying to pinch. 

Cloth napkins fall squarely into that category. With a little bit of "saving the environment" thrown in there too.

One way I try to save money is to not buy things that are just going to be thrown away. Diapers Wet wipes. Napkins. Paper Towels. A bulk package of paper towels costs $12 at my local Walmart. Twelve bucks! And yeah-it's a lot of paper towels. But it's still too much money. And you can't buy the really cheap ones. No paper towel is better than than a crappy paper towel.

We had a collection of eight store-bought cloth napkins, but when Hannah started eating solids we quickly realized that wouldn't be enough. We had two rolls of paper towels still in the cabinet from our pre-cloth days. (We would use them occasionally to soak up the grease from bacon. We love our bacon.) But we soon found ourselves grabbing for a paper towel to wipe down Hannah's hands and face.

When we ran out of paper towels, I refused to buy more. I'm keeping my twelve bucks and spending it on something better, like more bacon. Thankyouverymuch!

I originally got the idea to start using cloth napkins from this frugal friend. Then I got the idea of making them myself from this crafty gal. And I got the idea to use old t-shirts that were destined for Goodwill from this creative genius.

I just cut up the old t-shirts with pinking sheers (to prevent fray-although jersey doesn't really fray anyway) and threw them in the drawer. And it took me less time than it took Hannah to take a crappy nap!

21 napkins.

0 dollars.

We still have the store bought ones for when company comes over. We're not total cheapos ;)

And you know what? We kinda like our bacon greasy.