I wanted to get another mom’s perspective on this challenge. So Elizabeth from Mothering from the Maelstrom agreed to swap Guest Posts with me during this week. Here’s her take on why she’s doing this challenge.

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The long, hard winter is over. No more shoveling the driveway, no more bundling kids in ten layers of fleece and goretex just to go to the grocery store. What’s a free-range mama to do? Since I never like to let life get too easy, now I’m in the thick of participating in the Flats and Handwashing Challenge issued by DirtyDiaperLaundry.com. The challenge: Use only flat diapers and only handwash them for one week.

This news story inspired the challenge and is inspirational to me as well.

Up to this point, most social service agencies and programs to help needy families have turned away from cloth diapers. The most often cited problem is that needy families often have limited access to washing machines and laundromats are expensive.

Fair enough. Our new washing machine was purchased specifically for its multiple settings that come in handy for washing cloth diapers. A luxury indeed. But there must be a better way than letting your child sit in a dirty diaper until it has swelled to its breaking point, or setting a urine soaked diaper out to dry and reuse. And there is: it’s called flat diapers.

So while washing machines may be in short supply for low-income families, access to water usually isn’t, at least here in the land of 10,000+ lakes. And people have been washing things for thousands of years without washing machines, it’s just that lately we’ve kind of forgotten how.

I can certainly use a refresher course on handwashing, so I am rising to the challenge.

And because I like to make things difficult for myself (that’s why I had four kids dontcha know), I’ve added a twist to my personal flats and handwashing challenge. Not everyone has access to fancy diaper stores or the internet to get their flat diapers and covers. Most people though, have access to a Walmart. So I am diapering my baby and bewetting preschooler for one week purely on products purchased at my local Walmart. Usually I avoid going into Walmart because the sound of the corporate giant grinding my bones to make his proverbial bread hurts my ears, but the fact remains that they are CHEAP and they are EVERYWHERE. So if cloth diapering success can start at Walmart, it makes it that much more accessible to families around the globe.

 The challenge runs May 23rd to May 30th and includes Memorial weekend when we’ll be going on a camping trip. Which is just fine with me because flat diapers are my camping diaper of choice anyways.

Few sights warm a green mama’s heart like flat cloth diapers fluttering like little cotton prayer flags in the woods.

Bio: Elizabeth Wickoren is a holistic parenting guru and free-range mama of four. She enjoys reading, quantum physics, and collaborating with local businesses and media to educate the public about holistic parenting. When the media doesn’t have time to listen to her babble, she babbles to herself over at her blog, Mothering From The Maelstrom.

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Thanks, Elizabeth!

Why are you doing the challenge? And how did you build your stash for this week?