No More Disposable Bedding!

So, Friday we made the decision to stop using disposable bedding with Elvi for a number of reasons. The Carefresh is super expensive, and not compostable. Wood chips/shavings are not good for guinea pigs, and also are pretty expensive in the long run. We’ve done a lot of reading and research (when I say “we’ve done,” I mean that “I’ve done”- Scott’s just trusting me at this point) and it seems like fleece is not only less expensive in the long run, it is also better for the little piggies than wood shavings and is better for the environment than any other disposable option. After reading hundreds of articles, blog entrys, and message board threads I came up with our plan. We are using several layers of towels for the absorbent bottom layer of her cage, then one layer of fleece on top. I found the towels at goodwill, they had of old towels for $2.99 a big bundle. So I bought a couple of bundles. I found the fleece on sale for 50% off at a fabric store, I ended up buying 6 yards of it. . .which is really way too much. . .but hey, at least we are prepared. So we now have enough towels and fleece (which we cut up to fit the bottom of her cage) to last us a couple of weeks before we have to wash it. Saves on doing laundry! Scott placed the towels in so we could change out the towels in her most used area more often. I washed the fleece in hot water with Tide Free detergent and white vinegar and rinsed it twice. This is supposed to help with the wicking aspect of the fleece. It has been three days now, we changed the towel in the “heavy traffic” area and the fleece really is staying dry. So the initial expense of the fleece and towels was around $25 dollars, but when I just spent $20 a couple weeks ago on a bag of Carefresh (and that was on sale), I remember why it’s all worth it! Elvi has a relatively small cage, and spends a lot of her time on the floor in a huge “piggie pen.” She is litter trained and only uses a small box when she needs to. . .do her business, so we don’t need to cover the whole area in towels and fleece, which is very nice. Elvi seems to really like the fleece and does not chew on it or anything naughty, and I personally think she really enjoys the animal prints I picked out (she’s kind of a diva). Fleece is definitely Elvi approved. No more wasting money on disposable bedding and now we are also being more green. We all win on this one!