Day 1: A Dirty Laundry Room

Ok, this is something that is found in nearly every house I'm sure, but ours is made much more so by the addition of nearly 200 washcloth-sized towels needing to be washed every day.

Every cow comes in the parlor, needing to have her udder cleaned before the milking machine is attached.  We do our best to keep the barn as clean as possible, but they are cows, and they do get dirty.  We use towels, one for each cow, each milking (hence the nearly 200 towels - 100 cows twice a day).  These towels must be washed before being used again, creating the buildup in the laundry room.  We used to use disposable paper towels (just like the brown paper towels in most school washrooms), but we found that not only do these create less trash, but they are cheaper because they last longer, and they are nicer (aka softer) for the cows.  A box of towels will last us about 5 years.  We demote old towels to rags or wrappings for injured cows' feet, so nothing goes to waste.

We work hard to make sure that the milk you drink is as clean as possible as it leaves the cow, regardless of the udder mess it makes of our laundry room.

(The brown wall color was a conscience choice for this room!)    

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