So, the newest thing that Kim and I are trying to work through is our diaper philosophy. I imagine (as with most things in our lives) this would have been a much easier decision for us 2 or 3 years ago.
Back then we would have started stockpiling Huggies disposable diapers during our trips to Wal-Mart, and planning diaper showers where you all gave us even more. We’d register for or buy a Diaper Genie to dispose of the smelly little fecal bombs with just the twist of a knob. Then once a week the bags would be picked up with all our other garbage and go here.
And therein lies the new rub. We recycle when we can, and hope to get much better about it in our new home. But some things just have to be thrown away; some things have to go to the landfill. But on average, a baby will go through 6,000 disposable diapers in the first 2 ½ years of its life (the normal time kids become potty trained). That’s a lot of diapers and waste in landfills (somewhere around 2 tons as a matter of fact). Disposable diapers make up the 3rd largest single consumer item at dumps – following newspapers and beverage containers. They account for nearly 4% of the total amount of solid waste, and 30% of the non-biodegradable waste. It takes 500 years for one disposable diaper to decompose, and I haven’t even talked about the chemicals that are slowly released into the soil by the diapers as they decompose! And the manufacturing process for disposable diapers is also troubling, think of the amount of trees cut down and chemicals used to make brand new diapers that will be in landfills within months.
So, what are our other options? Well, they run the gamut from fairly easy but more expensive to very complicated but less expensive. We know of 3 viable options (one of which has a subcategory):
1 – environmentally friendlier disposable diapers. Several companies (like Seventh Generation) make disposable diapers without the grosser dyes and chemicals that leak into the ground. They are also made of as much post consumer recycled material as possible. These diapers function and are disposed of just like normal disposables, but are a little more expensive.
2 – hybrid diapers composed of reusable and disposable elements. The one we know the most about is G Diapers. These diapers have a plastic or cloth outer layer that can be washed or reused and a disposable inner part that actually gets flushed down the toilet just like grown ups’ waste. These are even more expensive than the green disposable diapers, but you spend about the same money (or less) in the long run because you keep the outer layers.
3 – cloth diapers. These make the most sense in every way except for ease of use. Cloth diapers have come a long way from the kinds most of you are aware of. Some companies make Velcro or snapping outer covers to cover basic cloth diapers, and others make one piece reusable cloth diapers that fit and work just like disposable ones. We’ve learned a lot from Cotton Babies. This is the category with the subset, because there are amazing diaper services that I like to refer to as “The Netflix of Poopy Diapers.” There are 3 different companies in
Cloth diapers would save us money in the long run because children are potty trained earlier. They cause next to no environmental problems (we’d be as efficient as possible with water and laundering them). And we get to reuse materials over and over instead of adding new trash to the world. BUT…they are much more complicated, especially if we tried owning our own cloth diapers and laundering them ourselves. And we’re not real sure what you do when you are traveling or away from home for a while. Maybe using mainly cloth diapers but keeping some disposables handy at all times makes the most sense.
What do you all think? What's the ebst way to go? Are we being silly for even considering this? Some people have told us the hassle isn't worth it. Others are militant about not using disposables. We're kind of indifferent at this point, but want to think about these things while we still have the time.
There haven’t been a ton of comments on this site so far, but this topic is definitely “ripe” for some interaction from you all.
4 comments:
i have thought about this a lot lately in thoughts of future babies. i dont know the answer, but i do know that matt and melody lumpkin use cotton babies and i think they like it. i imagine that once you get used to them they wont be so complicated. good luck and i appreciate your willingness to not just settle for disposable diapers.
I totally understand your dilemma. I think that if your 100%committed to doing cloth diapers from the beginning, it might work. Then you wouldn't know any different...exept for when your traveling and use disposeables. I think most of us parents fall for the convenience and money-saving aspects of disposeable diapers. I sometimes switch back and forth between cheaper disposeables and Seventh Generation disposeables so that I'm helping out the environment some.
We went back and forth, too, until we found the gDiapers. These also solve the problem of human fecal matter in landfills, which is also extremely dangerous. I'm excited about them (well, as excited as you can be about diapers!), and we'll let you guys know how they go!
Yup, I thought about cloth diapers - but then got totally overwhelmed with all the baby stuff and didn't think I had time to figure out the whole system. So we came down to doing the Seventh Generation diapers. And then we discovered cheap store brand. We totally sold out. But, if you're kid is like our kid after the first couple of weeks and only pooped every third day, then cloth diapers would be a snap!
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