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| Sarah Jackson / The Herald (click to enlarge)
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| Matt hangs out with Eco Geek baby, Sam, sporting Seventh Generation disposable diapers. |
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Cut the crap: Let’s talk diapers!
Posted
at
11:25 am
by Sarah Jackson
OK, Eco Geeks: It’s time to discuss diapers.
Dipes play a major role in every parent’s life, and mine, especially during my four months maternity leave, was no different.
What kind of diapers do we use on our Eco Geek baby, Sam?
Well, the answer, I’m happy to say, is both cloth and disposable!
Going into parenthood, my husband, Matt, and I knew we wanted to go with disposables at least at first.
Knowing we would be sleep deprived and a bit stressed with a delicate newborn, we wanted the convenience, and, frankly, I wanted to keep our frequent contact with our son’s wastes, particularly solids, to be as limited as possible.
But I knew I didn’t want to go with mainstream disposables, which come with all sorts of possible problems, not the least of which is the off-gassing of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) such as ethylbenzene.
Though we ended up with all sorts of diapers as gifts — and eagerly tested them along the way — we decided on the Seventh Generation brand, known among my mommy friends as “crunchy diapers” -- so called not only because they come from a more “granola” company, but also because they are literally a bit louder and crispier in texture than their differently processed Pampers counterparts.
I love these diapers.
They don’t seem to leak or blow out any more than other brands such as Pampers Swaddlers and they feel more natural. They’re beige and unscented, not bleached to a blinding white or sprayed with perfume like the other brands, which seem to carry the stench of deodorant tampons.
That said, I feel a little guilty.
Though my eco guru, Umbra Fisk, reports that there is, shockingly, hardly any eco-difference between cloth and dispo dipes, I am always trying to reduce our landfill load.
Unfortunately, our first post-Sam garbage pickup was so heavy with diapers were rebuked by the hauler with a little note saying our can was too heavy and that we would be charged extra if we did it again.
Yikes!
Cloth diapers, on the other hand, require hot water to clean, and with water and energy being two of the biggest ecological issues of our time, it’s easy to see why they might not be squeaky green either.
You can’t win, though you can go diaperless.
Thanks to our day-care center, however, Matt and I are enjoying the best of both worlds. We were delighted to find out that if we provided five cloth diaper wraps, we would be entitled to FREE cloth diaper service as part of our tuition. All we have to do is launder the wraps.
After discovering an incredible array of cool wraps and cloth dipes, ranging from basic to bamboo, I chose wraps by the totally groovy peeps at Bum Genius. They’re not the cheapest (I paid about $18 each), but they are easy to use (thanks to Velcro) and include snaps that allow them to expand from a newborn fit to a size big enough for a 35-pound tot!
Yay.
That means Sam wears cloth during work hours and, by night, he’s in crunchies.
Do you use cloth or disposable? How well do they work? What brands do you recommend?
Write me here to share your thoughts or — better yet — comment below and start a broader conversation everyone can enjoy.
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