A quick prologue here: I realize it will be tempting to comment on this post with a simple, "Yes. Yes, it is." Resist that temptation, or risk having your comment deleted by the administrator (that's me). I'm looking for something a little more thoughtful, despite the forbidden yes/no-question title.
The wife and I have recently discovered that there's a whole lot of crap out there for babies. Mostly plastic crap.
Crap for them to sit in, sleep in, ride in, drink out of, eat out of, pee in, vomit on, swing from, make noise with, chew on, and of course crap for them to crap in. I shouldn't really say we've "discovered" this abundance, because we kind of already knew about it. We had been to stores before and seen much of this crap in passing, but the reality sank in hard when we recently visited an area megalo-store (whose name started with a "Tar" in case anyone is wondering) to begin creating a baby gift registry.
Apparently some kind, generous people whom we know and in some cases share DNA markers with are planning to buy gifts for us to be used for the baby's benefit. (In reality, probably just a few of them are kind and generous, while many others will feel obligated by some ancient tribal tradition to buy tiny baby outfits by the case-full, complete with cute shoes that the child will never wear. Regardless, the point is: we'll get stuff.)
So, to help them select this stuff to get us... well, we select it for them, walking around the store(s) with a little barcode-scanning gun to compile an electronic list.
The point of all my rambling is that we, as first-time parents and wanna-be environmentalists, had no idea how to distinguish the stuff that we'll really need from the stuff that Gerber just really wants to sell us. (Good environmentalists don't buy stuff just because Gerber tells them to.)
Meaghan did find several articles on the Internet on the subject --- the general theme of which was the baby mostly just wants to eat, sleep and be loved, so don't stress about the stuff. It was morale-boosting advice, but didn't really get us any closer to deciding whether to buy one car seat with two snap-on bases (one for each car), or two car seats, or a car seat-stroller "travel system", or a car seat that's adjustable for all stages of baby-toddler-young childhood.
The good news is -- and this is the uber-dorky variety of excitement of which you were warned -- we have found an earth-friendly alternative in the diaper category that I can feel really good about as a parent-to-be. (Do I need to stick the word "advertisement" in tiny print at the top of this post? Cause that last sentence sounded like one of those "advertorial" letters in a cheap magazine -- you know, you get halfway through the letter and then realize it's about how some nutritional supplement changed this woman's life and saved her marriage.)
We have decided we're going to use gDiapers. (Cue the dramatic music.)
This crowd can immediately see the problem with standard disposable diapers, I'm sure. You do an awful lot of disposing, not to mention the ills of the plastic manufacturing process. I read that diapers are something like the No. 3 single largest contributor to U.S. landfill waste, an annual dump of 3.5 million tons of poop and plastic (but that came from the gDiapers website, so the data might be skewed for impact).
gDiapers look to be an excellent alternative to the disposables (says the guy who really has no idea how much work this whole diapering process will require). As explained on the website, though, it looks like the changing process is not much different from disposables.
The gDiapers are outer cotton pants, with an inner protective liner and then a refill liner. The refill liner is meant to catch all the pee and poop, in most cases. (Sometimes there's leakage or squishing, as with any diaper. A gross truth of child-rearing that I somehow already know.)
So at each changing, you just tear out the refill liner and flush it down your toilet. The main liner stays put (unless there was leakage or squishing) and you just put in a new refill liner. You wash the outer pants and main liner as needed; the frequency of washings will depend on how many pairs of the pants you have.
There's nothing to throw away! It's fantastic! It's earth-friendly. It's... it's... greentastic!
OK, calming down...
The refill liners actually are made of fluffed wood pulp with some standard absorbent material, so they can be flushed or thrown away if you've got old plumbing that gets clogged easily. We'll see what works at our place, which does have old plumbing, I'm afraid. But, even if you do have to throw the refills away, they're biodegradable, so much so that you can actually compost the wet ones in your own home compost pile. (Not the poopy ones. Don't compost the poop of any being that eats meat or dairy.)
Not only do we escape the guilt of producing a lot of waste this way (and hopefully keep a lot of stink out of our trash cans), but the materials are safer for baby's health. No plastic, no bleaching used in manufacturing, and so on.
I suspect these gDiapers will end up costing us a little more than disposables, but probably not much more in the long run, since the flushable refill liners are the only piece that we'll have to keep buying over and over. The cotton pants seems somewhat expensive, at $17 to $19 a pair, although we can get a little break by buying the "starter kit".
Regardless, the cost won't be exorbitant (any more so than other diaper options) and I'm happy to be going with this option. I hope the concept will catch on quickly in the U.S. Apparently gDiapers originated in Australia, where they're already fairly popular.
It will be great peace of mind for me that Mickey, my environmental conscience, won't be scolding me in my head every time I change a diaper.
So, if you come across any other marvelous green innovations (how about greenovations? yes? no?) in baby-raising equipment, send them my way.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
Those gdiapers are very cool! I have zippity do da in the way of green advice though, but thanks for sharing the greenovation!
There's also compostable, biodegradable Nature Baby Care diapers that are just making their way to the US. They're a good option for traveling or when you have a babysitter. But they also make a ton of other natural baby products.
Hi Chris
I'm really happy that your post focused on this green alternative. i read recently that cloth diapers are really not a good solution for the environment because of the energy required for washing them (and drying, if you do the dryer thing).
In my exeperience with babies in Africa, one of whom spent a great deal of time strapped to my back while her mom took care of her 9 siblings, they really-really-really don't need much. But the registering part would still be fun for me!
I'm pretty excited about these diapers as well. I just found out this morning, though, that Chris doesn't recall ever having changed a diaper. So I, who has changed many a diaper, will possibly be doing more comparison, but I am devoted to not making our planet so much worse because we are having a baby. Plus, they are supposedly more breathable and help prevent diaper rash. I'm also planning on registering for Method products for baby.
Are we starting a green revolution??? Probably not...
My friends that had a baby a year or so ago specifically requested on their baby shower invites that all toys and clothes be natural fibers (wood toys, cotton/hemp clothes/toys, etc.) I think it made their invitees a little more conscience about what they bought and put some thought into it.
That's so cool! My mind boggles at how many diapers must be in our landfills. I'm glad there is a more eco-friendly option out there and that you found it.
If you're looking for other green suggestions (and you're probably not, but hell, I'm going to give you one anyway), I recently read that cotton is the most pesticide-laden stuff on the market. Basically every time you wear a cotton shirt, your skin is absorbing all the nasty chemicals in it - and what's worse, they go directly into your bloodstream without the benefit of being filtered by your liver. You can avoid this by buying certified organic cotton clothing. There are a lot of web sites out there that sell them. It's really made me think about the clothes I buy.
I am seriously impressed, man.
I'd never heard of these and yet it seems like such a fantastic solution! No plastic!
All this talk of baby poop makes me want to go wash my hands, though.
Get the carseat with the two bases. You'll have to buy two carseats at least over the course of the kid's life anyways. Also, make sure the carseat has a latch system. Those make installing so much easier. In fact, if you get the latch system, you don't even need a second base. I'm pretty sure your car is new enough to come with the latch system that has been standard since the 90s.
Our newborn seat was nice. The base could stay in the car, and the seat popped free with a pull on a level on the base to serve as a carrier. The actual seat (that we had to switch over to by the time he was 8 months) doesn't even have a base, but it takes all of thirty seconds to transfer between cars.
The infant seat was a Graco Travel System and the current one is a Britax Marathon. We were happy with both of them. I'd get a second base for the Graco version just because it will save you a little time because you just drop the carrier into the base and it locks in. If you get the Graco stroller, the carrier also snaps into that because the baby is too small for the stroller to start with.
My only concern with the diapers is whether or not your day care provider is going to be willing to use the gDiapers. I've got a feeling your kid may very well be the only tyke running around in those in most daycares, unless Meaghan is planning on staying home for the two years it takes for potty training or you're going to squeeze work in between feedings and changings since you already work from home.
That and how many would you need? I'd imagine a daycare person would want to keep several backups of the cotton pants and reusable liners in case of leakage. I don't know how bad these are to leak off of the flushable liner, but even the best diapers tend to leak with heavier loads or when the baby is starting to be in between sizes. Then you'd need at least one for every day of the week, I'd think, but I could be wrong.
I'm not saying they're a bad idea. I like the idea. I'm just offering up issues that I'm sure you've already thought about. I really hope there a tab or something to help pull out the dirty liner without having to the dirty part. That would be gross.
Oh and they're going to pee through whatever you give them to sleep in. Once Evan started sleeping through the night we had to get special thicker overnight diapers and he'll even leak through those from overfilling them some nights.
Yes, yes it is.
I don't know how to post links, so I will tell you that you can search '10 worst science jobs' on MSNBC if you wish to find the article yourself. I will post it below if you're lazy like me.
Should you wish to not have to read for yourself, I will summarize: An archaeologist studying modern garbage has said that diapers account for only 2% of landfill waste. Could be worse. Here is the article:
No. 4: Garbologist
Think Indiana Jones—in a Dumpster
Archaeologists usually pick through ancient garbage. But William Rathje of Stanford University won't wait. Since 1973 the self-termed "garbologist" has sifted through at least 250,000 pounds of refuse to analyze modern consumption patterns and how quickly waste breaks down. He typically drills 15 to 20 "wells" to the bottom of a landfill, some 90 feet deep, and pulls 20 to 30 tons of material from each well, which he and his students then catalog. What he's learned: Dirty diapers make up less than 2 percent of landfills, while paper accounts for 45 percent. Hot dogs can last up to 24 years in a dump, and there is a correlation between cat ownership (litter) and National Enquirer readers (discarded copies). Rathje looks at other trash, too. One project involved scouring garbage cans in Tucson, Arizona, cataloging candy wrappers and used dental floss, toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes to compare survey claims about dental health with reality. The conclusion: There's far more junk out there than ways to get it off your teeth.
Interesting info about the landfills, Julie. (So I won't punish you for your first comment.)
I have read that it makes little difference whether the stuff you throw in landfills is biodegradable, because landfills are so stupidly managed that pretty much nothing biodegrades there. I don't know how accurate it is, but another point to consider, nonetheless
We have wondered about how a babysitter/ daycare will respond to the gDiapers, Jacob. Our goal is to find a more personalized babysitter setting (someone who's personally recommended who watches only two or three children in their home), so hopefully a person like that would be more receptive to the idea.
I had not thought about having to pull out the poopy liner. I hope the company has thought of your tab idea.
Yay! I brought up a valid point you hadn't already thought of!
And the thing about landfills and biodegradability can be true. A lot of stuff in a land fill can be protected from air and water. They've found meat (highly biodegradable) that hadn't decomposed years after being buried.
I actually just read a comment on another blog about Tushies, which is a gel-free disposable diaper. Apparently the bad-in-landfills part of a diaper is the gel, and gdiapers aren't gel-free.
I don't use either (nor do I cloth diaper), for the record, so I am definitely NOT an expert - but I think if you're interested in this type of diapering, you should look into the tushies as well.
Post a Comment