The fact that a diaper takes about 500 years before it breaks down is a shocking fact. So, the shift of consciousness by a new politician, living in ‘yogi Santa Monica’ and my responsibility to ‘green living’, contributed to a long search to the perfect diaper. A search that lead to different obstacles. The first conscious diaper I started with was the cotton diaper. Although I admire mom’s who wash the cotton diaper by themselves, I chose to use the Pasadena diaper service: once per week they drop off about 80 diapers and then pick up the dirty diapers. Since they are the only diaper service in the Los Angeles area, it was not a difficult choice.
Unfortunately, they use chlorine to clean the diapers. There are no diaper services in this county that uses organic, natural detergent. For the outer part of the diaper, I needed to do my first big search. The choices are polyester, wool or (organic) cotton. Although wool does breathe well, I chose for organic cotton. A few companies offer this, although the price is high (about $20 per outer part). Unfortunately, after two months of several challenges with the cotton diapers, I chose to discontinue for now. The laundry machine had to run too often (which is not ‘green’ either), because I had to change my baby about three times per day: The outer part was leaking most of the times. However, I loved the fact that my baby could wear plain cotton, and did not have any diaper rashes.
Gdiapers offers a nice alternative. They are high in price, but they offer a starter skit that contains about 10 diapers and 2 training pants. Gdiapers state they are made of biodegradable materials. You can either flush, compost or just throw the diaper away. If you choose to flush, you have to pull the diaper apart, put it in the toilet, stir with a plastic stick, and the diaper will go into the sewage. If you choose to simply put it in the trash your diaper should be history after about 150 days.Well, since Gdiapers already was above my budget, it was not a very sad fact that this diaper was not a success. The diaper just did not hold much for him.Then what? What else was there? Except for the 7thgeneration diapers, which does not contain chlorine and are much ‘healthier’ then the regular diapers, these diapers would still stay in the landfills for about 500 years. Target gave the solution: A Swedish mommy invented Nature Baby care Eco friendly diapers. These diapers are made of recycled materials, and the package and diaper are made of biodegradable materials. Unfortunately, it turns out that this only count for the liner and the plastic. I did order 4 packs (about 136 diapers for $41 plus shipping), Size 2. The advantage is of course the ‘green’ side of it, and that it absorbs well. They are not bulky either, so they do not take up much space in mother earth. The downsides are that the material is a bit rough and the Velcro does not attach well on both sides. Also, you have to be careful with the size, since they fit a bit small. Although this is my first choice diaper for now, I know the search is not over. If you like to read more about the ‘green diaper’, and some interesting facts confirmed by several diaper companies, I want to refer to Green Diapers Review.
At the end, you do what you think is best. If you can afford it, why wouldn’t you make that change in your babies’ future green world?
