It IS Easy Being Green

When I first had Sonya, almost 5 years ago (really?), the question of cloth or disposable diapers came up.  Well, there wasn't really much of a question for me.  I was going disposable.  NOBODY I knew used cloth anymore and if you did you used a diaper service.  That would be just as, if not more, expensive than the disposable.  As far as environment, people who had done research on both told me it was really a toss up, because of the chemicals and water needed to clean the cloth ones.  Besides who wanted to deal with pins and rubber pants?  NO THANK YOU.  I will wrap up the poop up, throw it away, and never think of it again.  Except that after having three kids, I did start to think about it.  I started thinking about the contribution just MY girls were making to the landfills out there.  I know how many diapers we throw away in just one day, and I can imagine the Dadekian family has a mountain of crap out there not decomposing.  Just in diapers I mean.

I first started thinking about it over a year ago, before I had Georgia.  My sister, Beth, switched over to cloth for environment and cost reasons.  She was going to clean them herself, thereby saving money with no diaper service.  She sent me all the info on it and I took a half hearted look at it, but thought there was no way I was doing this.  I was still trying to figure out the logistics of taking care of three kids by myself all day long. Not to mention all the extra laundry I was going to accrue with the addition of the newest member.  The idea of washing diapers on top of that would have had me throwing myself into the next California wildfire.  I just needed to deal with having a newborn, a toddler, and a preschooler, and maybe I'd think about saving the environment another time.  Plus, again, the idea of folding diapers with pins and rubber pants, still wasn't appealing to me.  Huggies were so much simpler.  

Then my good friend BethAnnDoddKoehn came to visit.  And yes, I say her name as all one word like that.  Well, it used to just be BethAnnDodd, but then she had to go and get married, so I had to add the Koehn.  

ANYWAY-she told me a few months ago she switched to cloth for monetary reasons.  I found this surprising, because Beth, like me, is about ease of use.  This did not seem the case with cloth diapers, right?  Then I saw them.  The most fantastic cutest, bestest, awesomest thing to ever be put on a baby's butt.  They're diapers by a company called bum genius and they're FANTASTIC.  I'm so not kidding about this.  When she showed them to me I was sold immediately.  See, my sister didn't have these kind.  I didn't even know they MADE them like this.  They're fashioned just like the disposable diaper, except you can wash them.  They have inserts if you need extra absorbency for night and, get this, they have this liner you put in them to catch the poop that you can FLUSH DOWN THE TOILET!!!  So they're not even that gross to wash.  You do have to use a different kind of laundry detergent other than a regular one like, Tide.  One that is actually better for the environment and biodegradable, so we're switching over to that for all our clothes.  EVEN BETTER!!  So now all my washing is environmentally friendly, well except for all the water usage, but we do have a high efficiency washer, so that helps.  Look at us caring about the environment!!  

Yes, the diapers are on the expensive side, but I compared the costs and in the long run, we will be saving money.  We have Georgia in diapers for at least another year and a half, and who knows when Lana will potty train, so she's using them also.  They come in cute colors too, which is my favorite part, and Lana likes to pick out what color she wants to wear.  They are a little more bulky than the disposable kind, but that's okay it just looks like my "babies got back".  

Georgia doesn't really notice a difference and could care less.  Lana noticed a bit more and the first day she wanted me to change her into a disposable diaper so she could poop.  I guess the cloth felt more like underwear.  After I assured her that she could poop in them she looked t me like, "okay great, I'll let you know when I'm done with this one." Then she ran off to a corner by herself.  

 I've only got six right now, because I wanted to try them out first, but the rest should be coming next week.  They wash really well too.  I'm telling you they are fanfreakingtastic!  I think anyone out there who has a baby in diapers for a while, pregnant or planning to get pregnant should check it out.  Go to Cottonbabies.com and you can find out all about cloth diapering, including ordering the bum genius kind which, if you're like me and all about the ease of use, I highly recommend.  

I'm sure I'll still use the disposable ones for longer trips or vacations, things like that, mostly because I won't be near a washer to clean up the dirty ones.  In the meantime, I feel good that at least I'm doing something to keep that mound of Dadekian diapers we have out there from toppling over into the next generation.  

PS-Thanks to Beth and Beth for converting me and doing all the research.  If I can get just one person to switch and that person gets one person and that person gets one person...If we could only get Angelina to use them and have it in US Magazine, I'm pretty sure the entire country would switch.