Great Excrementations

As I mentioned last week, this week's blog post is going to be about cloth diapers. I wanted to write about cloth diapers not because I'm determined to convert every disposable diaper user to cloth, but because I think there's a lot of misinformation out there, and frankly, a lot of fear about cloth diapering. I can't really tell you why I chose to use cloth diapers, I guess it's just something I'd always been open to and when I started researching cloth diapers I couldn't find anything to sway me to disposables. There are three common concerns people bring up about cloth diapering: cost, ease of use and environmental.  I'll address each one separately and then next week I'll write up a guide on the different options there are for cloth diapering.

Cost

This one's a no-brainer. Cloth diapers are way cheaper than disposables. Over the course of three years, disposable diapers and accessories will run you just over $3000. The most expensive cloth diapering system, plus the cost of accessories and the cost of home laundering will cost you around $1700. Keep in mind that that's for the most expensive cloth diapering system. I have spent a total of about $700 on cloth diapers that will last Daphne through all her diaper years and that includes superfluous purchases and impulse buys. If money isn't a concern, you can use a cloth diapering service, they deliver, pick-up and wash your diapers for you and they end up costing about as much or a little more than disposables. They're the most environmentally friendly option for sure.

Another issue people have is that cloth diapering comes with a high upfront cost vs. disposables. This is true; however, you don't have to buy all your diapers at once and you can plan ahead and make purchases monthly or weekly during your pregnancy. If you already have a baby or are really tight on cash, an inexpensive way to get into cloth diapering is to look on places like craigslist, where people sell new and used cloth diapers all the time and they're usually really well cared for so you don't have to worry about sanitation issues or excessive wear. I got the steal of the century when I found 20 bumGenius diapers for $80 - all I had to do was replace the elastics (thanks, Peggy!)

Ease of use

Also a no-brainer, cloth diapers are just as easy to use as disposables. Unless you're using the same cloth diapers your parents used on you, there are no safety pins required. Most of them go on just like disposables and they don't leak any more or less than disposables (no diaper is 100 % leak-proof).

As for laundering, it'll take you more time to get dressed, go out and buy disposables than it will to do a load of cloth diapers. For me, the most annoying thing about doing laundry is the folding, and there's very little folding (if any) required when using cloth. You just pop your diapers in the wash, run a rinse cycle, run a wash cycle and then dry, that's it.

But what about the poop? I know you're thinking it. There are a few ways to tackle this. For exclusively breast-fed babies, you don't need to do anything, you can wash your poopy diapers along with your wet ones as breast-fed poop is completely water-soluble. Once your baby is on solids or is formula-fed you can buy disposable liners that allow you to just drop the poop into the toilet and flush. You can do this with reusable liners too; just be sure to hold onto the liner when dropping your baby's latest creation. Some people use these diaper sprayers as they bypass the need for liners. We have one but Dave hasn't gotten around to installing it yet, so I can't comment on it's ease of use. (That's a hint, Dave!)

I really can't stress enough how easy these things are. And keep in mind that this is coming from me, the queen of laziness. If I* can do it, anyone can, trust me*.


*read: Dave
*ibid

Environmental

I have a secret to tell you: when it comes to decisions the environment rarely enters my train of thought. I know, shoot me now, but it's true. I very rarely make choices because they help the environment, yet most of my decisions result in me being quite environmentally friendly, does that make sense? What I'm getting at is you don't have to be a tree-hugger to know that most of the time the most environmentally friendly choice is also the best choice for a number of other reasons too. Cloth diapers are a perfect example of this. I chose them primarily because of cost - we're poor, so we needed a cheap solution. I also think they're way cuter than disposables and for me, aesthetics are important (funny coming from someone whose daily look consists of track pants, a t-shirt, frizzy hair and a no make-up face, but hey, I don't have to look at me, you* do*). Those two reasons helped me make a decision that benefited the environment, I call that a pretty awesome bonus!


*read: Dave
*does

Most people who argue against the use of cloth diapers will inevitably say "Yeah, but are they really better for the environment? You are using a lot of extra water and energy to clean them." Here's how I see it: The earth is 70 % water, I don't know what percentage of land we're using for landfills, but what I do know is that our biggest landfill is in the Pacific Ocean. When you factor in the fact that disposable diapers are our third largest source of waste, I have a sneaking suspicion that disposables are doing more harm to our water and aquatic life than doing 2-3 extra loads of laundry/week. The manufacturing alone of disposable diapers uses way more water and energy than the production of cloth diapers. When you consider that most people have upgraded to energy efficient washers and dryers cloth diapers definitely use less energy than disposables, and contribute way less to our already crowded landfills. Plus, with each subsequent child you'd be able to reuse the same cloth diapers, which is definitely better for the environment. Remember: reduce, reuse, recycle!

There are many other reasons why cloth diapers are better for the environment and your baby; a quick google search will yield plenty of results. I could go on, however this post is intended to provide a basic understanding of cloth diapers and is not a tome on the environmental impact of disposable diapers vs. cloth.

That's about it for now. If this post has piqued your interest in the world of cloth diapering be sure to check in next week for some more info. Otherwise, I'll be back with some sort of silly Daphne post in a couple weeks...she's bound to get into a little trouble between now and then, right?