Update!

I've decided to expand this blog to include some personal posts.  Not every post will focus on ecothriftiness, but I'll try to keep any new info I learn circulating through this blog.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Cloth Diapering

Well, I almost fell out when I recently found out that our disposable diapers take 500 years to biodegrade.  I mean, I thought that with all the new fangled gel and paper linings our generation's diapers were better than those our parents!  I sat my husband (a materials engineer) and his colleague (who is getting a freakin' Ph.D in materials science) why no one is selling a mass-produced biodegradable diaper.  Their answer?  MONEY.  CORPORATE GREED.

So, I decided to try cloth diapering.  I don't have the money to go out and "lunch" or shop like a lot of working gals do, so what else have I gotta do, right?!  I found a local distributor of the top brands of cloth diapering, Sunny.  She runs a web-store and a store-in-a-store in Knoxville, TN.  Check her out at Cutie Tooties online. She has 2yo TRIPLETS for Pete's sake, and she cloth diapers.  And, she does it for her children's health and for her BUDGET.  For real.  So, I had her out to the house to do a demonstration for me and two of my gal pals with infants.  We had a blast.  I absolutely recommend scheduling a demonstration.  It was sooooo worth the $15 she charges for gas and childcare (what a joke, right!?!  That fee probably doesn't even pay for the gas anymore!).  She explained the difference between each brand and each line from each brand.  We couldn't have weeded through all the lingo without her.  I bought several brands (one of each, remember, I'm on a budget), and invested in a pack of "g Diapers" that I found at the local Whole Foods.  

Let me tell ya, cloth diapering ain't rocket science (even if it feels that way when you are reading through all the lingo).  Now-a-days, cloth diapers are as easy as disposables, but they freakin' get REUSED.  Awesome.  Plus, the "g diapers" come with a completely biodegradable and flushable (yes, you heard right, FLUSHABLE) earth friendly "disposable" pad.  Awesome.

Well, I'm going to keep up the posting as I try the different brands.  I'll let you in on the hints, disappointments, and pitfalls of cloth diapering.  Please feel free to comment ANY questions you have.  If I don't know the answer, Sunny will.

Also, please visit our new local store, Nature Kids Mercantile, which features the Cutie Tooties store-in-a-store and other neat earth friendly toys and books.  But beware, like most "Green" products, most of them are WAY more expensive than the "usual" big toy retailer products.

No comments: