The Green Issue

In honor of Earth Day, the Sunday Magazine in The New York Times focuses on green topics. One of the issues is disposable versus cloth diapers:

DISPOSABLE VS. COTTON: The heated debate over the environmental costs of diapers, a roughly $5 billion business, goes something like this: on one hand, the 25 billion or so disposable diapers used per year in this country are bad because they are made with petroleum-based plastics, account for more than 250,000 trees being cut down and make up some 3.5 million tons of landfill waste that won’t decompose for decades. Cotton diapers, on the other hand, now enjoying a resurgence in popularity, cost less over the long run but require vast amounts of energy from the production of cotton, the washing and the distribution. Environmental and industry groups brandishing rival stats and studies have effectively declared a draw. Even an outspoken group like the Natural Resources Defense Council declines to take a trenchant position (“six of one and a half dozen of the other,” a spokeswoman says). Apparently the only way between the two sides is to do without (which means teaching babies to use a toilet) or adopt some middle-way product like gDiapers, which combine cloth and flushable elements. The late Donella H. Meadows, the founder of Vermont’s Sustainability Institute, recognized the conflict long before the carbon footprints of everyday objects were a mainstream concern. “It’s great to try to move our lives in the direction of ecological righteousness, but it’s also true that every human activity has environmental impact,” she wrote in an op-ed article that appeared in newspapers in 1990. In addressing the debate over diapers, she had what may have been the final word. “From the earth’s point of view,” she said, “it’s not all that important which kind of diapers you use. The important decision was having the baby.” CHRISTIAN DeBENEDETTI

Meilee at Halloween. She caught herself before she did a face plant.

I believe in gDiapers. Here are the product highlights I enjoy:

1. It is the ideal hybrid product that provides the convenience of disposables and the spirit of cloth. The system includes a cloth pant -- the G Pant -- that has velcro closure, a breathable plastic liner that snaps in, and the diaper insert (which essentially is a large maxi pad).
2. If you have good, modern plumbing (not a 50-year-old plumbing system like we do), you can flush the inserts. We flushed for the first three months until we learned the hard way how old our plumbing was. It was great being able to flush the diapers because there is no odor. Despite buying a diaper pail that promises to mask the odor, there's still the unpleasant smell of wet diapers.
3. If you can't flush, the inserts are biodegradeable. Watch the amazing video.
4. Because the gDiaper is breathable, my daughter has not suffered diaper rash.

The gDiapers company is based in Portland, Ore., but the concept of the flushable diaper comes originally from Australia. The founders of gDiapers, a husband and wife, had been living in Australia when their first child was born and learned about the flushable "eco nappies." The entrepreneurs bought the rights to innovate and sell the product outside of Australia. In the three and a half years since they moved to Portland, gDiapers have received much national attention.


Topics: mompreneur , Diapers , Green Baby