Thursday, February 14, 2008

Change #8 - A better disposable diaper

I think I mentioned in a previous post that although we use cloth diapers we also sometimes use disposable ones. I do my best to minimize our use of disposable diapers because I feel guilty about their impact on the environment and also because they make Ian's skin irritated (though now I think it might have been the disposable baby wipes). I'm also uncomfortable with the chemicals that are in them. Who really knows the effect those chemicals have long term considering children spend almost three years of their lives wearing them 24/7.

We use disposable diapers when we travel out of town and also overnight. The cloth diapers just don't absorb enough to last 12 hours from evening until dawn and because we were blessed with a beautiful, amazing baby who refuses to sleep through the night I am loathe to give him any more reasons to wake up. I'm SO TIRED!

Change #8 will be to replace our regular disposable diaper of choice with these. I'm SO excited about this new find! Not only are they better for the environment but they are actually affordable. They were only $13.59+tax for 42 diapers (at Herb and Spice) which is pretty comparable to the other brand we normally buy. They are much less expensive than the Seventh Generation ones which run for $19.99 per bag. These diapers are good because 1) they are biodegradable 2) they are 100% chlorine free (apparently chlorine is Evil. It's not only bad for the environment, it's also bad for human health) 3) they are made with 50% renewable resources 4) the plastic bag they come in is biodegradable 5) they don't use any unnecessary chemicals 6) they don't advertise Disney characters.

Unfortunately I'll be putting these diapers in plastic bags and sending them to the landfill so they won't get a chance to biodegrade. If I lived on a farm I could dig a great big hole and just put them in there and they would have a chance to biodegrade but the landfill just doesn't have the proper conditions (and neither does our backyard). In March 2009 I look forward to putting them in my green bin alongside my blue and black bins. Until then, they are still better than regular disposables and that makes me happy.

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