Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 64 - Cloth Diapers and Vacation

As those of you already know from reading my blog on a regular basis, I use cloth diapers on my baby and love them. Deciding to go on vacation brought on a challenge of keeping the cloth diapers clean. Although I probably could find a laundromat near the hotel I am staying in - did I really want to spend every second evening washing diapers after a fun filled day which would probably leave me exhausted? What about the film of 'bad' detergent left behind in those washers and driers? And I do not think I could trust the hotel laundry service to use a natural detergent. You see one of the things with cloth diapers is you do need to wash them with care and with a natural detergent in order for them to retain their absorbency...

Hence, for our vacation I opted to go with a disposable diaper. Now not any disposable diaper would do. My babies bum has been chemical free for sometime now and I hated the thought of placing a 'disposable diaper' on her bottom. My search began for a 'natural disposable' diaper. I did find a few out there Seventh Generation and Nature Babycare to name a couple. I choose to go with Nature Babycare. The packaging is 100% biodegradable. The diaper is too. Now I know that is not 100% accurate of anything as it still finds its way into a landfill where the conditions are not quite right for it to degrade as it should, but at least it is a possibility and made from all natural ingredients and is cholrine free.

To read more on this diaper and the company behind it, visit: http://www.naty.com/.

Okay, so I am cheating on my cloth diapers but only for a few days..... I will be back to them as soon as I get home.

6 comments:

Annie said...

I mostly use "eco-friendly" disposables, and some organic cotton cloth diapers. I have tried LOTS of the enviromentally-friendlier disposable/biodegradable diapers, and I like Nature's Babycare the best. I think what makes them the most eco-friendly for me is that they are very absorbent and don't leak, so that I don't have to use as many of them, which lowers our footprint overall. Even though they are more expensive than some "conventional" diapers, I think they are better in quality, and therefore end up cheaper overall as well. I'd recommend them to anyone, whether they are trying to go green or not.

That being said, I think I'll use more cloth diapers with my next baby, as there are more wonderful organic cotton and bamboo styles out there now...

Unknown said...

Next time you travel you should check out the G Diaper. It is a cloth diaper with a disposable insert that is biodegradable and you can even flush it down the toilet, or if it just has pee on it you can compost it.

JenD said...

My friend uses the G Diaper, but since I am already using cloth diapers (a different kind to G Diapers - I did not want to re invent the wheel so to speak. My friend has good things to say about the G Diapers.

Unknown said...

Nature's babycare is a good choice I used their wipes before we started with cloth. Have a wonderful & safe vacation!

JenD said...

Thank you, jollygoodandgreen, for your good wishes for our vacation....

Anonymous said...

First, hope you have a great time on your vacation! Second, YES--it's OK to use a disposable diaper. I too use cloth diapers and I'm a passionate advocate. Diapering is a system and it should work for you and baby and of course our environment, etc. However, viewpoints that don't leave any space for wiggle room is what will turn people off from cloth entirely. I think you've done an excellent thing by being honest about your diaper choice. If everyone was as thoughtful about it, we'd have more babies in cloth. Cloth diapering doesn't have to be all or nothing!