Real Simple: Waste Reduction

When you have a child, there are many options for handling their waste. That's right - many.
The first option is generally the one people assume you will go with.

Run-of-the-mill Disposable Diapers.

This would be Huggies, Pampers, Luvs, along with store brands. 

This is the most wasteful option, as these can take quite a while to degrade.

Organic, Bio-degradable Disposable Options.

This can be diapers like Seventh Generation, or disposable inserts for cloth covers (such as Flip, GroVia, or G-Diapers). This one is still wasteful, but not as hard on the environment as the first option.

Photo credit: GroVia

 

Cloth Diapers.

These diapers are entirely reuseable, and can be made of things like cotton, hemp and bamboo. They are much better for the environment, but still use natural resources for production, gas for travel, and water for washing.

Another way to keep cloth diapering green is to use a clothes line and/or drying rack.

Elimination Communication.

This option consists of diaperless babies. That's right! This is the greenest option, but it's not necessarily right for everybody. If you're going this route, you learn your baby's cues and take them to the potty as needed.

There is certainly no need to go all-or-nothing. 

 

Some people choose a combination of disposables, and cloth. Some use cloth and elimation communication.

If you use cloth diapers, or elimination communication, even part time - you can rest assured knowing that you are putting less waste into landfills than if you were using disposables.

I often hear people complaining that they can't cloth diaper full time for one reason or another.

That's fine! Every cloth diaper you use, is one less disposable getting thrown away. And every time you use elimination communication, that is one less diaper you have to wash. Do whatever works for you, but know that every little bit counts.

Even if you use just one cloth diaper a day, that is 365 (or 366) disposables you've kept out of a landfill at the end of the year. Imagine if you use two, or three... Those numbers really add up!

For more information on how you can make a difference by using cloth diapers part time, check out Change Three Things by Cotton Babies!