Green Options

I knew going into having a baby that the mountains of diapers would horrify me from both a personal hygiene and environmental perspective. I also knew that I wasn’t game for potty-training-at-birth philosophies. Sure enough, if I calculate how many diapers I’ve changed for my now 15 month old, I’m horrified.

Two months before I gave birth to my baby girl I did some research on which diapers would have the least amount of environmental impact. Traditional, “non-eco” disposables were never even an option…I was interested only in comparing “eco” choices.

gDiapers fans are no doubt excited to see that they have some new and adorable options for flushable diapers. Their web site is now boasting several new prints for their “little g” pants including Ga, Ga Pink, Goo Goo Blue, Good Vibe Girl and Good Vibe Stripe, which are pretty snazzy if I do say so myself. It has no doubt been hard to compete with the cuteness of cloth diapers but they are certainly making strides.

The little g pants are the outer shell of the gDiaper system or the diaper cover that holds the flushable inserts.  The inserts are the disposable and absorbent inner liners that you toss (flush, throw away or compost). You reuse the gDiaper pants again and again. For about 40 years there have been only two basic choices in diapering. Cloth or disposable. gDiapers offers consumers a third option….a hybrid cloth diaper with a disposable element.

Everyone loves news on the octuplets.  Who wouldn’t want a quick fix on the mama who has 14 children under the age of 8?

But when you think of their waste, isn’t anyone ready to say “Eight is enough”? How about one of those other snappy lines from the Simpsons fertility episode…  Might we say they’ll have a “Love/Eight” relationship, at least with the environment?

Open any pregnancy or baby book, and you’ll find that list: the baby essentials, the things you absolutely cannot live without.  While many accessories are easily recognized as frivolous, certain items are truly indispensable: the basic necessities for life with a baby.

Or are they?

In this weekly series, we’ll be looking at several baby essentials that really aren’t.  They may be useful in certain situations, but if money or space is tight, or if you’re just looking to simplify and reduce consumerism and waste, here’s how to get along just fine without these so-called “essentials.“

In Part 1, we questioned the crib.   Part 2 bemoaned the bucket.  Part 3 scrutinized the stroller.  This week, let’s ditch the diapers!

I’ve seen some nasty diaper rash in my day (thankfully those days are over). My only solution was bare buns for awhile, but sometimes you got to put a cloth diaper on the rash covered bum to head out of the house.

Many parents rely on diaper rash creams and talc, but the solution to diaper rash is much easier and cheaper in the long run if you use cloth wipes.

Bummas has the solution!  What are Bummas?  Bummas are:

Bummas are small soft, luxurious baby-sized cloths made especially for drying baby bottoms, as well as blocking those surprise squirts. And with a little douse of water, they can also replace wet wipes for clean up of sensitive bums. They are small enough to conveniently carry on the go and durable enough to wash over and over again and won’t pill shrink or fade. We think you will find Bummas to be an indispensable item in your diaper changing regimen.

A friend of mine’s baby just crossed that threshold from sweet smelling breastfed diapers to the offensive food eating bowel movements.  Diaper changes are now done in a hurry, especially when other people are around, and the baby has joined the ranks of the rest of the family that can stink up a room.

PureAyre makes several organic odor eliminating sprays that really do work for the smells babies, kids, and adults produce in the bathroom.

In our family of four, we have only one bathroom. Sometimes in the mornings, we can’t wait for the air to clear before another family member needs to brush their teeth before school.  We keep a bottle of PureAyre on the back of the toilet, and it really does works to eliminate odors without masking them.  I don’t really understand how it works, but the strong smells just seem to disappear.  I’ve tried lavender bunches, matches, scented candles, etc., but nothing compares to PureAyre’s ability to eliminate odor.

Two years later than my daughter, my son has almost completed his toilet learning!  It has been different with my boy, as we have resorted to the bare bum method.  Feeling the cool breeze on his bottom seems to be the only way he can remember to hold it in until he reaches the toilet. This works while we are home, but he still had accidents in underwear and clothes.  Since we are down to one diaper a day just at night, I’ve abandoned the cloth diapers for Seventh Generation’s Chlorine-Free Diapers.

I’ve always professed that every baby should wear cloth diapers; however, with my son wearing one diaper in 24 hours, it takes a long time to make a diaper load of laundry. After a week, these cloth diapers get very rank, and I don’t really want to put them in my washing machine or waste energy and water to wash them more often.  Thus, I’ve resorted to Seventh Generation’s Chlorine-Free Diapers, as it is too late in the game (I don’t plan to have any more children) to invest in gDiapers. I do feel a slight pang of guilt using a landfill, aka disposable, diaper, but I rationalize six years of cloth diapering two kids has earned me the right to one disposable diaper a day.

By Alan Greene, M.D.
www.drgreene.com

As a father and pediatrician, I’ve changed many diapers—enough to teach me that diapers are a daily reminder that as humans we deplete resources as we consume, and we make messes with our waste.

Those landfill diapers that are so easily tossed into the trash are clearly a major ecological issue. But what about the energy, water, and often chlorine involved in laundering cloth diapers? Comparing the environmental impact of different types of diapers has been the subject of a number of studies—with differing results often linked to the vested interests of those behind the study.

The largest and most objective study to date was carried out by the Environment Agency, the public body responsible for protecting the environment in England and Wales. The panel compared disposable diapers to home-laundered cloth diapers and commercially laundered cotton diapers in terms of global warming, ozone depletion, smog formation, depletion of nonrenewable resources, water pollution, acidification, human toxicity, and land pollution. The study did not include what I call hybrid diapers—the reusable diapers equipped with flushable, biodegradable liners.

First world countries are addicted to their disposable, aka “landfill” diapers. According to Planet Trash, “Americans alone go through around 18 billion disposable diapers a year.” A Canadian company wants to turn all those dirty diapers into a cost-effective, diesel fuel.

Using the process of pyrolysis to convert diapers to diesel, a facility is going to be built in Montreal. Pyrolysis, also known as thermal cracking, involves heating the dirty diapers in a closed environment that lacks oxygen. This closed system does not produce any emissions. Luciano Piciacchia, an engineer and vice-president with Amec’s Quebec office, explains,

Then you’re bringing it to the next level which is breaking the carbon chains down … and (in the end) they will resemble the fuels which are what we’re going to end up producing.

The company plans to begin collecting soiled diapers from area hospitals. “One of the beauties of the diaper is that it is going to be a very consistent input,” compared to trying to make fuel from other kinds municipal waste.

My son was born with a congenital heart defect, which thrust my green living family into the not-so-green world of Western medicine. We were blessed to have a natural home birth assisted by caring midwives before entering the world of surgeons and intensive care. Throughout this process, including our most recent stay in the hospital, I have looked for ways to make the experience greener, and to minimize the toxins my son

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Whoo-hoo!  Seventh Generation now sells chlorine-free training pants!  We hope they work as well as the diapers.