Why I chose cloth

Marrying Adam has really opened my eyes to living in an "environmentally friendly" way. I have to admit that before meeting Adam I had never really given a thought to how my actions affected the environment. Organic food cost more, buying local or in season was an inconvenience and don't even get me started on how I viewed composting! But I digress, you see what I really want to be talking about here isn't food or composting, what I want to talk about is my choice to cloth diaper.

I remember when we first started talking about having kids Adam asked me if I would ever consider cloth diapering. I replied with a emphatic NO and proceeded to dismiss most of his arguments as to why it may be a good idea.

When we moved to BC I started to meet more and more people who were choosing to cloth diaper their children. As I peppered them with questions it became clearer and clearer to me that cloth diapering in the 21st century was not the cloth diapering that our grandparents used! The more research I did the more I became convinced that when our time came I would try my hand at cloth diapering. So that being said I thought it might be fun to post some of the facts that led to my decision in case any of you moms or moms-to-be are considering the cloth diaper route!

Envirozine is an online news magazine published by Environment Canada. Here are some of their facts on diapers:

Fast Facts: (Bold print added by me)

- Even when using disposable diapers, the contents should be emptied into the toilet so that the waste can be properly treated. (I had no idea that this was supposed to happen, but lo and behold as I looked at a package of disposables it was right there in the fine print)

- In the first two years, the average baby will require between 5000 to 7000 diaper changes. (I figured out that average cost to diaper a child for 2 years is between $1500 and $2000 if you look at the average amount of diapers in a box and the cost of a box of diapers. We paid less than $400.00 for our cloth diapers so although it was a big initial investment, it should be a big savings over time)

- Disposable diapers in landfills can prevent water from soaking to the ground. (The waste from the cloth diaper is properly treated as sewage, while disposable diapers in landfills can be a breeding ground for a wide variety of viruses, including Hepatitis B and Polio from vaccines given to newborns. Also, the effluents from the disposable diaper manufacturing process (plastic, pulp and bleached paper) are more damaging to the environment than the cotton and hemp growing and manufacturing process. - Environment Canada)

- Washing a load of diapers once or twice a week is roughly equivalent to flushing a toilet five times a day for a week. (We have 24 cloth diapers and do a load of them roughly every 4 days, so 1-2 loads a week. Our power bill has only gone up slightly ($3-$5) a month since cloth diapering so even with the extra laundry we are still saving money)

- Cloth diapers encourage babies to potty train faster than disposables, because with disposable diapers, the babies seldom feel any wetness or discomfort. (So obviously since Jacob is only 5 months old we haven't had to deal with potty training yet, but getting a baby out of diapers sooner was definitely a selling point for me!)

- Over four million disposable diapers are discarded in Canada per day. (Wow... that is almost 1.5 billion diapers a year)

For me these were pretty convincing reasons to decide to use cloth diapers. But the big test for me would be when Jacob was born. As a nurse I had used A LOT of disposable diapers but I knew nothing about using a cloth diaper.

Adam and I went for a fairly easy diapering system. We bought the Bum Genius 3.0 one size diapers mainly because from what I had read they looked as easy as disposables, we didn't have to buy separate liners/covers, and we could use the same diapers as he grew.

So far we have not been disappointed! They are as easy to put on Jacob as his disposables, they have yet to leak (Jacob used to have blow outs in his Pampers all the time), and they are easy to wash.

Another things that I love about these is that because of the velcro tabs they fold up when they are dirty just like a disposable, so you don't have to worry about them making a mess in your diaper bag, I usually just throw them in as is, and stick them in his diaper pail when we get home.

Plus if nothing else cloth diapers come in such a wide variety of cute colors, and who can resist a baby with a cute green bottom? I know that I can't!

While we do use disposables occasionally I have to say I am so happy with our choice to use cloth!

Suzanne