Okay - so weigh in on this one. ( but bear with the back story)
Here's the dilemma. I found some gDiaper biodegradable diaper inserts at the thrift store two months ago for $4/bag. They are usually $15. (They basically look like a big feminine pad). So being the woman that loves good deals, I bought them. Then I needed to find the actual cloth diaper covers that go with them. Found on craigslist and got a few more bags of inserts for cheap as well. For those of you that don't know, they are basically like doing cloth diapers without having to wash the actual diaper that gets all peed and pooed on. You can flush them (seriously!) and even if you throw them away, they biodegrade in 50 days. So in my thrift ways, I was feeling kinda green, ya know?
But then as i happily was flushing the diapers, Steve realized and reminded me that San Diego is in a water shortage and that maybe i shouldn't be wasting extra water to flush them. So i started throwing them away, b/c even so, they will biodegrade.
Well, she grew out of the cute gDiaper covers, but a friend just so happened to give me a bunch of cloth diaper covers. So thrifty me, once again, starting using the gDiaper inserts with the cloth diaper covers. It worked... and then another friend gave me 4 more bags of the inserts for free b/c her little one got a diaper rash from them. So my friends, I still have 5 bags of inserts (and at 40 diapers a bag, that should last another two months!) But now she's getting a bit too snug for the covers b/c they are smalls and only go to 15 pounds...
But i'm feeling pretty good about the whole biodegradable thing... and washing the cloth covers is no biggie.
So the dilemma:
Get the next size diaper covers, see how long i can still use the small inserts, and then move on to cloth full force. Green right? Not really... b/c we're in a water crisis and i want to be responsible on both ends.
OR
Sell the inserts on craigslist, save the covers for child #2 (whenever that is), and go back to disposables.
I feel like it's a catch 22. I'm ok washing diapers out ( i know mom, I know. but I am...) but I feel that when we're in a water situation, it doesn't seem right. HOWEVER, 500 years in a landfill for each of Stella's diapers seems bad too.
What would you do?
3 comments:
Can you find any recommendations from the city, or more generally, on the advisability of water use versus dumping disposable diapers in an arid location?
Miss Stella is catching up with Miss Alice: medium covers are still quite large on A!
Ooh. Good point. Never thought about the whole "landfill in the middle of the desert" thing. I not so smart. Miss S. is getting chunky, but she's growing out of the Whisper Wraps, not the Thirsties. BTW, thanks for the rec. those are great covers - better than the Bummis and not as bulky.
Landfills, while an issue, are not an imperative as of this moment. On the other hand, we are very much in the midst of a water shortage. Use the disposables. I'm sure scientists are working like mad to figure out how to disintegrate plastic as we speak!
-Michelle
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