Pampers, are you kidding me?

This post is part of the Real Diaper Facts carnival hosted by Real Diaper Events, the official blog of the Real Diaper Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to cloth diaper education. Participants were asked to write about diaper lies and real diaper facts. See the list at the bottom of this post to read the rest of the carnival entries.

Okay, I don't normally get into the political universe that is cloth v disposable diapers, but I can't leave Pampers alone on this one.

Disclaimer:  (If you do choose to use disposable diapers because that is what works for you please do not take offense at the following post.)

When my daughter was born, I was debating how I wanted to diaper her.  I knew that JGD was not keen on the whole diaper concept at all and didn't know how to make the "jump" without his support.  (As it turns out, I trained him very badly as he very rarely changes a diaper, and I decided I didn't care what he thought.) 

Pampers

Myth: Disposable diapers are harmful to the environment.

Fact: All of the component materials in Pampers diapers are gentle to consumers and safe for the environment. Pampers diapers are made of materials that are also frequently used in a wide range of other consumer products. We are committed to continuing to reduce our environmental impact. For example, Pampers has decreased its diaper weight by one-third and packaging weight by two-thirds. And innovative technologies, raw materials, and product design improvements have led to significant reductions in energy, water use, emissions, and waste at our plants. We are working so that our diapers in the future will have less impact on the environment than even today's diapers.

My fact:
The first thing that I changed was that we  I started to flush my daughter's bm's down the toilet and did not throw it out with the diaper because I read that human waste in the landfills is the first of many problems involved in using disposable diapers.  As it is a source for disease growth and infections.  Upon reading this I began flushing.

Secondly, it takes 500 years for a diaper to decompose.  How can this be good for the environment???  In no way shape or form is this good!!!  I'm glad to hear that Pampers is working to make their diapers have less of an impact.  When they can biodegrade in the same time frame that a gDiaper can, I'll consider using them again (50-150 days).

Pampers

Myth: Cloth diapers are better for the environment than disposables.

Fact: In October 2008, the United Kingdom's Environment Agency published an update to its 2005 Life Cycle Assessment study on cloth versus disposable diapers. The update confirmed the earlier study's findings that there is no clear winner in terms of environmental impacts between disposable and cloth diapers in the U.K., once all factors such as water, energy, detergent, and disposal are considered.

My fact:
Well, see above...  
And, are you kidding me?  I know that when I first started using cloth diapers I was using more water to rinse out the soap in the diapers, but after finding the right detergent (Rockin' Green).  I now do maybe 1-2 extra load(s) a week to wash my daughter's diapers.  This is nowhere near the environmental impact that disposable diapers has.  (Oh and just so I am not singling any one diaper vendor out, the president of Seventh Generation made a similar claim a few months ago.)

Pampers

Myth: Cloth diapers are better for my baby.

Fact: Disposable diapers like Pampers were developed to offer babies benefits that cloth diapers could not meet. That goes beyond convenience to helping keep babies' skin dryer and more comfortable by reducing leaks and locking wetness inside the diaper in a way that cloth doesn't. As a result, doctors and parents simply don't see the same level of diaper rash that used to exist before disposable diapers.

My fact:

My daughter has had far less diaper rashes, leaks and blowouts in cloth diapers than she had in disposables.  And I will admit that part of the problem is that I didn't feel the need to change her as often.  This was because you feel that the disposable diapers give a false sense of security as they are able to absorb to much waste.  (I remember trying to figure out exactly how much, and was blown away by how much water 1 diaper took in.)  I reconsidered my view on this when we made the change to cloth, and it was definitely a help.

And let me touch on one more common myth (well I know JGD believes and dispenses this one).

Myth: 

Cloth diapers are more difficult to use than disposables.

Fact:  

No way.  For the most part we use one size pocket diapers.  The actual putting on of the diaper is no more difficult than using a disposable diaper.  It is just as easy to diaper my daughter with cloth as it was with disposable.  I wish I could say easier, but really they are the same.  So fear of difficulty should not hold anyone back.  

And on the positive side using one size cloth diapers has saved us so much money (that JGD does brag about)! 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and (however poorly worded) this one is mine.

This post is part of the Real Diaper Facts carnival hosted by Real Diaper Events, the official blog of the Real Diaper Association. Participants were asked to write about diaper lies and real diaper facts. See the list at the bottom of this post to read the rest of the carnival entries.

Being Green in a non-Green World

We spend Passover at hotel on Miami Beach.  It's a nice break from the real world and we don't have to change over all the pots, pans, dishes, glassware and silverware in the house.  As well as burn out the stove and sink, cover the counters, etc...

It's a great week for our family (and some extended family).  We get to spend some quality family time together and rest by the pool and at the beach.

There were a couple things that struck me as "living" in a world far opposite from my own.  Were not perfect, but we do try to do whatever we can to be green.  I recycle or reuse everything I can, and try really hard to create excess waste.  Over the past week I saw more waste and misuse.

At the end of the week they showed us the numbers on what had been used during the week.  There were three numbers that really struck me (and none of them are in reference to the abnormal amounts of food served and sent back and wasted food that was thrown out).

• 36,000 water bottles
• 15,000 styrofoam containers
•  9,000 trash bags.  

Now the bottles made me upset because not one of the 36,000+ plastic bottles (I don't remember the count for 2 liter soda bottles) recycled.  There was not a single recycling bin anywhere.  And I would find it incredibly hard to believe that they might go through the trash to pull out the recyclables.  Having seen them collect the trash, there's no way.  The plastic bottles were put out on tables at meals and found in any other location where food was available.

The use of that many styrofoam containers and garbage bags is just plain gross.  I think we created our own landfill last week, and I am completely disgusted by it.  I've been trying to think of ways to help this situation in the future, and I'm not sure what the best solutions are.  I thought about having my own water bottle, but when the only water available is already in bottles it doesn't make a difference if I use my own bottle or not.  I suppose I have a year or so to think about it.  I would love to hear ideas.

My other experience of fighting "traditional thinking" last week, had to do with diapers.  I normally use cloth diapers, but when we travel, especially for any amount of time we use gDiapers.  For more thoughts on the diapers we use go here.

I was changing my daughter and someone noticed that I was not using a normal disposable diaper, which of course prompted a conversation.  It was with a long time friend of JGD's family, we'll call here Bumble.  Now I was not surprised by this conversation but found it amusing just the same.  Let me give you a little background on Bumble, well at least let me tell you that Bumble (like many Jewish grandmothers) has her thoughts about doing things and is not afraid to express them.

Bumble looked at me and mentioned that when her daughter lived in Israel (now this was some time ago, as he oldest son is my age), her daughter used cloth diapers with her kids because it was less expensive.  When Bumble and her husband went to visit her daughter in Israel they decided that they would spend the money to buy the disposable diapers for her daughter.  However, she was quite upset that her daughter went back to using the cloth ones after they left.

I wasn't sure what Bumble was expecting me to say, but I thought the conversation funny.

Introduction

I am a SAHM (stay at home mom), who is interested in doing everything she can to help the environment. Jolly Green Dad (JGD) is not as into being Green as I am, but for the most part he humors my "craziness." This blog is set up to help show people ways to "green" qualities to their lives, and to talk about my daily life. My hope is that this is not preachy, but simply a way of showing people how we can live our lives in a way that helps the environment. The key is to adding what you can to your life style and not going crazy. If you make yourself nuts trying to change your normal habits, it will be that much harder for you and your family. I have tried to add bits and pieces here there for my family. There is still so much I would like to do.

Some of my basics.

I cloth diaper my daughter. We use a selection of cloth diapers, including Bum Genius, Happy Heinys, Fuzzy Bunz and gDiapers. gDiapers are a "hybrid" diaper. I find that they work best for us when we're traveling. As much as I love my cloth diapers, I don't want to

worry about washing them when away on vacation. With gDiapers, I don't have to. I just flush or toss the insert and move on. I feel so much better about using these diapers then using traditional disposables, as I can't stand the thought of a diaper sitting in a landfill for 500 years.

Annie's Organic Buying Club is a great place to get produce if you live in South or Central Florida. I get a box of organic produce every other week and spend much less than I would at the store and the quality is great. I love this club, and am considering changing to weekly boxes instead of biweekly. There are only the three of us here, and JGD has a crazy work schedule, and isn't always home for dinner.

Welcome to my blog and my life.