Photo credit:
mhofstrand, flickr
Quick, what's more eco-conscious than reusable cloth diapers? The answer: reusable cloth diapers from a loaner service. Teeny Greenies is evangelizing for this soft, fuzzy eco-comfort by making things easy for parents who simply don't know where to start.
Unlike services like Diaper Swappers and various internet forums where mothers buy, sell and trade their cloth, Teeny Greenies is a totally free service that loans diapers to families because cloth diapers are, as Martha Stewart might say, a good thing. "Helping needy families, while it is something that we do, isn't our main focus," explains the Teeny Greenies web site. " We want every family who is considering cloth diapering to be able to try it out and have support while doing it. Also, families of higher income who are looking to 'try before they buy' usually use the diapers for a short time (typically a month) before they buy their own diapers." Those satisfied families typically go on to donate more diapers to Teeny Greenies, supporting growth of this grassroots effort and helping make diapers available to families who might not otherwise be able to afford them.
There's been some debate over whether washing cloth diapers is really a greener choice than disposables. Add in the bonuses of starting out with loaner diapers and moving on to trading and swapping with other families, and we think the benefits look better than ever.
Originally covering families in the Twin Cities (Minn.) area, Teeny Greenies is actively seeking volunteers to help add new cities to its base. We think Teeny Greenies is a fabulous eco-friendly idea that takes reduce, reuse and recycle to a whole new ... end.
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That's an excellent idea! I got my "feet wet" by trying gDiapers. No cost savings, but their flushable inserts can be, well, flushed so that waste goes to the treatment plant where it should be. They say that wet-only flushables can be composted too. There are videos on their site showing a time lapse of what happens to their inserts compared with how much a regular disposable degrades over the same period of time. That in and of itself was enough to get me off my butt and away from disposables. I really don't think that anyone can claim that putting diapers in a landfill is more green than washing diapers.
The only problem I had with gDiapers is that the flushables cost the same as disposables so it wasn't budget-friendly enough for us. So they got freecycled and I switched to Bum Genius. It sure is nice not to have to run to the store when diapers are low, just throw a load in the washer and keep on with my day.
I hope Teeny Greenies spreads and helps even more people see how much better cloth is. Now if I could just convince Bum Genius to make a bigger diaper to fit my son...
gDiaps have their place ... Always good to have a backup!
Me, I'm waiting for chewable diapers. http://www.ecorazzi.com/2009/02/02/snl-takes-environmenta...
The best way to clean cloth diapers is to pre-rinse them off in the toilet using a Bathroom Bidet Sprayer. So convenient and if you are trying to help the environment (and your pocket book) you can give it a double whammy by virtually eliminating toilet paper use at the same time! Available at www.bathroomsprayers.com they come in an inexpensive kit and can be installed without a plumber. And after using one of these you won't know how you lasted all those years with wadded up handfuls of toilet paper. Now we're talking green and helping the environment without any pain.