my eco-friendly blog post... which is mostly about cloth diapering

This post is probably going to seem like a lot of rambling, but there are a lot of things that have been kicking around in my mind over the past couple of ...years. Yes, years. Ben is now 19 months old, and this whole thought process began somewhere during the time that I was pregnant with him. So I'm going to go ahead and guess it's been at least two years that my brain has been working on this very post, though tonight is the first time I've put my fingers to the keys.

Cloth diapering is where it all began for me. My mother-in-law ranted and raved, dozens of times, about how our landfills are filling up with disposable diapers, and how they take 30 years to decompose, and how she used cloth diapers with her children, and how disposables are so much more expensive anyway, and etc. As an aside, I think it was pretty common to use cloth in her child-rearing days. My own mother used cloth with my brother and me. I think if the use of disposables had been more widespread, honestly, she would likely have used them, too. That said, I have read in numerous places that the length of time a diaper "lives" in a landfill could actually be quite a bit longer than 30 years, and the idea of a waste product my son used still being present in a landfill as he diapers his son 30 years later has always sort of sickened me. However, the idea of going cloth felt so very overwhelming... and Josh was totally against it. So I caved, rather easily, and we have bought disposables for Ben. I have tried to keep things somewhat eco-friendly, though, by not using a Diaper Genie or anything similar, which would tightly wrap each diaper in plastic. Somehow I feel a little bit better about the diaper decomposing with one less layer of plastic to degrade.

So I use disposable diapers. For a long time, I couldn't imagine using anything else. Ben has had some dietary issues throughout his life which have often led to some explosive diarrhea diapers, and I have countless times wondered how a cloth diaper might have contained/absorbed such a yucky poop. Not to mention the soaking wet morning diapers once the little guy started sleeping through the night! I don't know what we would have done without overnight Huggies for awhile there. Anyway, in the meantime, I have made every effort to be ecologically friendly in as many ways as possible, i.e., last summer I dried everything on the clothesline unless it rained for days in a row. (My clothesline is no longer with us, sadly, so I've had to go back on that "resolution.") And I am crazy about recycling. I recycle EVERYthing. Did you know plastic cups are recyclable? The kind you get at Taco Bell, yes, but also the "disposable" cups you might buy for a party? Yep, recyclable. I think it drives Josh nuts that I don't just toss them into the trash, I rinse them all out and throw them in the recycle bin. Cardboard, paperboard, styrofoam - ANYthing with the three little arrows forming a triangle gets recycled at our house. (And it is worth mentioning that our area is fantastic about recycling. Visit my parents for a day and try not to choke on all the plastic that just gets thrown away! I can't believe recycling isn't nationwide!) I actually pull things out of the garbage after guests leave if they've thrown away something that is recyclable. I'm not ashamed.

Let me add in here, a lot of people burn their garbage. We don't really have a place to do that here, but even if we did - I'm not sure that's super eco-friendly, either. I mean, granted, it takes up zero space in a landfill! :) But if you recycle the same paperboard that houses your case of Coca-Cola instead of burning it, more cases of Coke can be made without killing more trees. Burning your garbage eliminates part of the problem (filling the landfill), but doesn't cover all of the environmentally-friendly bases.

So then I got to thinking, okay, so what else can a person do? I used to think... buy paper cups over styrofoam cups, paper plates instead of plastic plates (when you're picnicking and the like), and things along that line. Paper decomposes fairly quickly when it's wet, so what's the harm? Again, thinking along the lines of filling up a landfill, paper is a better choice than plastic. But - if one is truly trying to be eco-friendly, paper anything means extra trees get chopped down, and for what? To avoid doing the dishes? (A resounding YES! echoes in my mind from time to time, I'll admit it - I love anything that means skipping dishes.)

I'm not ever giving up toilet paper; don't worry!

I started to think about the packaging that our food and other products come in. Is a glossy paper milk carton better than a plastic milk jug? They both recycle, so does it matter (I don't actually know, I'm just putting it out there)?

Would paying for organic foods, specifically produce, really be worth it? Does buying from a farmer's market count, even if they don't claim that their products are organic?

Would using cloth diapers result in a ton more laundry, a lot more hot water, a great deal of frustration? How eco-friendly is that?

Regardless, over the past several months I have been researching, researching, researching cloth diapers. If I was overwhelmed at the idea of cloth diapers in general, I have been really overwhelmed at all the details. Sized diapers, or one-size-fits all? Pocket-style, or all-in-one? Or all-in-two? Traditional prefolds with diaper covers, or contoured prefolds? Or fitted prefolds? Diaper pins or snappis? Velcro or snaps? Adjustable leg gussets or not? Outer layer of PUL or wool? Extra soakers? Or doublers? Paper liner in the diaper to make poops easier? Toilet sprayer to get rid of poops in the toilet bowl? Wet bags or diaper pails? Disposables while you travel or not? Ahhhhh!

I have come to the conclusion that I really, really want to try cloth diapering. It still seems pretty gross to me, most of the time, but I hear it's not so bad once you are in the routines. I think I prefer a pocket-style diaper or an all-in-one as opposed to prefolds and covers, because I like the idea of the cloth diaper being similar to a disposable diaper: you put it, one piece, on, you take it, one piece, off. I don't want anything to do with diaper pins. And probably most important to me, I want one-size diapers so that Ben can wear the same diapers that our newborn will wear. That said, my first cloth diaper purchase was mixed: I bought two sized diapers for the newborn, and two one-size diapers for Ben and the newborn. I figure I can maybe get a little bit of a system down by using the one-size diapers with Ben before baby #2 arrives. Plus I hear that the one-size diapers can leak when your newborn first comes home, so I might be glad to have the sized diapers for the little person. I haven't used them yet, and Ben is currently in the midst of another bout of diarrhea, so I'm kind of glad that they are still in the washer, honestly!

So, here goes. We're going to give it a shot. I'm thinking it is going to be a huge lifestyle change - more laundry, more frequent laundry, more demanding laundry... a change in laundry detergent, the inability to use (our current) diaper cream (it apparently can create a waterproof barrier on the diaper surface, rendering it unable to absorb well), having to scrape or spray poop into the toilet, or maybe having to purchase a roll of paper liners, trying to figure out which diapers we prefer so I can purchase more, dealing with a diaper pail or a wet bag, dealing with cloth diapers while "out" ... the list goes on and on. I step forward hesitantly, because I really want it to work, but I don't want it to be miserable. And I want cloth diapering to be something I feel good about, not something I feel obligated to do. Wish me luck!

Oh, and one more thing - it's absolutely not my intention to guilt anyone into using cloth, or to feel badly about using disposables, or to scorn my parents for not having a recycling center nearby, or to mock people who burn their garbage. Just a bunch of random (and lengthy) thoughts. Don't be offended. :)