I hear the orchestra, dun, dun, duhaaaa. These…are our family’s real trash challenge. Our two toddlers are still in disposable diapers!!

Two toddlers can go through 3 cases of disposable diapers in about a month! That is

• 3 huge cardboard boxes
• 6 large plastic shrink wrappers
• and 336 plastic diapers filled with you don’t want to know what…right into the landfill.

There are heaps of statistics about how long this stuff sticks around in our landfills and none of these stats are up-lifting. Move onto the money issue, and this consumption equals about $130 a month going out with the trash, not to mention the dollars required to repair the damage these things do to the earth.

Now wouldn’t cloth diapers, that cost pennies to launder, be more economical and eco-friendly? Yes. There are bunches of lifestyle reasons why I didn’t do cloth diapers from the get-go, but I’ll not go into those now. It is the present isn’t it? So, right now, I am looking at a very near horizon of potty-trained toddlers and at this point I don’t want to invest in the cloth method. I do, however, have a stash of g-diapers which are a more eco-friendly way to diaper.

These nifty guys consist of a cotton outer, a snap-in plastic liner, (both of which can be laundered) and a fluffed wood pulp absorbent liner that can be flushed, and is bio-degradable, or can be composted, or simply thrown away.

A 2 starter kits (that contain the cotton and plastic diapers) and a month’s supply of absorbent liners will waste you:

• 2 plastic totes (these used to be cardboard boxes)
• 9 large plastic bags
• and 324 flush-able liners

The price tag on these babies is kind of steep…about $60 for the cloth diapers and $140 for the liners. Also I should note, these aren’t for those with septic systems or slow plumbing…the flush needs a bit of umpf behind it for this system to work.

So the packaging…is there a winner? A close finish? In terms of product packaging, I think they are about equal. G-diaper liners are biodegradable. Perhaps this is the most profound difference and if you have a compost, or an able water waste system, oh…and the cash, g-diapers could be a less-packaging waste option.

For those families who cloth-diaper out there, what is your throw away waste like?

The kids don’t like wearing these bulky things. And slim fitting toddler pants are difficult to get on over these puffy diaper-butts. But, with spring around the corner, bare g-diaper bums may come into fashion and we may see potty-training sooner rather than later. Wish us luck.

There are certainly families out there who have their wits about them and do cloth diapers. But there are others for whom lifestyle simply makes cloth diapering much more work. There are other battles out there and parents you need to choose which ones you have the strength to take on. Perhaps while you are at it, you can do a something else that better fits your lifestyle to lessen your impact on the precious earth. Each little bit always counts.