Did you know that every single piece of plastic ever made still exists today? Unable to break down, plastic items just sit in landfills, polluting our eco systems and oceans an even our food.
Did you know that the plastic industry causes carbon pollution, which is the major driving force behind climate change?
I am by no means an angel when it comes to environmentalism (hence the occasional anger in my Instagram comments). I’m vegan, which gives me major eco points, but my plastic use could stand to be reduced significantly. I am a blogger so, receiving all sorts of new products all the time, inherently my job involves more waste than I would prefer. It’s an area of constant improvement for me. But— given the imminent threat of a climate crisis, I simply cannot get on board with using plastic diapers. If you’re a parent, you know that a single, teeny, tiny baby could go through more than 10 diapers per day. And the typical babe is in diapers for AT LEAST a couple of years. That is 7,300 soiled plastic diapers (on the low end) from ONE BABY that would just sit there on our planet for the next 500 years!!!! So, even though the concept admittedly intimidated me, I decided when I was pregnant that I would move forward with cloth diapering for my baby.
I had no idea where to start, so I asked around about good companies that I might want to support, and I ended up choosing a small business called KangaCare. I chose the one-size, all-in-one diaper called Rumparooz to keep things very simple. It’s essentially just like disposable diapers— you just slip them on and snap! You can use them on your baby from the time you bring them home from the hospital until it’s time for potty training (up to 35lbs). I have about 30 diapers in my stash, and I wash them a couple times per week.
The question everyone has but doesn’t want to ask: poop. How do you cloth diaper as it relates to handling the poop?! Breastfed poop is totally water soluble. It truly does just wash away. Our washer has a “sanitize and steam” option on it, and when I take the diapers out to put them in the dryer it is like they and brand new. When River is put on solids (and thereby has “real” poops), I plan to buy use both biodegradable/flushable liners + washable and reusable liners, and use them depending on whether or not I’m running errands/traveling/etc. You can also buy a little sprayer that attaches to the toilet, and spray the poo into the toilet before tossing the cloth diaper in the pail to later be washed.
Remember: it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing approach. You can absolutely cloth diaper part time and still consider yourself to be super helpful in reducing environmental impact. I use bamboo disposable diapers when I travel, and that’s ok! If you have any questions at all, as usual feel free to ask! Thank you for caring about helping the environment and reducing your plastic use!
If you want to learn more about ways to reduce your environmental impact and help combat climate change– or if you care about finding ways to help efforts like wildlife conservation, clean water, veteran support, education, or animal welfare, for example– I would really recommend checking out the That Helps website and/or downloading the app. They can help you figure out ways to help, and connect you with organizations that you can trust. I’m so excited about it, especially since one of the top five questions I get from y’all is “how can I help?” Getting started and plugged in is the hardest and most daunting part. So go check out the website and let me know how you like it!
XOXO
[…] and report back! Another fellow blogger that I love and respect, Fashion Veggie, wrote an entire article about cloth diapers that I highly suggest reading if you want to learn more. She recommends the Rumparooz (shown […]