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| Alex in his grasshopper BumGenius 4.0 |
This St. Patricks's Day I want to celebrate how I am helping my baby boy live green, in the environmental sense. Before baby Alex's arrival I started reading all about cloth diapering. I hated the thoughts of contributing to such waste. I was met with animosity from relatives that were familiar with the cloth diapers from years ago. Long gone are the days of sharp pins and stinky diaper pails filled with bleach and water. After doing my research we chose to go with BumGenius 4.0 with the snaps. It is an all in one diaper with an insert and outer shell. When the diaper is soiled ,the whole thing goes in the pail or wet bag after being sprayed with odor remover. We wash them every other day in special detergent and they are good to go. Cloth diapering helps cut down on diaper rash and we have had minimal leaks and no poo showers like I unfortunately was on the receiving end with a disposable Alex was wearing.
I have invested approximately $350 in buying the diapers, pail, and wet bag, all of which will last Alex until he is potty trained. The diapers come in several great colors and prints. The bum geniuses will then be available for another child or can be sold. Recycle! There will still be the expense of energy, water and detergent for washing but that will be less than the hundreds of dollars we would incur annually from disposables. Alex has a total of 23 cloth diapers which keeps us in supply with an every other day washing. Today I ordered flannel wipes and bottom cleaner so we can also do away with disposable wipes, which are more of an inconvenience at this point. Stuffing a wipe into the narrow opening of the diaper genie is not pleasant. The flannel wipes will go into the diaper pail ,or wet bag, and be washed with the diapers.
BumGenius is having it's spring sale right now, which is a great time to buy some to try if you are thinking of going green. Sites I like to order from are Cotton Babies and Diaper Junction. No more running out to the store when your low on diapers, or taking out the trash bag filled with disposable diapers, that will be in a landfill for hundreds of years to come. And don't worry, I'm not ready to trade in my stilettos for Birkenstocks!
