Going Green

It's the big rage, right?

I mean, even cleaning products are going green.

But this, my friends, is a different kind of green. It's not your "hip" green, or lackadaisical green.
This is committed green.
Dedicated green.
No-looking-back-now green.
This is the future of green.
and dare I even say...FUN green.

Here it comes...

Cloth Diapers...and the 3 Reasons You Just Can't Say No. (have I lost you now? .....c'mon. stick with me here.)

Or maybe a more apt title is the 3 Reasons We Had to Say Yes.

*at this point let me interject that I'm not being all Judge Judy on you if you've decided that disposables are right for your family...but this is why we chose cloth, and I hope you'll at least find it amusing...ok please continue*

FIRST and I guess foremost is finances. I'll keep this one "brief" (pun intended)
...you can do the research on this one if you're actually that interested. At the end of all that research you'll find that using cloth (of course variables should be considered...ie how many, washing frequency, type purchased, etc) will save you around $1200 PER BABY BOOTY. That's right. You might as well be strapping benjamins to your child's heiny and tossin' them out with last night's leftovers. This was our motivation when we made the "plunge" (hehe).
...since then, our motivation has shifted a little...

SECOND and the reason behind my catchy title, the environment. *insert CNN's breaking news music here* Did you know that one baby produces an average of 1 ton of disposable diaper trash?! And that's if they are potty trained at 2! Say it with me here, "NASTY!" That's serious, non-biodegradable, human waste we're talking about. Sorry for grossing you all out...or making you uncomfortable, or feel guilty...REALLY not my point.
I'm moving on...so this is our bigger motivation now. We're "saving the planet" one booty at a time. :) Really, we as believers need to be doing all we can to preserve God's creation. And putting our kiddo's in cloth is just one way we can. I no longer stare in sickening amazement at the amount of diapers my kids pee in once or twice and then go to a landfill. I'm comforted knowing that using cloth is a very large way (minus 2 tons of diaper trash on our part) we can help save God's awesome creation.
That being said, I'm not going to be all Disposable Nazi on you...I admit to you that we do still use disposables occasionally (shock and awe!). Let's admit it, they're occasionally easier. But if we're home, Salem's booty is wrapped in cloth.

THIRD and really the most exciting part of the post. (If you've made it this far, congratulations!)
sooooooooooooooooooo CUTE!!


Who wouldn't want a baby butt to look like that!
When your choices can include items such as this, using cloth diapers can be sooo addicting!
I realize that's when things start getting pricey and you have to stay aware that you aren't actually spending MORE on cloth than you would disposables...but if you're just doing it to "Go Green" then it's a WIN/WIN!! Glad to say that we've not yet spent MORE on cloth than sposies though! :) But they're so much cuter than paper pampers! :)



And in the end, when your kiddos have potty trained, and you are past the diaper era of your life, you can sell those used cloth diapers on sites like diaperswappers.com. That's IF those diapers that you spent only $400 on to diaper 4 children still have any life left in them. But eh, $400 on 4 kids ain't shabby!

Other reasons to consider cloth would be that it's healthier for your kiddo (do you know what chemicals are used in disposables to absorb pee?!?!) And you can change as often as you want. No more disappointments after your sweet baby poos in a diaper she's worn for 5 seconds. Washing 20 diapers isn't any harder than washing 15. And we've found that with Salem, cloth works WAY BETTER at keeping in those poo-splosions!
And THAT, fellow parents, is what it's all about. :)

I could literally fill an entire new post with links upon links of information, cloth diaper retailers, advice, stuff I recommend, etc...but I'll spare you. Contact me if you want boatloads of info.

But just so you know that times have changed and these aren't your mama's cloth diapers any more folks, check out the selection.

It's a whole world you didn't even know existed!