g Diapers: Biodegradable Inserts and Options
August 23rd 2008 by Dr.MOZ in Diapers, Green Companies, Green Products
I’ve seen a few great comments regarding g Diaper inserts hitting the baby blog lately, so I wanted to highlight a few that I think many of you may have been wondering about as
well. Recent comments from an older post include:
- Julia (on biodegradability): “I’m composting my g diapers because (1) it seems the least wasteful, (2) to complete the food web cycle, and (3) I think my soil will benefit from the rich fertility offered from human waste. I’m still evaluating how well they compost, anyone have experience with this?”
- Scott (on using cloth inserts): “…I also recently learned you can use cloth inserts instead of the disposables. That would help balance the cost of the disposable inserts, only using them while out and about.”
So let’s hear it from the g Diaper aficionados out there! The folks at g Diapers have a great collection of composting FAQs and related resources on their site, so I’ll leave a few useful links in the comments section for Julia and others interested in the topic.
Have fun and stay healthy,
Dr.MOZ
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Hi Julie,
The g Diaper’s website has a useful collection of resources and precautions for anyone interested in composting diapers with “poo” or diapers for babies that use cremes with zinc. In a nutshell…don’t do it, but the g Diapers crew explain it best at the link below:
Composting 101: http://www.gdiapers.com/happy-planet/composting101
Thanks for the comment! ~ Dr.MOZ
August 24th, 2008 at 5:02 am
I too use Gdiapers, and love them for the most part. I compost the wet ones and flush the poopy ones. For my toddler the poopy ones are a little gross, but if you really care you could buy the flushable liners that they sell with cloth diapers. They are fairly inexpensive and you set it over the diaper so you just pick it up and flush it, and there is no gross-ness when tearing the sides of a poopy diaper. Or, you could just throw them out (I put in a bag first). They will still break down much faster than a disposable diaper, and at that point she only poops once a day so it’s not too bad. My newborn is breastfed so she poops quite often but there is no problem flushing that. It’s all absorbed in the insert.
I have also delved into using bamboo cloth inserts in my g’s. I don’t like the bulk that it creates (my poor 3month old can’t close her legs!) but it is a good earth friendly option and it works quite well.
For those concerned by the amount of water required to flush them – it’s no different than every other member of the household flushing everytime they have to go!
I really like the g’s. Of course they are not perfect, but nothing is. You’ve got the centuries of waste with the disposables, dealing with poop and ALL the laundry and everything else with cloth — this is the ‘lesser of three evils’ in my husbands opinion. And they really aren’t hard to get used to or much more work in the long run.
August 25th, 2008 at 5:40 am
g diapers services are really good and your post proves that you care. thanks for sharing this with us. the people having babies will find it useful and we look forward for your next post like this.
October 31st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Biodegradability is great new innovations in diapers. It’s really good for people like me who have a compost in the backyard.
November 16th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I think it’s great that g Diapers is promoting composting but at the same time, I’m glad that my kids don’t wear diapers anymore.
November 17th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
I’m with Anthony on the idea that my kids are no longer in diapers – yeah! I think these gDiapers are a great idea for today’s problem of biodegradability. It’s a great invention.
December 8th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
There is a service now that will actually compost the diapers for you in a safe and clean way, so you don’t have to worry about that stuff:
http://www.thechicecologist.com/2008/12/eco-baby-care-earth-baby-compostable-diaper-service/
January 27th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
disposable diapers are the bomb glad we don’t use cloth
February 1st, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Great site, lots of useful information. I was very nervous about using them at first. It seemed like a lot of work. I wish I would have been able to use them longer, and with my first child. Plus being enviornmentally concious to help teach my childern.
February 11th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Great site, We are having our first and I think we might give them a try!
February 24th, 2009 at 8:16 am
I too use Gdiapers, and love them for the most part. I compost the wet ones and flush the poopy ones.
March 6th, 2009 at 11:15 am
I love the biodegradable diapers myself. I am not one to compose any diapers, that’s why they made the biodegradable ones, it is much easier.