"If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind." ~John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Am I nuts because I want to use these?



Ian seems to think so. He can't get over the "ick" factor.
Why do I want to use them? Lets see...
$$$$$$ - They cost less in the long run! I would save about $4000 on diapers during the span of Cashew's pre-pottyhood.
Environmentally conscious - most disposable diapers aren't biodegradable & the ones that are cost 2X as much.
Our mothers used them & we turned out OK! (And cloth diapers weren't this cool back then! I asked!)
Less diaper rash - according to the random people I have accosted while changing their babies in public places; have you noticed I'm not shy?
Do I agree that there is an "ick" factor? Well, DUH! Its poop, for goodness sake! But is it something I can live with to keep a little more green in my pocket while I help the environment at the same time? Yes! I've never been squeamish about that sort of thing. Growing up as the only girl with a brother & 3 male cousins, I couldn't afford to be. Not to mention that we had cows, pigs, chickens & geese on our ranch. (Now that's a lot of poop!)

6 comments:

Angie said...

With Christopher, I researched cloth diapers, was on cloth diaper sites, figuring out which ones I would order. I was going to do it, for about 48 hours. Then, it hit me how much I really hate laundry, and to buy the good cloth diapers is pretty expensive. While I realize they are cheaper in the long run, if you end up hating it, you have a bunch of cloth diapers and are still buying disposables. Not that I'm trying to discourage you, these were just my thoughts. I have friends who use cloth diapers, swear they leak less and highly recommend them. If I'd been living near them, I could probably have borrowed some itty baby ones to try out.

sara said...

I'm going to buy a couple to try out when Cashew gets here so I won't be totally out $$$$$. Laundry doesn't bother me, it's dusting that I hate! All those darn wood chess pieces & knick knacks that it was my job to dust growing up put me off it for life! Thanks Mom & Dad!

Les is More said...

I give you an A+ for verbal argumentation. You convinced me and now I think this is totally rad.

shanananana said...

Sara,
You are totally not nuts. Look at it this way: you're going to have to touch poop no matter what kind of diapers Cashew wears. You may as well use whichever diapers yo think are best for you and the baby.

KareBaer said...

I'm glad you are doing a trial run. You need to let me know how they work out - I'll have to start buying stuff at the end of April. Of course, I've yet to ever change a diaper, so I have no expertise on either. I was told that cloth diapers use more "energy" because of all the washing you have to do, but these have little maxi pads in them, don't they?

Anonymous said...

Hey there is an Aussie brand with flushable liners - so you just change near toilet - and flush the liner and mess away - although if you only have a full flush loo this doesn't save the environment much - we all have half flush loo's back home. I think you can make the loo use less water by putting a brick in the top part. The nappies have a cotton insert you put down under the liner - to absorb pee, and a cotton outer. I have friends who used them back home and swear by the cloth nappies - even if you just have 5 or 6 it makes for a lot less disposables and it is true - you can like leave the kid in the one cloth nappy for ages as they don't leak (not that you want to do this but sometimes out shopping it is just too hard to get to change place). I had cloth but just the plain old square ones you fold - they were great for those weeks we were short on cash, and when J got a nappy rash i used cloth for a few days to help clear it up. I had those nappies until we moved to america and used them for a hundred other uses - mainly spit up cloths. Are you going to make it for Thanksgiving??