Submitted by Lorraine Baiardo
As a new mom, I feel extremely guilty about using disposable diapers. I know how bad they are for the environment, and I’ve had trouble finding a practical solution to this issue that fits within my financial means. I looked into diapers services in this city, and there is only one, and it is a pretty penny per month.
I also looked into buying washable diapers, and it was going to cost me about 500 dollars to get 12 diapers to use during my baby’s first three months (I was going through close to 12 diapers a day). Then I would have been consuming more water by using the washing machine 24-7 in the desert that is Albuquerque, NM.
And so the bad started to outweigh the good. It was overwhelming to think about, and it caused many arguments with my husband. My husband is all for using cloth diapers, but he was not taking all these details into consideration. Now that our baby is almost a year old, we realize that we probably would not have survived the “life-altering” change that a new baby brings if we were tied to our washer and dryer for the year. It would have been replacing one umbilical cord with another (the washer). My diaper-using makes me embarrassed, and I feel bad for the environment. I know there are some eco-friendly type, but why so expensive, people?
One thing I do feel good about is this: I use old peanut jars and old pickle jars as drinking glasses and even as to-go water bottles. Word has been getting around about chemicals in water bottles, and I think of this as a win-win situation for me and my small family of three. We do get weird looks when we are carrying glass bottles to work that have ice and maybe a wedge of lemon. But to me, it’s like, “I got this cool water bottle for free with my peanuts, and now I get to drink out of it and not worry about my hormones getting all jacked up.”
Sometimes when I go to Target or something, I think it would be nice to have a pretty set of glasses that all match, but then that would just be wasteful and indulgent because my jars work just fine and they have screw lids to make drinks to-go. In addition to that, I try not to not create demand for more glasses because it is wasteful. I am practicing creative recycling in this community, and it is working quite well.
I think that my jar using is sort of helping to counteract my diaper waste, but it is an ongoing internal struggle. I also recycle plastics and try to avoid eating out at places that give styrofoam cups and lots of trash with the food.
In that respect, I feel like I am doing more of my part for the grayer side of the city of Albuquerque. I also make my own baby food, so that I do not contribute to the demand of more waste that each little jar would create. I am genuinely trying to live greener because I value the lifestyle and sacrifice that is needed to keep our community clean for our future generations.
Photo Caption: Lorraine Baiardo and her baby in Albuquerque, NM. (Photo courtesy of Lorraine Baiardo)
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Ken O. says:
You make your own baby food? Liked reading your story. I'm sure you have already seen it, but in case not, check out No Impact Man's blog about his family in NYC. He tells his family's daily story there:
http://noimpactman.typepad.com/
Cheers!
Jay G. says:
Good work mom! If you haven't yet I'd give gdiapers a try.
http://www.sustainlane.com/reviews/diapers/V7FOC4PX1NYWORHAXSX9M4N9HBRN
They are the most eco disposable option we found. Be careful about flushing them, however, I'd just flush the poop and toss the paper. Or better yet, compost em.
Alexis C. says:
$500? My goodness -- what kind of diapers were you thinking about buying?! Buying a dozen one-size-fits-all-ages diapers, like Bumgenius, would only run you $216, by my calculations. Not to mention you can use them till potty-training AND for your next kid :) And you really aren't "tied to the washer and dryer." I find I'm doing so much laundry that another load really doesn't make a difference!
However, I do understand that water is pretty expensive out there. (I'm in Michigan, so, fortunately, water is very affordable here.) So I can definitely see how you would have to take that into consideration from both an environmental and financial standpoint when choosing what kind of diapers to use.
Mariel T. says:
This is definitely a dilemma. There is so much waste produced with diapers. I don't know how feasible this might be, but did you look into sewing your own diapers or finding someone who would? I think that is how my mom did it..
Glass jars are great! Great for storage as well. We put herbs, spices, salsa, etc in them. They're better than a lot of the tupperwares that eventually wear out.
None of my glasses match. I got them all from thrift stores or as gifts. If you try a thrift store, you may be pleasantly surprised to find a matching set. Then you could use your jars for storage. I do like glasses better than jars, because that screw lip is a bit annoying.
Eileen J. says:
I never purchased baby food for my babies. It was full of unhealthy additives. I used a little hand grinder and ground up whatever we ate (as long as it was appropriate) for the babies. They teethed on thick dried apple slices, and their first food was mashed bananas.
I used cloth diapers. They went through 20 per day each and that made one load of laundry. They did not cost $500, and did not require too much water.
Congratulations on caring about health and the environment, and thank you for your contribution to improving civilization.
Cris Bisch says:
One of my daughter's baby shower gifts was a huge bag of used diapers (clean of course, but a bit tattered and frayed on some of the edges). I think our friend paid around $20 for the entire garbage-size bag of diapers. She bought them secondhand from a diaper service. I too, used cloth diapers and glass baby bottles and ground all my girls baby food with a hand-grinder when they were young, thirty years ago. Occasionally, I bought jars of baby food and disposable diapers. Water consumption is a huge problem in many parts of the country. All of us need to use less water. The invention of the biodegradable, disposal diaper is a good solution. I wish I had that choice when my girls were babies! Sometime moms just need ease and expediency, even if it means spending more money and compromising our commitment to be a conscious consumer and living as "green" as possible. Being a mother, especially a working mother is a juggling act. My daughter still prefers biodegradable, disposal diapers and uses the cloth diapers for burping, to put under the baby when changing her, and the baby uses a cloth diaper to play with and as a "blankie" to snuggle with. As you mention, there are so many ways to make a difference every day to be environmentally responsible. I think your eclectic mix of jar glasses is a fun and simple solution!