Friday, September 12, 2008

A Green Baby Is Not A Goblin


Ok. I made the leap. Several months ago I posted that my girlfriend Julie was going to use cloth diapers with her newborn baby girl who is a week younger than Mia. That prompted me to research the options and found the G Diapers website. I was fascinated but too hesitant to commit. Now that Mia is a little older we decided to give the G Diapers a try.

I'd read mixed reviews on the G Diapers and noticed that the complainers were all the people going from the classic cloth diapers to the G Diapers (which describe themselves as a "hybrid") but those going from disposables to G Diapers seemed to be very pleased. Also, according to their website 50 million disposable diapers enter the landfill every day, where they sit for up to 500 years. That is just more than I can handle. Especially considering that we were in the practice of wrapping poop diapers in plastic grocery bags!!! There is also a freaky great video that shows the decomposition of a leading chlorine-free diaper, a disposable diaper and a G Diaper insert. You've got to see it to believe it. It's an investment, I know. But I feel like if I can cut down my impact on the ever growing poop filled landfills (you flush poop G Diapers down the toilet and can flush, toss or compost the pee-pee ones!!) then I can rest a bit easier. Besides, I also read that some people use cloth diapers as inserts in the pants. I could always try that. Plus, I've got a sleeve of disposables left. I'll let you know how it goes!

BONUS: I bot our G Diapers on http://www.diapers.com/. For 10% off your first order use the coupon code: CHRY3121

I also bought a bottle of California Baby®Non-Burning & Calming™Diaper Area Wash (only $7.95 from www.diapers.com versus $11.50 from California Baby's website). We're going to try using this instead of baby wipes. The point is to avoid alcohol and fragrance. I just read this article on www.thedailygreen.com which recommended holding baby under a running faucet at every baby change. Uh...I'm not really about all that. I can't really figure out the mechanics, am not down for the poop-in-the-sink scenario, plus then there's the whole wasting water issue. My girl Julie uses Booty Cubes which she loves.



At Mia's 4 month check-up, the doctor noticed that she has a vaginal adhesion. "Nothing to be concerned about", she said. "Just glob on the Vaseline and it should take care of itself." Vaseline is 100% petroleum jelly which is thought to be a carinogen because of the way it is manufactured. It coats the skin like plastic so it cannot breath. I don't want that on Mia's arm skin much less up her...area! That lead me to Alba's Un-Petroleum Multipurpose Jelly. I had to go to 4 local stores before finally finding it at Lazy Acres Market (our local Whole Foods-like store). While there I also found a ton of other great non-toxic baby products like this Rainbow Kids hand sanitizer.

Presently, I'm not as concerned with what I put on my skin but I'm highly concerned about what I put on their skin.

And as Christians, if we're not concerned about protecting 'our' planet - which we all know is not and never will be ours - then we are nothing short of hypocritical. In his book Serve God, Save the Planet, Dr. J Matthew Sleeth says,
As all those who consider themselves people of faith grow in their understanding that God holds us accountable for care of his creation, we will begin to see positive changes on an unprecedented scale.”
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1 comment:

Tessa said...

You go! Green Girl!! Mimi may not like you telling people about her business. Maybe you can delete that info before she is old enough to read it.