Wed 23 May 2007
A while ago I published a review of gDiapers, Seventh Generation diapers and Whole Food 365 diapers.
In the meantime I’ve received comments and questions from discerning and concerned readers, gained some more hands-on (hah!) experience with the gDiapers, and found some more questions on the net.
These are additional questions that I am now investigating:
- What is the “poly” in Seventh Generation? I assumed it was polyurethane, and left it at that, but a reader suggests: “It is still plastic; in fact, it’s the same polypropolene used to line landfills (that’s how water-tight and air-tight they are!).” I’ve written to Seventh Generation for clarification.
- Another concern is where that absorbant woodpulp comes from. Many (other) disposables get it straight from China, which raises many environmental and health concerns (e.g., poisoned toothpaste, melamine in pet food, and antifreeze in medicines).
- After a couple more weeks of using gDiapers, Amie started complaining that they are “too tight” and “hurt”. So, as per her request, in the update I will also address the sizing issue of gDiapers, the scratchiness of their velcro, and the lack of an Extra Large size.
- There will also be some musing on the gDiaper leaking-issue, and the staining of the snap-in/out liners.
If you have any other questions you want me to investigate, email me or comment on this post. (I just realized readers can’t comment on “pages”, which is what my review is, only on “posts”: will try to do something about that soon!)
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:25 pm
I really appreciate the thought that you put in to this blog to help create awareness about how easy (and crucial) it is for moms and dads to “think green”. It’s really beautifully done. I did want to make one clarification, if I may. While Seventh Generation and Tushies are elemental chlorine free, which means that they don’t produce the noxious dioxins that other disposables do, they are not biodegradable. They still have plastic in them. Maybe if you took a pair of scissors to each one and released the inside fluff they would break down, but thrown away as is they are not biodegradable. Don’t let the brown diaper fool you! It is still plastic; in fact, it’s the same polypropolene used to line landfills (that’s how water-tight and air-tight they are!). They may be “green-er” disposables, but are not the “green-est” options out there. I’ve been using gDiapers (and cloth) for about 10 months now, and though they took some getting used to, I love them. You mentioned on your blog that they leak a lot. Mine never leak. They did a few times at first but I found tips on the website and with a yahoo group that made all my leaks go away. I’ve had more leaks with disposables than these. I was using 7th generation and Tushies before I learned that they sit around for 500 years, just like the Pampers do. I wish I’d been using g’s from the get go when I think about all the others I used that are still sitting in the trash somewhere, out there.
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Thanks Annika, for posting your comment here so others can read it too.
I’ve written to Seventh Generation for clarification about the plastic and the “poly” and will let you know as soon as I hear from them.
I’m happy the gDiapers are working out for you. Despite the poopie “leaks”, we are still using them rather happily.
June 10th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Thanks so much for your close examination of the diaper issue. It’s really enlightening to read such a balanced review of green diaper issues. I am land-partners with Zane of Lichenology and we decided to give g-diapers a try with our toddler because 1) we were creating alot of garbage with disposables and 2)we have no washing machine or even indoor plumbing with which to deal with cloth diapers. Composting seemed like an ideal answer for us as we already have a composting toilet system. I wasn’t prepared for the extensive leakage onto both the liner and the cloth cover. Without indoor plumbing it makes rinsing the liners a bit of a bummer. I was using a bucket system where I would put poopy liners and cloth covers until I could get around to getting hot water and soap from the outdoor kitchen, and then hand wash, rinse and dry them. Perhaps I could go back to the g-diaper website and reread the tips for stopping leakage, because with this amount of work, we might as well be using cloth. And then there’s the whole SAP in our foodchain issue, and the price of shipping to Canada, etc…
Needless to say, I’ll be happy when our house is built and we have the systems in place to deal with cloth. For now I’m guitily returning to disposables, and, now that summer is coming, we’re encouraging a bare tush and the potty.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Thanks Genevieve, for your special take on diapers. I admire your commitment to the health of our planet and the next generations (I’m a big fan of Lichenology and if circumstances would allow us, we’d be over there with you as WOOFERS in no time!).
I also understand your feeling guilty. Amie still wears “green” disposables at daycare, where they just don’t want to deal with gDiapers, and each time I go buy a new bag of Seventh Generation, I have to take an extra breath. Even gDiapers, as you can gather from my review (perhaps), are not wholly satisfactory (the SAP, especially, bothers me, and the price).
I’ll be so happy to have Amie out of diapers: soon, probably. If only we had a garden or some private, outdoor space, where she could run around bare-bottomed.
June 20th, 2007 at 12:04 am
I hope you find a way to manifest the perfect rural property soon! I’ll stay tuned to your blog to see what happens…
October 11th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
thanks for that interesting article!
Have you tried the Tushies diapers? they are supposed to be the less toxic disposable diapers available, and they don’t have the gel inside.
I have bought some but haven’t got a chance to test them yet as baby hasn’t arrived.
Reviews on amazon are mixed, but they seem to be a nice gel free alternative… but I will try to use cloth for the main part…
October 12th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Hi Sardinette,
Strangely enough, I haven’t tried Tushies, simnply because they’re not so readily available. But I really should try some because I’m curious about how well they absorb, lacking the gel…
My congratulations on the baby! Keep us posted.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I can’t thank you enough for the time and effort you have put into this post.
This has really helped me make an informed decision about which diapers to choose.
best,
Coco
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Thanks for a great source of information on diapers. I have been using Seventh Generation since my son was born 6 months ago. I tried Tushies for a few weeks. They worked fine as far as absorbancy goes, but I didn’t like the tape closures. I have been toying with the idea of cloth diapers. I really just don’t like perfumes and chemicals on my baby’s skin. My local health food store is the only place I can buy 7th Genereation, and the last 2 times I needed diapers they were out, so I had to buy Publix brand. Have you done anymore research on the Tushies claim to have no Gel or SAP? If you call them they will send you one to try, so you don’t have to buy a ton to try them out. Let us know what you find out about Tushies.
June 28th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Awesome job!!! I have used cloth diapers on all 3 of my kids but now with us moving back to Manhattan (and thus sharing laundry facilities) I have started to venture out into musings about gdiapers. My only concern is the SAP and so after reading the ingreds list I came home to research and found your blog. Really great info, thanks for researching….personally, I’m still undecided and will keep up the cloth for now.
September 19th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Hi and thank you so much for this incredibly useful information! I will have to change my first diaper ever in a few weeks… and I would like to minimize problems (at least until I become an expert diaper changer) and maximize eco-friendliness at the same time. I thought about starting with 365 (or Tushies) and then shift to g-diapers after a while, and see how it goes. Do you have a different suggestion? One question: how much additional time do g-diapers take to be disposed of compared to disposable ones? I am a working mom-to-be and time is golden! Thanks again