Diapers and their social issues and impacts

Diaper system working for both flushable and cloth inserts

shiniesbaby — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:31:49 +0000

From the research I found that many families in love with combination of gDiaper’s diaper cover with cloth insert. However it’s difficult to find insert fit gDiaper’s cover. My idea is to create a diaper system work not only for both gDiaper’s flushable insert and fitted reusable insert, but also using zip system to adjust sizes into small, medium and large. Plus, it also holds the biodegradable liner nicely to avoid slip aside. For people who in love with gDiaper system but not in love with its flushable inserts’ price, our cloth inserts can fit gDiaper’s cover nicely. For people who enjoy hand washing the diapers right after use, you only need to wash the insert instead of the whole diaper to save your time and energy.

Here are the main features of this cloth diaper system:

1. Bamboo and cotton fabric are used as raw materials, they’re natural and biodegradable. On top of that, these materials guarantee baby’s skin health.

2. Day use and night use bamboo micro fabric inserts are offered on consumer’s choice on behave of babies. Bamboo fabric is a natural textile and is more sustainable than most textile fibers. It is very soft and can be worn directly next to the skin. Many people who experience allergic reactions to other natural fibers, such as wool or hemp, do not complain of this issue with bamboo. Bamboo also has many antibacterial qualities, which bamboo fabric is apparently able to retain, even through multiple washings. This helps to reduce bacteria that thrive on clothing and cause unpleasant odors. It solves the pain of cost, diaper rash and hygiene issues. The diaper is designed to fit G-diaper’s biodegradable inserts too, ideal for traveling and overnight use. It solves the pain of inconvenience, leaking and bulky issues. These inserts are biodegradable, and very eco-friendly too.

3. 2 pairs of hidden zips allow consumers easily adjusts the diaper to a trim fit, and use the same diaper from newborn to potty training.

4. The diaper is offering Chocolate color series (see below). Colorful and non-bleachable diaper cover (upper portion) combined with Chocolate bamboo inserts (lower portion) provide a great diapering experience. On top of all, these color themes free diapers from staining too.

How to Use Cloth Diapers/ Cloth Diaper Cleaning Services

shiniesbaby — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:40:20 +0000

Got stinky diapers?

shiniesbaby — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:34:09 +0000

One of the most disadvantages of cloth diapers over disposable ones is washing them. Many families end up stinky diapers and staining. While here are some tips for washing them. Do not use baking soda or brightener on fleece cloth diapers, it will destroy the fiber and cause leaking issues.

Run a rinse cycle first on cold. This loosens soils and replaces the dunk and swish. If you have some really bad poopy stains, you can soak in the washer with a little well-dissolved Oxiclean before running the wash cycle.
Wash on hot with ¼ to 1/3 the normal amount of detergent. Try to use a detergent with the least amount of additives, such as optical brighteners. The cheap store brands often work well since additives cost money. Steer away from baby detergents which tend to be heavily perfumed, and exercise caution with free and clear detergents. Some people find F&C detergents to be acceptable, while others get buildup.
If you have particularly hard water, you may want to add a small amount of a water softener laundry additive such as Calgon.
Use the extra rinse setting if your washer has one. Check your final rinse every once in a while to be sure there are no suds from detergent buildup. You may add vinegar to the final rinse if you desire, for its disinfecting and fabric softening properties. Do NOT use commercial fabric softeners as these coat fabrics in a way that repels water.

Disposable diaper solutions- hybrid flushable diaper

shiniesbaby — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:06:43 +0000

The idea of flushable diaper is similar to biodegradable diaper. gDiaper only uses biodegradable insert as flushable part to achieve the goal of “plastic free”. As I said in the earlier post, gDiaper’s flushable insert breaks down completely in one year under dry condition, and able to be flushed in the toilet or composted in the garden. As the CEO of gDiaper said, the insert biodegrades significantly faster than a regular disposable diaper in landfill. In soil burial trials it biodegrades in 50 days. gDiaper is the only consumer good with “Cradle to Cradle” product certification, which means every element of the product is reabsorbed back in to the environment in a neutral or beneficial way. It was designed for those who don’t have time for cloth and feel bad about the disposables in the landfill.

Disposable diaper solutions –biodegradable diaper

shiniesbaby — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:49:48 +0000

Several diaper companies came up with the idea of biodegradable diapers that will decompose under the conditions found in landfill in a reasonable period. The Safeties Nature Nappy states that their diapers are able to break down in 6 months under normal conditions or eight months under dry conditions. The diapers consist of eight layers and a protein gel, and a grafted polymer with natural starch technology to ensure the moisture is drawn away from the skin. Many companies came up with biodegradable paper sheet too to put on top of cloth diapers. When baby poops, this layer helps to gather solid and can be thrown to the washroom, so the cloth diaper can goes directly to the diaper pail.

Some of the exports argues that the idea of a biodegradable diaper isn’t a solution because of the fact many landfills are not conducive to fostering the decomposition process. If there is a way to recycle biodegradable products and put them in an environment to help fostering the process, it would be an improvement on solving the solid waste issues.

Disposable diaper solutions – cloth diaper

shiniesbaby — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:28:09 +0000

Cloth diaper, is also known as reusable diapers. Comparing throwing away 5000-7000 diapers for each baby, only 15-30 cloth diapers for each child is enough. It saves environmental resources as well as solid waste in the landfill significantly. Further more, cloth diapers are also prevent diaper rash from chemicals. There are many types of cloth diapers, can be categorized according to materials and styles.

Prefold

Prefold diapers are the traditional type of cloth diaper, consist of a piece of square cotton cloth and diaper cover. The price of refold diapers is very reasonable. In average prefold cotton cloth is priced at $1.5~$3, and each diaper cover is around $5-$15. Prefold diapers are economical and natural, rarely has leaking issues. However the absorbency is low, it doesn’t pull the moisture away from baby’s skin. Many moms end up have their babies’ bum soaked in the liquid and likely to cause rash.

AIO diaper

Most of AIO diapers are fitted diapers. They consist of super absorbent layer and water proof material to guard leaking issues. Some of the modern AIO diapers also have a fleece layer to draw moisture away from skin. The “all in one” design retains diapering habit of disposable diapers, and very convenient to use. Many organic diapers are using AIO style too, that allowing organic cotton or bamboo material sit next to baby’s skin.

Pocket diaper

Pocket diapers were developed based on the ideas of AIO diapers; however they have an open pocket at the back and allowing customize liners for extra absorption. It is one of the most popular styles in the current market and many of the pocket diapers are designed as one size fit all, growing with baby.

Disposable diaper solutions- Diaper service

shiniesbaby — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:47:17 +0000

There are many diaper services available, and most of them pick up used diapers and drop off washed diapers weekly. Many diaper services choose prefold cotton diapers with waterproof diaper covers. They either charge monthly fee or per diaper usage. The average cost of diaper service is around $50-$80 per month.

Pros:

Convenient comparing to laundry your own reusable diapers at home, plus saving energy bill up to $60 per month.

No need to purchase reusable diapers at one time, releasing financial pressure.

Cons:

Some of the diaper service use chlorine bleach to wash the diapers. It will not only weaken fibers and causes fabric to break down faster, but also lower fibers’ absorbing ability and lead to leaking issues. Research found that Chlorine also have potential leading to health issues too. This factor needs to be keeping in mind when finding suitable diaper service for your baby.

Diapers need to be accumulating for a long term until pick up time. Bacteria will be built up and lead to hygiene issues. This is the main reason I’m not considering diaper service.

Overall, diaper service solves environment issues by minimize the waste generated from diapering, and it also reduces the waste of water and saves energy by bring all the diapers together and laundry them in industrial laundry machine. However it might not be as convenient as diapering using your own cloth diapers.

Disposable diaper solutions-introduction

shiniesbaby — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:59:38 +0000

The facts about disposable diapers are monstrous. World Watch estimated 450 billion disposable diapers are used each year and contribute nearly 77 million tons of waste to landfills. As I posted earlier before, disposable diapers made out of plastics takes around 250-500 years to degrade.

So what is the solution?

Many eco-friendly companies arise and provide varying eco options on earth friendly diapering system, from cloth diapers to biodegradable disposable diapers. Each solution improve the condition of solid waste in landfill significantly, however with each innovation new problems arises too. As I said earlier before, there is no 100% eco-friendly product. Wastes are generated and energy is consumed during the manufacturing process and using procedures. All we can do is to maximally save our resources and consumption of energy, as well as reduce the solid waste that goes to the landfill.

Basically there are four types of diaper solutions in general, and I’ll talk about the details in further posts

1, Diaper service

2, Cloth diaper

3, Biodegradable diaper

4, Hybrid flushable diaper

shiniesbaby — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:57:44 +0000

I found the following information is very useful and handy to calculate how much it cost to use disposable diapers in the early age of childhood, and this information is very handy to those of who adopt disposable diapers.

The newborn package (up to 10 lb.)
196 diapers at $0.34 each = $66.64

The infant size 1 package (up to 14 lbs.)
825 diapers at $0.22 each = $181.50

The infant size 2 package (12-18 lbs.)
990 diapers at $0.26 each = $257.40

The infant size 3 package (16-18 lbs.)
810 diapers at $0.32 each = $259.20

The infant size 4 package (22-27 lbs.)
720 diapers at $0.37 each = $266.40

The toddler size 5 package (over 27 lbs.)
1,260 diapers at $0.41 each = $516.60

The child size 6 package (over 35 lbs.)
2,548 diapers at $0.45 each = $1146.60

To sum up, in average it is estimated USD $2694.54 for 7349 disposable, single-use diapers used on each child. Cloth diaper is pricing at $7-$35 each depend on the brand, in average 15-20 diapers is recommended for each child for a 2-3 days laundry period.

Also here is a quick estimate of cost for laundry: Consumer Report estimates that the most inefficient washer and dryer system costs approximately $0.78 per load, whereas more efficient models cost approximately $0.44 per load. So wash your own twice a week for $0.44-0.78, including water, hydro and detergent — or spend $16.94-$22.05 for single-use disposable diapers. Please keep in mind that your child is in the large size single-use disposable diaper for the longest stage of diapering, and yes, they are the most expensive at approximately $0.45 each.

Overall, cloth diaper is almost as convenient to use as disposable ones, and extremely financially rewarding. It will pay themselves back in 3-6 months compare to the cost of disposable diapers, and after 6 month you’ll be diapering for almost free.

How it’s made – Disposable Diapers

shiniesbaby — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:35:38 +0000