the straight poop

when i had my first babe 3 years ago, there were only a few earth friendly alternatives to disposable diapers.

a. the seventh generation chlorine free diaper- truth be told didn't strike me as all that earth friendly. i mean really they use a polymer to absorb and still have plastic components that will never recycle. and they are a lot more expensive.

b. cloth diapers - i will not even get into why that is not a good option for me (or anyone who actually leaves their house)

c. elimination communication - if you don't know what this is consider yourself lucky that you have never been cornered by some kooky cambridge mom who swears that her 4 month old looks at her a certain way and she gets the pot for her to "eliminate in". no, no, no, no not me. not ever.

ok so flash forward 3 years, pregnant with my second. i'm travelling across massachusetts pimping our wares to various cool organic retail stores and i started noticing the g-diaper. oh sure, there were other new options, rumpster + under the nile make cute cloth diaper covers. but under it all, it was still a cloth diaper.

the g-diaper was different. it was some sort of cloth diaper/disposable "hybrid"...the prius of diapers let's say. there was a cute outer part, some kind of reusable liner and FLUSHABLE inners?

"do they really work?" i endlessly harassed store owners. the answer was always yes, but what were they going to say really? no, of course they don't work, but they look really really cool. it's like when i was shopping for a new computer at the apple store and asked the salesperson (who was 12 maybe?) what the difference was between a mac and a pc and she looked at me and said "it's just cooler". i bought it of course, and she's right. it IS just cooler.

i had to know more. i checked out the g diaper site and watched the following video "watch them break down". no really, watch the video first. don't keep reading, none of the rest of this post will make sense. it takes 2 minutes really, i promise. i want you to be in the same state of mind i was after watching it.

ok, thank you for indulging me.

so, how crazy is that? a disposable diaper takes 500 YEARS to decompose. and americans throw 50 MILLION diapers in landfills every day. that makes me feel all yucky inside.

here is how they work:


"little g pants" - there is a super cute and cozy outer part that comes in a bunch of cool hipster colors like chocolate brown and modern orange and this pretty new lavender color. jasper HAS to have this one and soon! the outer part velcros in the back so that little curious hands can't pull them off. genius!

liners - each outer part comes with 2 snap in plastic liners. both the outer parts and the liners are totally machine washable. and the liners say that you aren't supposed to put them in the dryer and you all know that is so NOT how i roll. i am happy to report that they didn't melt.

flushables - this is where the magic happens. this part is totally flushable, you have to tear off the sides and use this swishy stick to swirl it in the toilet before you flush. or, you can throw it in your garden to compost in 50 days. this sounds like something i would WANT to do, but would never happen. a. my garden is non existent living in the city and b. it sounds like just too much work. so i flush 'em, or i throw them in the trash when i'm feeling lazy or they are just too messy to deal with.

i bought them and am happily using them and i have to say that we did have one spectacularly wet diaper once. i think i didn't have the flushable in correctly though. and you can't go more than a few hours without changing them. which you shouldn't anyways but i got so spoiled by the disposables. i swear you could go a week in the same diaper, WHAT is in those things to make them so absorbent. nothing good my friends, nothing good.

you can get the starter kits and refill packs at most whole foods. or they were just added to the diaper delivery service diapers.com. but, i like to support my locals so i get my supplies at bird by bird on cambridge street in inman square. those chicks are cool and not a huge conglomerate. if you know of any other local place carrying the refills, please post them here. happy flushing!