Where are they now?

As we were approaching parenthood, we discovered possibly the best answer to the diaper question. The answer, we discovered, is g-diapers. They are chemical-free and  flushable/biodegradable/compostable. Designed to be flushable, if for any reason you can't flush 'em, you can compost them (those that have only "number one" in them) and if they do end up in the landfill, they are completely biodegradable.  There is even a pretty neat video on their website (www.gdiapers.com/gdiapers101/watch-the-videos ) that shows the decomposition comparison of a regular disposable diaper, a chlorine-free disposable diaper and the inside of a g-diaper. The g-diaper is completely gone within 2 months but the other two have hardly changed and, according to the video, the plastic will take over 500 years to decompose (if it ever really does).  With the number of diapers a baby goes through, we couldn't stomach the idea of dropping that much plastic from disposable diapers into the landfill. Cloth diapers are criticized for the amount of water, energy and the detergents and bleach you need to use to clean them.

Here's how they work: you buy 'little g pants' - essentially a cloth outer layer that comes in lots of cool colours. They have Velcro closures and soft elastic around the legs. Then you snap in a liner that is kind of like Gore-Tex - it keeps the liquid in but also breathes. Into that liner, a refill is inserted that absorbs all liquids and it's this refill that is flushable/biodegradable. Everything else is washable if it gets dirty. We started using them when Joshua was about 2 weeks old and they're great! They can even contain his nuclear poops!

We love them so much we want to tell as many people as possible about them. The website has a lot of information, including a list of where you can buy them (in Halifax, they're available at Uncommon Kids Gear). In our geographically limited experience, the little g pants aren't usually available for purchase at retail stores, but the refills are. We just ordered the g pants through the website and they were delivered quite quickly.

Last point: not only are they great for the environment, they're pretty darn fashionable, too!!

(P.S. They're the only diaper certified "Cradle-to-Cradle", which means everything they're made of can return to the earth. Read the book sometime and you'll rethink product design like never before)