GreenBrig

Diapers are life savers for parents nowadays, but they do come with a price – a hefty one. Other than being expensive, they are not environmentally friendly. There are steps being taken to bring out bio-degradable diapers, but apparently not many parents are a fan of how they feel on their baby. So the natural thing for companies to do is to create a new technology of diapers. This is where Pampers created their Dry Max Cruiser Diapers. They are 20% thinner and are cheaper to make. They absorb more and claim to give your babies more room to stretch. But with a little investigation anyone can see that they are far from being environmentally sound. To start with the diapers use a petrochemical in their diapers to make them thinner and absorb more. Once these diapers are thrown away into the garbage, it takes about 1000 years to decompose. The old diapers aren’t any better, but at least they weren’t make with petrochemicals and didn’t take 1000 years to decompose.  Secondly, even though these diapers are cheaper to produce, the savings aren’t being passed on to consumers. They seem to have made this change more for their bottom line, than for your babies. Finally, the design of the diapers are not practical for a moving baby. The contents of the diaper tends to come out and mess up the babies clothes.

Both on their website and on Amazon.com you can read many reviews from parents asking Pampers to go back to their old diapers. But change doesn’t seem to be coming. Diapers are bad, but this one is the worst so far. So please don’t support Pampers and ask for a more environmentally sound diaper. This will benefit both you and your baby in the long run.

It is very important that all of us start eating more organic and natural foods, but this is even more valuable for infants and children. Earth’s Best makes certified organic baby food for the past 25 years. Even though their business has grown, their product has stayed the same – simple. Earth’s Best food is formulated not only for you infants, but also for your growing toddlers and young kids. They also carry a small number of baby care products like chlorine-free diapers and wipes.

Behind the Ingredients

All the items that go into the product is grown without any pesticides, chemicals or growth hormones. More importantly they are free off  genetically engineered ingredients (GEIs) which are genes that are taken from one plant and inserted into another strain of plant to produce more crops or control pests. Most of their products are grown in 4 farms in the US, who all practice pesticide-free, organic agriculture.

Reviews from parents and doctors conclude that Earth’s Best product is a great and practical way to give the best to our children. You can buy this product from Earth’s Best Website or on Amazon.com. But now a days you can find this product at Whole Foods and Babies R Us. Hopefully you will give it a try and your picky eaters will like it.

There is the ever lasting debate over whether cloth diapers are greener than disposable diapers. After reviewing the study done by a UK government environment Agency in 2005, they have published that niether is better than the other. Cloth diapers use more water, energy and detergents to clean them, where as the disposable diapers add on to the solid wastes ending up in landfills. I personally think disposable diapers are convenient and a new parents best friend, but cloth diapers are reusable and you can use a bio-degradable detergent to wash them. In some third world countries, they don’t even have disposable diapers available and all they use are cloth diapers. So if you have the time and energy to use cloth diapers, do use them. I definitely believe in the long run, they are greener than disposable diapers. If your not one of them, and want to use a disposable diaper, read on and learn that Huggies is trying to become more green.

Landfills and Waste Managment

Yes, disposable diapers are ending up in our landfills nationwide, but according to the US EPA, diapers only account for 1.5% of the solid waste in the landfills. Eventhough, it is such a small percentage, Huggies has been trying to improve their diapers by reducing the weight and material in each diaper without compromising performance. This means there is less space being taken up in trucks that deliver them to the store, and less in our landfills, but most of all babies feel more comfort.

You might think a bio-degradable diaper might be better, but only if they end up in a place where there is air and water to decompose it. Most landfills have air and water restricted to the area and sealed from the environment. They are buried and their methane gas is captured to generate energy. Huggies uses this energy in one of their facilities.

Future

Huggies has been researching on making their diapers better without adding material but actually subtracting. There is an on-going effort to reduce the energy  spent on producing diapers and reduce their release of Carbon Dioxide.

They are taking steps to getting only Natural sustainable wood pulp for their diapers. Suppliers are encouraged to practice sustainable forest management and are certified their forests and fiber.

Step by step, the next generation will become to be know as the green generation. From the diapers they wear, we are setting up the next generation to be more conscience and aware of where everything comes and ends up at.