Why you should buy diapers this week even if you don’t have a baby

| How to help | West Seattle news

Just one week till WestSide Baby‘s big Stuff the Bus diaper-donating day – but two big differences this year: For one, you’ll find the bus at Viking Bank (40th/Alaska) on the east side of The Junction next Sunday, rather than at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market as in years past. Second, WS Baby supporters have been having dozens of smaller drives all leading up to Stuff the Bus Day – so be on the lookout for additional places to donate diapers. But mark your calendar for 10 am-2 pm next Sunday (July 24) – there’s more room in the Viking Bank lot to get in, drop off, and get going – this page on the WestSide Baby website has all the details, including the sizes of diapers currently needed the most.

Diane July 17, 2011 (11:51 pm)

I am one of the ‘Diaper Drivers’, and I will drive to your home in West Seattle to pick up diapers/donations for WestSide Baby; as a longtime on-call infant caregiver (aka, babysitter) in homes of WS families, I see most families go through tons of diapers that they either get at Costco or order online, by the case load; this is not possible financially or logistically for many low income families, and diapers are absolutely vital for infant/toddler health & well being; so please call me (Diane) at 206-949-7377 or email divincent@aol.com
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I will also gladly pick up donations for the WestSide Baby’s On-going Wish List:
Clothing Shelves:
Socks and Underwear – new packages
Any gently used, clean clothes or shoes newborn to size 12.
Hygiene Items (shampoo, baby wash, diaper cream)
Baby wipes
Baby Gear: (gently used & clean)
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and I have WestSide Baby donation receipts, if you want to contribute check or cash

Lorelee July 18, 2011 (7:09 am)

Does WS baby have a supplier for purchasing diapers in bulk? IE- are my $$ more effectively donated rather than having me purchasing product?

Dana July 18, 2011 (8:13 am)

It takes one diaper 500 years to biodegrade. Babies use 6-10 a day for at least 2 years. I really wish there was something like this for cloth diapers. Cloth is so much cheaper for families and you are not throwing mass amounts of chemicals into a landfill.

I think what westside baby is doing for families in need is amazing… But I can’t help but look at all those diapers as a huge amount of waste in a landfill.
Is there a cloth diaper donation as well? Could westside baby use someone to teach families how to use cloth? Because I will do it.

WSB July 18, 2011 (1:32 pm)

On the “why not cloth?” issue – WestSide Baby has long taken great pains to explain. Here, among other places:
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http://www.westsidebaby.org/programs-and-services/diaper-bank
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I too wish it could be different – we were avid cloth users – but this is the way it is. We usually buy the ‘greener’ diapers (which you can get at PCC among other places) to donate, as a bit of a gesture… TR

add July 18, 2011 (1:21 pm)

@Loralee – the WSB staff has been working on this issue for years and it’s not as simple as it seems. I’m sure Nancy Woodland, Executive Director, will chime in here.

In the meantime, I wanted to emphasize that Huggies will be doing a double match for Stuff the Bus .. if we can raise 50,000 diapers they will donate 100,000 more!

Thanks in advance to our wonderful neighbors for all of your support.

Nancy@ WestSide Baby July 18, 2011 (2:10 pm)

Thanks for the “green” question and for WSB rounding up our answer for us! Most of the families we serve can’t afford the laundering, can’t “manage” it with the stress of their daily lives or simply can’t use them at their daycares. Most providers will not allow for cloth diapers. We’re working to push manufacturers to find a better alternative that will biodegrade faster. Huggies has said they’d love to and are working on it. We really appreciate all the efforts to help us fill the gap as it is now.

Nancy@ WestSide Baby July 18, 2011 (2:13 pm)

@ Loralee – we can purchase diapers at a slightly lower cost than you can. We truly want donors to give in whatever way is most convenient. You can bring diapers to the bus or Donate here https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/WestSideBaby/OnlineDonation.html .

We just learned our Huggies match will leave us with a big gap of Size 6’s if anyone wants to target that size!