donated diapers good but…

[Vanessa]

Sorry for this observation because your collections for those who are in need, is wonderful, but I cannot help but think about poor Mother Earth and the landfills full of plastics and disposable dirty diapers. I know the solution is not affordable for so many but please don’t let this thread get crazy for those of you who love to jump on those who comment. This is just an observation that I should

have kept to myself. We’ll see.

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[JustSarah]

You’re right; it’s not ideal for everyone to use disposable diapers. But you’re also correct that the “solution” of cloth diapering is not affordable or tenable for most people who rely on donated disposable diapers. Even if cloth diapers were collected for those families, the costs and time required to clean them may be impractical.

My husband and I chose to cloth diaper our 9.5-month-old son, but we have the financial resources and time to do so. We own our washer and dryer–no running back and forth to a communal laundry room, nor paying several dollars per load. We work traditional hours that allow us the time to throw a load of diapers in the laundry a few evenings per week. We can afford to send our son to a daycare center that is open to also using our cloth diapers. And finally, there are two of us; many of the families who need the services provided by Westside Baby are single-parent households.

We make cloth diapering work, and it’s the best choice for our family, as it aligns with our values. That said, cloth diapering is still not the norm in our society, and people still wrinkle their noses at the idea. But that’s another topic. My point is, cloth diapering in our society is something that, for the most part, is only practical for people of certain means. And even among those people, only a minority choose cloth (and that’s OK; we all do what works for our own families). To expect the people of lowest means to make this change when so many above them don’t, and aren’t expected to, is unfair. I know your heart is in the right place, so don’t take this as an attack; I mean it as a “devil’s advocate” critique.

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[JustSarah]

And I will add that I did donate a giant case of diapers to the Stuff the Bus drive, and will continue to do so. :-)

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[WSB]

WestSide Baby has copiously and frequently explained why as much as they wish this weren’t so, disposable diapers are the only kind that work for the families to whom they provide help. It’s explained simply on this page:

http://www.westsidebaby.org/programs-and-services/diaper-bank

We used cloth diapers and washable diaper covers in our baby-raising years. But we had the luxury of a decent household income (enabling us to pay for a diaper service – which burned gasoline to get to and from our home, though) among other things.

If you can use cloth diapers, please do. There are a lot of other sustainability issues raised in parenting and thoughtful consideration of all the decisions before and during baby-raising is a wonderful thing. But believe me, the diapers collected by WestSide Baby (whose diaper drive we proudly support as a co-sponsor each year) are NOT going to people with an option. They’re going to babies and toddlers who otherwise will sit in dirty diapers for hours because the family can’t afford more – and that raises other concerns (health, health-care costs, etc.) …

Tracy

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[anonyme]

Vanessa, don’t feel bad for bringing this up. Yours is a valid concern, and you have every right to voice it. I was thinking the same thing myself…

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[Vanessa]

…and for what it’s worth, I donated cash over the weekend as well, at our neighborhood Thriftway AND had a great sandwich. I am really thankful to those with enough care and compassion to give of their time and what money can be spared. Keep up the good fight everyone!

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