gDiapers

Okay, so I'm a little bored and I've been asked about this a LOT, so I thought I'd dedicate an entire blog post to diapers. I'm going to do this in a sort of Plato's Dialogue fashion. We are using a system called gDiapers (and yes, that "g" is supposed to be lowercase lol).

So, are they cloth? You must be nuts! No, they're not, actually. Well, okay, they *kind of* are. Confused yet? Don't worry. That will go away in a second. gDiapers are made up of three parts: a cloth outer pant, called a "little g" or a "gPant", a breathable nylon inner liner, and a flushable absorbent insert, known to us gMums as a "flushie". The gPants come in lots of cute colors and prints, some are even "limited edition" (Zach has 2 limited edition styles... the "earthday g" and the "glory g", the latter of which Zach is modeling in this post's pictures and is on clearance at gdiapers.com... hint hint hint!). Really, they are pretty much as easy as a disposable diaper (a "sposie" to my gMum and cloth diapering friends... yes, there is a lot of lingo that goes with it!). Velcro tabs make it easy to whip one on and off our little guy. We just keep our gPants preloaded with flushies in our changing table drawer. Easy peasy!

So, flushable huh? How does THAT work? It's actually easier than it sounds. After I change Zach, I take the insert out to the bathroom (now you know why we picked Zach's room to be where it is, next to the bathroom). Rip down both sides and the top, let the fluffy stuff drop in, swish it around (the starter kits come with a little stick for this purpose, but downstairs we just use the handle to our toilet brush that has the refillable sponge pads), and hit the lever. Down it goes! Here's a video explanation, in case you can't visualize it:



What if you can't flush them? Then what? Actually, you can just throw them away. They are 100% biodegradable. Plus, I can stick them in the little trash bins for lady products so people don't have to see a diaper in a public restroom. Pretty sneaky!

Are they expensive? Up front, the pants are a tad pricey... about $16 a pair, not counting the starter kit set of two pants, ten flushies, and a swish stick that retails for $26. However, like all my cloth diapering friends know, there are ways around that initial suggested retail price. I actually just bought a few pairs of pants off of eBay. Sometimes you can get lucky and find pairs on Craigslist for decent prices. There are also several online sites devoted to diaper trading. I think it's actually nicer to buy used gPants than used cloth diapers, as the g's tend to have very little direct contact with staining poo. You can always buy new liners from the gDiapers website. The flushies cost pretty much the same as sposies, and us gMums get coupons galore for them!

Okay, so why do these and not "sposies"? Well, as many of you know, Brad and I pride ourselves on being "green". Guess what the "g" stands for? :) From the gDiapers website: Why are gDiapers good for the planet? It is simple. Our flushables are designed using the Cradle to Cradle design principles of Bill McDonough and his firm MBDC. That means everything that goes into one of our flushables gets re-absorbed back into the eco-system in a neutral or beneficial way. So you are turning waste into a resource. At the same time, you are putting poop in the toilet, where it belongs, and avoiding the landfill issue all together. Check out this video of the flushie decomposing:



Where can you get them? Do you just have to buy them online? For the different colored pants, yes, you can only buy them on the website. Same with the optional cloth inserts, extra swish sticks, and extra snap in liners. For the starter kits (that come with two pairs of pants, one in orange and one in off white) and the flushies, they are sold locally at Babies R' Us, Buy Buy Baby, Whole Foods, and the Raisin Rack. At least, those are the places I've found. I know you can also buy the striped pants on Babies R Us' website, and I believe I saw something about Target's website starting to carry the different colors of pants. The cool thing about ordering directly from gDiapers.com is that there is a warehouse facility just up the block from our neighborhood, so I get orders pretty much on the next business day!

Anything else make these cool? Why yes! I found out today that all of the flushie inserts are made right here in Ohio! They are locally produced! Therefore, we are supporting our local economy by purchasing gDiapers!

Want to know more? Click on the gDiapers link in the bar on the right side of the page. There you can find out all about them, see all the little gPants they offer, buy all of the products (in case you want to buy Zach presents that he will use over and over... he's a size small by the way, and probably will fit in these until at least the end of this calendar year), read about their awesome business model and all kinds of neat stuff.

Zach sure likes them. But how could anyone not? Look at the cuteness!!!