Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Because I wanted to put the HIP in our PEE


diaper change challenge, originally uploaded by toyfoto.


In 1961 ...

John F. Kennedy became the 35th president of the United States;

The Beatles performed for their first time at the Cavern Club;

The Peace Corps was established;

The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, allowing residents of Washington, DC to vote in presidential elections;

The Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba begins and fails in two days;

A Freedom Riders bus was fire-bombed near Anniston, Alabama and the civil rights protestors were beaten by an angry mob;

The British protectorate ends in Kuwait and it becomes an emirate;

Ernest Hemingway commits suicide by gunshot in Ketchum, Idaho;

Construction of the Berlin Wall begins, restricting movement between East Berlin and West Berlin and forming a clear boundary between West Germany and East Germany, Western Europe and Eastern Europe;

Digital photography invented by Eugene F. Lally presented in a technical paper at the American Rocket Society's Space Flight Report to the Nation in New York;

The Fantastic Four #1 debuted, launching the Marvel Universe and revolutionizing the American comic book industry;

Catch-22 is first published by Joseph Heller;

"Barbie" gets a boyfriend when the "Ken" doll is introduced;

AND

Ann Coulter, American author, political commentator and attorney was born.

Not all of these things were bad. Some of the developments of that year were downright wonderful.

Proctor and Gamble also introduced the disposable diaper in 1961,

Of course the Pamper - now just a slender, soft, chemical laden, cloth-esque, urine soaking titan of its former self - has the unique distinction of being loved AND hated. Beloved because it freed women from the drugery of piles of poopy laundry but reviled because its padded puffs have added to our disposable economy and tipped the balance on our beleaguered landfills.

Over the years the lowly Pamper has gone from looking and feeling like a pile of paper towels wrapped in a plastic bag to a thin piece of padding "that gently gathers at the legs" and holds a literal shit load of liquid. It has confounded upstanding grannies of all ilk with its easy tab closures ... (cartoon character in the front, yeah?) ... because (some of them) didn't have such novelties when they were raising their children.

So in honor of 1961 (also the year of George Clooney's birth) I've made some small changes that might mean BIG changes. I've invested in cloth diapers.

For $150, I've purchased eight different diapers, two diaper covers, four inserts, four cloth wipes and a wet bag.

I'm starting slow: Weekends and vacations at first. (I don't want to scare the babysitter). But hopefully - at home at least - we'll see a little less of Ernie and a little more of our earnings. We might even help save the Earth. Anything is possible.

I mean, truly. If I'm excited at the prospect of washing poopy diapers ANYTHING is possible.

10 comments:

photomum said...

We LOVE our cloth diapers...and yes, it feels strange to be getting excited about washing diapers here too...but I LOVE it. It makes me feel good too ;). Enjoy the dipes!

Shalini said...

Oh, please post on how it goes! We're using a combo of gdiapers and disposables, because I'm lazy, but the gdiapers are really, really pricey and they leak through a lot faster than I thought they would.

Ellen Landrum said...

Good for you! We switched when Sophie was 8 months and I never missed disposables- be patient finding the right fit/wash cycle/etc., but once you have your system, you'll love it. And there's no guilt!! She's 2.5 now and can wear the same size dipes we bought at 8 mons. (Fuzzi Bunz mediums), if we need them at night.

Anonymous said...

Is it wrong to wish that the events surrounding Hemingway and Coulter had been switched?

toyfoto said...

I will definitely let you know how it works (or doesn't). When I mentioned it to Jed (who changes about three or four diapers a week) he rolled his eyes. I reminded him about our carbon footprint with his diesel trucks and he stopped complaining.

And Apathy Lounge: last I checked we are still allowed to wish. Of course, that was nearly eight years ago. Who knows, now. I wouldn't draw any pictures, though, if i were you.

Unknown said...

oh yes, keep us updated on that. read something related at sweetjuniper blog about cloth diapers. this is really interesting stuff. 150 bucks is a good investment! hope Silas likes the changes to come.

Anonymous said...

Best wishes for the change! I'm too lazy to do cloth diapers, but my MIL is potty training Jayden. He's almost 15 months, which from what I gather is the second chance time for Elimination Communication / Diaper Free Babies which is what they do over here. Well, they did, it's turned into a disposable diaper land now. Here's a link if you're interested in it
http://www.parentpages.net/tw/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2410&

toyfoto said...

Yeah, I know about EC. I have some friends who swear by it. Doesn't really change the time of actual potty training but it works for them in that it seems not only ecologically friendlier but also more in keeping with nature.

It's not for us, though.

Leighann of Multi-Minding Mom said...

You and I are so on the same page. I started looking at cloth diapers on the internet last night.

But in the beginning, I think I will put them on *after* my little guy poops mid-morning.

Please let us know how each kind works for you.

Carl said...

There are pluses and minuses. We had a diaper service with our first one for a while. We really didn't have time to do laundry every day then. Both kids were susceptible to severe diaper rash, and rough wet cotton was NOT an advantage there, no matter what the diapervangelists tell you. For that, keeping the moisture away is a good thing, and disposables rule. I've seen many many more landfills than the average person, and I've rarely even noticed a diaper. As for carbon footprint, it takes a LOT of energy to wash and dry cotton diapers (or cotton anything). So, if it works for you, that's great, but if not, don't guilt up.