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Dear Subscriber,
Good-bye summer, hello fall! It has been several
weeks since the last edition of "Live and Learn,"
and I am happy to be writing to you again, but I
also enjoyed the great vacation we just took to
Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons.
If you have never been to this truly wild corner
of the United States, make plans to go there
soon. Where else can you see bison, wolves,
grizzly bears, eagles, elk, waterfalls, geysers,
and the world's youngest mountain chain, all
while standing on top of an active volcano? A
truly unique place, and very family-friendly to
boot.
So now to this week's topic of discussion: the
Return of the Cloth Diaper.
When you think of cloth diapers, what is the
first image that comes to your mind? If you are
like most people, what you just pictured wasn't a
pretty sight. Safety pins, messes, and a huge
hassle. That's why cloth diapering was made all but
extinct forty years ago by Pampers and Huggies.
So why are cloth diapers making such a big
comeback in 2005? To put it simply, the Next
Generation of cloth diapers have been born, and
they're nothing like the ones your parents and
grandparents used.
When our daughters were newborns, we briefly
considered using a local cloth diapering service
(we were living in Menlo Park, CA at the time).
It was affordable, but in the end we decided that
cloth diapers would just be too much work.
Many months later, and after countless packages
of disposables, Alison made a discovery that
would revolutionize our household - Happy Heinys
cloth diapers. (see them now at
http://nossgalenbaby.com/heiny.html)
Happy Heinys are nothing like the cloth diapers
we had seen before. You put them on your baby
the same way you put on a disposable diaper, so
there is no need for difficult folding or needle-
sharp "safety" pins. And they come in all kinds
of pretty and sporty designs, so they are even
fashionable. And washing them? A piece of cake.
Needless to say, we were intrigued. But we
weren't sold yet, so we did our research. And
what we found blew our minds, making the decision
was simple as 1-2-3.
1) CLOTH DIAPERING WILL SAVE YOU THOUSANDS OF
DOLLARS.
At the current average cost of about
$.20 per disposable diaper, you are looking at
spending between $1,700 and $2,200 on disposable
diapers for your baby over the next 2 1/2 - 3
years. Add in disposable wipes and the ubiquitous
diaper genie refills and you've brought the total
up to about $2,600.
Happy Heinys cloth diapers are much more
affordable by comparison. If your child goes
through three sizes (as most children will), you
are still only looking at spending a total of
$930! That is with 16 diapers of each size and 25
of the high-quality Wonder-full liners. This
comes out to three purchases of $310 each (one
for small, one for medium, and one for large).
That is a savings of nearly $1,700!
If you then pass these diapers down to your next
child (Happy Heinys are very durable), that
child's diapering becomes nearly free. Wow!
2) CLOTH DIAPERING IS HEALTHIER FOR YOUR BABY.
When our parents were babies, nearly 100% of
children were diapered in cloth. Now that number
is around 10%. With the increase in use of
disposable diapers over the last 50 years, diaper
rash has risen from 7% to 61%. According to the
Journal of Pediatrics, 54% of one-month old
babies using disposable diapers had rashes, 16%
having severe rashes. Diaper rash is now
considered by new parents to be normal when, by
every means, it is not. The culprit behind diaper
rash is the waterproof nature and absorbability
of disposable diapers (two features that sound
great but really aren't). Disposables are not
breathable, and that keeps your baby's skin moist
and susceptible to rash. The absorbability of the
diapers also keeps many parents and caregivers
from realizing that a baby needs to be changed,
so the bad stuff is left against your baby's skin
for too long.
Happy Heinys cloth diapers are special in that
they are waterproof (as long as they aren't left
on for hours at a time) but the special laminate
still allows air to circulate and keep your
baby's skin dry. Babies in cloth have a radically
lower incidence of diaper rash (about 7.1%) and
their sensitive skin also does not have to deal
with the perfumes and chemicals added to
disposables. Next time your baby cries when you
are wiping his or her sore rumpus, remember that
you might have been able to prevent that by using
a cloth diaper like Happy Heinys.
3) CLOTH DIAPERING IS BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
Disposable diapers generate significantly more
solid waste and use more energy on a per-diaper
basis than cloth diapers. Every baby clothed in
disposables accounts for the use of 4 1/2 trees
just to make the stuffing that makes the diapers
so absorbent. After use, when the diaper goes to
the landfill (where it takes 500 years to
biodegrade) it takes along human waste. This is
not only unsanitary, it is a breeding ground for
diseases and a possible danger to groundwater.
Disposables represent the 3rd largest single item
(after newspapers and food/beverage containers)
in the municipal solid waste stream.
Although some people worry about the amount of
water it takes to clean cloth diapers, the fact
is that cloth diapering uses even less water than
disposables! The amount of water needed for
laundering is roughly equivalent to adding
another adult to your household. An adult would
probably flush your toilet 4-5 times a day, which
is about the same amount of water you will need
for your cloth-diapered baby. In the end,
disposable diapers use 37% more water during
manufacturing than home-laundered or diaper-
service-laundered cloth diapers do throughout
their lifetime. So even in the high desert of New
Mexico, cloth is best.
So there you have it, the Return of the Cloth
Diaper. Easy to use, easy to clean, and better
for your baby, your wallet, and the planet.
Check out our great selection of Happy Heinys
designs now at
http://nossgalenbaby.com/heiny.html and see for
yourself!
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Enjoy the last full week of summer!
Sincerely,
Paul
Paul & Alison Martin
Noss Galen Baby LLC
www.NossGalenBaby.com
Copyright, Noss Galen Baby LLC 2005
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