Cloth Diaper Demonstration

I am so excited about a cloth diaper demonstration that I am having at our home this Wednesday at 6:30. Toasted Baby, a diapering service in Indy, will be doing the demo. They have a service with prefolds diapers for $20/week which is great for career moms. They bring you 100 initial prefolds to your home then weekly thereafter pick up your dirty ones and drop off fresh ones. They also have BumGenius, Fuzzibunz, etc for moms who have the time to wash them at home. These average about $15-$17 a diaper including the inserts. Check out their website at www.toastedbaby.com and if you are interested, let me know and come to the demo this Wednesday at our home at 6:30 p.m. However, they will not be selling any products, just demonstrating. We get to touch them, use them on a bear, etc. It should be very informative. I am very excited and have done a ton of research. It really isn't as overwheling as you may think. A few good websites are www.jilliansdrawers.com, www.diaperpin.com, www.cottonbabies.com Also, here are a few good facts about how using cloth is better for the environment and your budget.
An estimated 27.4 billion disposable diapers are consumed every year in the United States


A single disposable diaper may take 250 to 500 years to decompose (1)


Over 92% of all single-use disposable diapers end up in a landfill (2)


Disposable diaper use contributes to 1 ton of garbage containing untreated human waste per baby to landfills (4)


Over 300 lbs of wood, 50 lbs of petroleum feedstock and 20 lbs of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for ONE baby EACH year (3)


Disposable diapers make up the 3rd largest single consumer item in our waste system – following newspapers and beverage containers (1)


In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of household waste (1)


1 Link, Ann. Disposable nappies: a case study in waste prevention. April 2003. Women's Environmental Network.

2 Lehrburger, Carl. 1988. Diapers in the Waste Stream: A review of waste management and public policy issues. 1988. Sheffield, MA: self-published.

3 Lehrburger, C., J. Mullen and C.V. Jones. 1991. Diapers: Environmental Impacts and Lifecycle Analysis. Philadelphia, PA: Report to The National Association of Diaper Services (NADS).

4 Flug, Rachael; Top Ten Environmental Reasons for Choosing Cloth Diapers; http://diaperaps.com/home/dp1/environment_main.html
Amercians spend about 7 billion dollars on disposable diapers every year. The cost of cloth diapering can easily be less than 1/2 the cost of buying disposables.

Cost Savings: Cloth Diapers vs. Disposable Diapers


Disposable Diapers = $2,214.00
1st 3 months ($270.00)
30 days/month x 10 diapers/day x 3 months = 900 diapers a month
900 diapers x $.30 = $270.00
4 - 30 months ($1,944.00)
30 days/month x 8 diapers/day x 27 months = 6,480 diapers
6,480 diapers x $.30 = $1,944.00



Chinese Prefold & Bummis Super Whisper Wraps = $734.00
Chinese Prefolds ($132.00)
36 infant prefolds @ $2.00 each = $72.00
24 regular prefolds @ $2.50 each = $60.00
Bummis Super Whisper Wraps ($242.00)
8 small covers (white) @$11.00 each = $88.00
8 medium covers (white) @$11.00 each = $88.00
6 large covers (white) @$11.00 each = $66.00
Laundering Cost
24 months x $15.00/month = $360.00



Bumkins All-In-One = $1,807.95
Small (White)
36 @ $15.99 = $575.64
Medium (White)
30 @ $15.99 = $479.90
Large (White)
24 @ $15.99 = $383.76
Doublers for overnight
3 @ $2.95 = $8.85
Laundering Cost
24 months x $15.00/month = $360.00


Assumptions:
Average cost of disposable diaper = $.30. Based on price review at local area Kroger.
Laundering Cost is estimated at $15.00/month. This may vary based on the age and style of your washing machine.
Babies who are cloth diapered are potty trained on average in 24 months versus 30 months for those who wear disposable diapers.
Wipes & other accessories are not factored into this comparison. There would be further costs for both disposable and cloth and could vary greatly depending on the accessories used.