Diapers, Chocolate, Day Off

Diapers in the Compost?

I recently received the following email from a reader:

"Hi
I came across your blog and was very impressed with everything I read!

I gathered you live in the Toronto area
Here is a question I hope you may be able to answer (as I live in Quebec and am so curious)

Toronto has an organic waste program
I was interested to learn that diapers (with WASTE ? in them??) are placed into these containers and shipped away to the compost heap??
My question is any diapers (even those "plastic " ones; like Pampers??)

I use cloth and eco friendly diapers exclusively because I didnt want to place more of a burden on the environment than I already have (laundry is a necessary evil...)
So I was so baffled to learn that "plastic" diapers were being composed of in TORONTO.

I hope you can clear this all up for me.

Eagerly awaiting your reply
Neige
mom of a spunky one year old in Montreal, QC"

The Answer is yes. We can put diapers in our green bin all kinds of disposable diapers does not matter whether it is a G Diaper, Pampers, Huggies, Seventh Generation and so on... The city uses a processing technique that separates the plastic from the compostable materials. This is what the city of Toronto say about it on their website.

"Toronto’s program was created to maximize convenience for residents which included being able to use plastic bags and to accept hard-to-process materials such as diapers."

"Any plastic that goes into the system is removed as residue."

"The disposal of plastic residue is the responsibility of our contractors. Our contracts specify that our residue must go to our own Green Lane landfill."

"The system that Toronto chose to process our green bin materials is different than that used by other, less urban municipalities. The City’s own primary processing facility is functioning flawlessly and was built to remove the plastics in the system. This facility is also able to handle diapers. The plastic in diapers is removed as residue and fully accounted for but the remaining material is digested and composted."

Have I ever used the city's compost - no; so I can not comment on how effective the process is or the quality of the compost. I do know that many people line up every year to get the compost and the city always runs out. This year we need a large quantity of compost as we are going to plant lawn in our back yard; I am thinking of getting the city compost because it is free. If I do I will blog about it.

For the burden on the environment; It seems the debate never ends especially when you can toss your diapers in the compost. We decided that a combination works best for our family and our conscious (as to the burden on the environment) When we are home C Monster is in cloth and we use cloth wipes. We wash our diapers once every 3 or 4 days and use natural products to do so (vinegar, natural laundry soap, borax - it all depends on the day). When he is out and about for more then an hour (i.e. he will probably need a diaper change) we typically use Gdiapers. I say typically because we received 2 large boxes of pamper style diapers from my sister-in-law. I am not crazy we used them; to replace them with the same amount of Gdiapers would have probably cost over $200 - also they were already purchased whether I use them or someone else does. This combination of diaper styles seems to rest well with us; I think no matter what you choose unless you EC will tax the planet in one way or another - it's a matter of finding something you are comfortable with.

Chocolate & San Pellegrino

I rarely buy candy bars; if I want chocolate I will do the short walk to Kakayo and get an hand made organic truffle ( I know sound decadent - they are ). Today the chocolate monster that lives in me convinced me to buy not one but 2 candy bars (an Aero and Cadbury) and to wash them down a San Pellegrino Limonata.

The guilt monster in me fells horrible not one but 2 of these products are owned my Nestle - I don't like Nestle as a corporation.

Mama get's a brake

and C Monster spends the day with Papa... [Except for his needed mama and C Monster mandatory lolo (nursing) moments]

@ the drop in

why are you taking my picture - i just woke up

trip to the park

@ the park

must eat every last drop - ice cream

my money

Review Fuzzi Bunz Diaper

Fuzzi Bunz: We only own one of these because I have issues with the positioning of the snaps; this is probably our most hated diaper for that only reason.

The positive points:

• Comes in a variety of colors
  
• Dries quickly (1 run in the dryer)
• Available at most baby boutiques
• Wicks moisture extremely well
• Poo stains come out of the outer layers extremely easily (so even-though the stuffing may have a stain the diaper looks clean)
• Reasonably priced ($18.50)
• not bulky
• looks cute one baby
  

The negative points:

• Mass produced product (not locale)
• Not organic, inside is bleached white
• Sometimes leaks at night (I think a doubler would fix that)
  
• The snap positions make it extremely cumbersome to close (this by itself made me decide we did not want to use these diapers - this is the reason why we only have one)
• Because inside layer wicks so well; if he has an open air incident while changing the pee just runs down the sides and goes all over his outfit.
• sized - you will need to purchase more diapers in your babies diaper wearing days

Would I recommend to someone else:
only if this is the only option you have for cloth, so basically no.

Would I buy again for my son:
no

Review Baybees Diaper

Baybees: These were our original choice; however they are no longer available. We selected these after doing tones of research however since Chrisrtophe was not born yet we never baby tested them.

Model we tried out was the "All-in-one"

The positive points:

• Comes in a variety of colors
  
• Organic bamboo or cotton on the inside
• Dries quickly
  
• Reasonably priced ($16.50 each)
• Fast shipment (at lease to Toronto)
• Goes on and off easily
• Locally made (made in Ontario)
• Mom enterprise
• not bulky
• looks extremely cute
  

The negative points:

• Leaves redness on baby's skin because the lining does not wick away moisture
• Only available on-line (currently not available)
• Since the closures are snaps we sometimes found the diapers were too loose or too tight (velcro would be better to avoid that)
• Would sometimes leak at night when he was very little; now almost always leaks at night
• sized - you will need to purchase more diapers in your babies diaper wearing days

Would I recommend these to some-else:

If you are looking for a organic cotton or bamboo diaper that is easy to use an inexpensive yes; otherwise no.

Would I buy these again for my son:

Probably not

Types of Cloth Diapers

I have been meaning for a while to post about this. We use cloth at home and disposable/cloth hybrids on the go. Because I have a lot to say about diapers I am going to divide this in multiple post with information on diaper types and reviews.

So first lets address the various types of cloth diapers:

Flats: These are one-layer diapers and are the most “old-fashioned” choice. Usually the less expensive choice however I was not up to all the folding and pinning that are required. We never considered these they are too cumbersome.

Prefolds: These are similar to flats, but have multiple layers with more layering in the middle. They come on a multitude of sizes from preemie to toddler. You can get them in bleached or unbleached. You typically use a fitted wrap-style cover over them; however they can also be pinned. You can also get prefolds made from hemp or bamboo both of these are more absorbent then cotton; however more expensive. Positive points are that they fit a wide range of body types and sizes, don’t have elastic/snaps/velcro to wear out and are very absorbent. Even though we received about 30 prefolds from Geoff's sister that she never used with her kids, it took us forever to try them, because again we are going for simplicity and I could never seem to remember how to fold them. Also they looked huge on him when he was first born. However with a bit of practice these are now one of our favorites.

Fitted: Fitted diapers often have elastic at the legs and back and basically look like a disposable diaper. They can have velcro or snap fasteners, plain or printed outers, and can be made from a variety of materials like organic cotton or hemp. You need to use a cover over the fitted similar to a cover you would use with a prefold to ensure that you do not get any leaks. Papa likes these well enough, maman does not.

All-in-ones (AIO): The absorbent part of the diaper and the cover combined into a single diaper, just like disposables. These are extra easy to use. You can get some with snap closures or with velcro. They come in a multitude of colors and a variety of fabrics with cotton being the most common. Because everything is combined in one they can require anywhere from one round to 3 rounds in the dryer depending on the brand. Many AIO come with doublers (kinda of a liner) that snaps inside for extra absorption. We have tried a few AIO most of them worked fine.

Pocket Diapers: These have a layer of fleece sewn to a cover with an opening in the back so that the inside of the diaper can be stuffed with any absorbent layer. The fleece lining wicks moisture away from babies' skin, leaving it dry to the touch. Once again these are extra easy to use and look just like a disposable (once stuffed). You can get these with snaps or velcro. Unlike the AIO these typically only take one round in the dryer. Once again we tried a bunch of these and they all seem to work.

I am sure there are others styles that I have not covered but I think that is the most common ones.

Out of all the types we have used our favorites are Pockets and Prefolds; I will share why during the reviews of each type.

Busy Times

Lost has happened since my last post...

Last Sunday Christophe went for his first "walk". We had been out and about many times but never for the purpose of walking. We bundled up Christophe and took the bug out with the bassinet, we ended up walking all the way up to the Danforth and picking up a few grocery items from a small market there.

On Tuesday this week we had a midwife appointment. Christophe weighed in at 8lb 2oz. He is growing too fast a few of his smaller onesies are already too small and a few pj's are getting there. It was Sara's last day as a student so it was nice to see her one last time. She is going to make a fantastic midwife. Sara said we can start weaning him off the formula so we have been doing one feed with formula one without. Most times (well 50% of the time) that we offer him formula he refuses it. After the visit we went up to my work to show him off to my colleagues and pick up a few items that I had left behind due to his unexpected arrival.

My sister called to let us know she is coming for a short visit. She will be arriving on Sunday and staying for a few days; I am excited to have her over.

On Wednesday we had a very exciting day... we started at the Big Carrot to pick up some food, the traveled to Queen street to go to Baby on the Hip were we picked up some disposable diapers, disposable wipes, flash cards and cloth wipes. The disposable stuff is for when we hit the town we only use cloth at the house. After that we stopped in at The Upper Crust for Supper and popped in to my pre-natal yoga classes to say hi.

In the mix of all of that I still found time to take some photographs of my favorite little guy.

Bay Bees

The diapers we've settled on, for the most part, are these all-in-ones from baybee.ca:


In general, I think we're pretty happy with these. Service has been good -- they were able to send us some diapers quickly when the baby came early. Canada Post prevented them from arriving quickly, but that's not Bay Bee's fault.

If you're considering cloth diapers, I'd recommend you give 'em a look.

last day with no daddy

So we survided 1 week without Geoff. I was amazing at how well I slept I was sure I would be up all night as in the past when Geoff was gone for a night. I think snoogle help a lot. I used to sleep cuddled with Geoff but since I have been pregnant he has been replaced with snoogle. He does not blame when I am not in bed I often find him snoogling too. I also think keeping busy helped a lot, it's weird how when you spend all your time with someone that you don't know what to do with yourself when they are not there. For example I could not sleep friday night so I when to do the groceries at 11:30pm just so I did not have to watch TV alone.

Yesterday Brenda and I went to the Baby and Toddler show downtown. It was interesting I was able to learn a lot about products I was interested in like breast pumps, diapers, strollers. I think i figured out the diapers we are going to use. I am going to order a sample from them so Geoff can take a look at them but other then that I think I am sold. Its the All in One by BayBee. I really like the fact that these are cotton or cotton/hemp or cotton/bamboo blends on the inside which is the important part because that is what will touch baby's skin. The fact that they come in a variety of fun colors is nice too.

Brenda picked up a few presents for baby. Thank you grandma. Same as for me. But we were all very good and did not spend too much money.

Today I am to Brampton for lunch with Roy, we are planning on going to look at a few baby (oh there goes baby he is kicking around) stores before I have to go pick up Geoff at the airport.

13 weeks 6 days

I have been ping-ponging back and forth between cloth diapers vs disposable diapers. I don't like the idea of the amount of waste that is created when using disposable diapers but on the other hand don't like the idea of using bleach on something that touches chou chou's little bum. Tonight at Yoga Class the pre-class discussion was on diapers and after hearing someone else experience and that they did it all without using one drop of bleach it's making me want to do cloth. Tara has a bunch of cloth diapers we can use so cost wise it wont be too much if we use hers. She has some new ones and some used ones I think I will only take the new ones since I know she washed hers with bleach. That's it, I think I convinced myself we are going to try cloth.

For those wondering baby is doing well we have our second midwife appointment on Wednesday. On the other hand mama feels like she needs a bit of pampering so tomorrow night we are going for a manicure and pedicure.