GBA Lifestyle News
Victoria Chuard is the founder of baby online shop Petit Tippi, and also creator of Just Peachy, a colorful new line of hybrid pull-up cloth diapers. She tells The Loop HK about creating a reusable diaper that takes the guesswork out of cloth diapering and makes it easy for parents who are concerned about the environment to adopt the eco-friendly practice.
The numbers are staggering. Every year, 20 billion disposable diapers go to landfills in the US alone. Before you have a baby, it’s hard to imagine the amount of waste you will be generating with just one baby. Getting a pack of cloth diapers and using just three reusable diapers a day can save as many as 3,000 diapers from going to landfills, per child!
I had a steep learning curve with cloth diapering, and have helped so many parents over the years troubleshoot their cloth diapers, that I just wanted one that was easy — where the fit didn’t have to be perfect in order to get a leak-proof diaper; the inserts that came in the box were sufficiently absorbent even for heavy-wetters; and one that was truly one-size for newborn to potty training. We wanted to create an easy, pull-up diaper that doesn’t leak so that parents don’t have to compromise between being eco-friendly and having a well-functioning diaper.
My favorite new feature about Just Peachy’s diapers is that it can pull up, but also snap off if there is a poo, so it’s not only suitable for those toddlers ready to transition to underwear. Once your baby is rolling away during a change or walking, the pull-up feature will be a god-send!
There are some wonderful reusable diapers on the market today — modern cloth diapers have certainly come a long way. One of the biggest challenges for those hoping to give cloth diapers a try is that navigating through all the different systems and names and uses is too overwhelming. Many are paralyzed from over-choice.
There already are some great mass-market biodegradable disposables out there, but the problem is it still takes a long time to decompose, and depending on how waste is treated country by country, not all landfills allow suitable conditions for decomposition. Most people are also not aware that poop should also be flushed down the toilet where it can be treated properly as opposed to wrapped up in a disposable and tossed, which pollutes the soil and water.
Tell yourself that it doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. Even one reusable diaper a day will make a huge difference, so give it a go at home and soon enough you won’t even remember what you were worried about.