As part of our Earth Day 2010 Contest, Rachel M (our winner in the Mom-to-Be category) shares her thoughts on why cloth diapers are right for her family:
Our first baby is due June 25th and we've decided to cloth diaper.  Both my husband and I are concerned about environmental issues, particularly climate change and the impact of our 'carbon footprints'.  We decided that cloth diapering was something we could do that would actually make a difference - start putting our money where our mouth is so to speak (although we are in fact saving money in the long run, BONUS!). My mum cloth diapered all five of her children but my husband was "disposable" or "single use" diapered. It may sound a bit silly but he wishes he'd had the choice to not pollute landfills with 2-3 years worth of his dirty diapers! And that's the choice that we are making for our baby, our children are the ones inheriting this planet, I'd like their early years to be as environmentally-consequence free as possible. We can hope they make the right decision later in life...but at least we can make the right ones before they start making them for themselves. Change begins at home, one diaper at a time! :-) We understand it's perhaps not going to be as "convenient" to start out with - we live in an apartment with a front loading high efficiency washing machine and of course no clothes line in the backyard, so there will be challenges.  But we are committed and I am confident we will get into the swing of things with a system that works for us in no time! We have met with a bit of opposition in the form of the odd disparaging comment from relatives or colleagues at work.  Of course this just makes us more determined!  I have found online resources really helpful in looking at various types of diapering as well as getting feedback from other cloth diapering parents! I love the kinds of options that are available to us now - cloth diapering has come a long way from large cotton squares and safety pins!  It's encouraging as a mum-to-be knowing that there is support and advice out there and we're looking forward to being part of that community!
All the best with meeting your little one Rachel! *The opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the contest entrant and do not necessarily reflect that of New & Green Baby Co.  We wish to thank all of our contest entrants who graciously shared their stories to help further the education and support of families wishing to cloth diaper their children.  Read more about our Earth Day 2010 Contest. Previous: Eucalan No Rinse Wool Wash