TBT -- Why choose cloth? Readers weigh in.

It's another Throwback Thursday. Since I have a new grandbaby due to arrive any time now, I thought I'd revisit the cloth diapering discussion. This post is from November 2012. I asked the GG community to share their reasons for cloth diapering. Here's what they had to say:

My grandson in a newborn cloth diaper

Rather than telling you how I feel about cloth diapers, I thought it would be a good idea to share what other community members had to say about it. So I asked the community to email me and complete this sentence: I cloth diaper because...
 
Here are the responses I received: 
 
Nicole Leary of Tummy 2 Bummy Diapers says she cloth diapers because ...I only want the best for my baby, planet, and wallet. That includes diapers that are free from chemicals, not filling up our landfills with disposable diapers that don't decompose, and saving tons of money on diapers I can use for all of my children. Oh, and did I forget to mention that fluff is really, really cute? ;) 
 
Long-time community member and occasional guest blogger, Wanda Bolhous, from the Wanda Whoopie Cushion blog, answered: I cloth diaper with SuperUndies because Pull-Ups are way too expensive for a night-time bed-wetter!! We came late to the cloth diapering world, deciding to buy SuperUndies when our youngest had problems staying dry at night. We’ve had three pairs of SuperUndies for about three years now and have saved about $120 by using them! It was a $60 investment but so worth it! Now that I know about the bleach and crystals in diapers and Pull-Ups, I’m glad I was able to convert my husband to the idea on finances alone back before we knew enough to care about anything else. Cloth diapering is one way to make “green-living” a little cheaper! 

Still rockin' them

 
Romina, from Just Another Hat, weighed in: I cloth diaper because after about one and a half years of using disposables on our first son, I realized just how many diapers end up in landfills, which was disturbing. For the next one and a half years (he potty trained at 3 years old), I kept thinking that there has to be a better way to do this. And there was. I encountered modern cloth diapers through some of the blogs I followed. Although I was cloth diapered as a baby, I knew nothing about modern reusable cloth diapers. I was still on the fence until I saw a poster that said it takes 450 years in the ocean for a disposable diaper to degrade. Right then and there I decide to use cloth. A few weeks later, and after several hours of research, I broached the topic with my husband. He was definitely open to the idea (thank goodness). Today, we have a nice stash that I absolutely love. 
 
A fellow Pittsburgher, Judy owns Green Cheeks Diaper Service. Naturally, she's all about cloth diapering! 
 
"We started cloth diapering with our first son because it's natural. Better for him, better for the environment, more affordable. We didn't want the nasty chemicals in disposables anywhere near his tiny little butt, and plus cloth is so much cuter! As we went along and would be changing him in public, friends would say 'oh! what are those' and when we'd explain our prefolds and snappi and how it all works and why we were doing it, they'd often be interested, even supportive, but almost always finish with 'ew! I could never do that laundry' or something along those lines. It started as a joke, our saying we could wash diapers for them, but almost four years later we're two years into running Green Cheeks Diaper Service and making it possible for families in Pittsburgh to get all of those benefits of using cloth without having to wash the diapers themselves. We love what we're doing, and still love cloth diapering ourselves as we're on to round two with our seven month old even as we help other local families with their cloth diapering needs as well! :-)"

If you're in the Pittsburgh area and are looking for a diaper service, please give Judy a call at 412.818.7185. Cloth diapering without the mess!

Crafty Garden Mama, Becky Elmuccio, covers the 3-fold purpose of CDing: I cloth diaper because it reduces our costs and because I don't want to add to the landfill. They are gentler on our daughter too! I am happy to explain why we are doing what we do to other parents and talk to them about how easy they are to maintain.

These are just some of the reasons many of our moms here in the GG community choose cloth. Follow them on Facebook or Twitter and let them know you appreciated their answers on GG (link to their accounts on their websites/blogs.

Why do you choose cloth?