I’ve been reading a lot about the gDiapers. Heard of them? From the best that I can gather their targeted audience seems to be parents that use disposable diapers, parents that want a more earth-friendly or natural alternative to disposable diapers, and/or first-time parents deciding on how they will diaper their children. Still, even with their target audience, I do not see how they can sell the idea. I don’t get it.
Let’s start with gDiapers, as described on their website:
“Why are gDiapers good for the planet? It is simple. Our flushables are designed using the Cradle to Cradle design principles of Bill McDonough and his firm MBDC. That means everything that goes into one of our flushables gets re-absorbed back into the eco-system in a neutral or beneficial way. So you are turning waste into a resource. At the same time, you are putting poop in the toilet, where it belongs, and avoiding the landfill issue all together.”
Okay, this is BETTER than disposable diapers, I’ll admit. Disposable diapers require that you throw them away entirely. gDiapers requires that you flush an inner lining. So, if one were to look at it from that perspective alone, truly there is an environmental benefit.
However, let’s think about one of their targeted audiences, disposable diaper users. Having used disposable diapers with my first child I could appreciate the convenience factor. I mean, take it off, wrap it up, throw it away. The mentality is self-absorbed and indicative of our society’s view that there will always be enough trees, oil, and landfills to meet each individual’s needs, but other than that … easy squeezy.
I appreciate the gDiapers website…I just don’t see the market or the need for them.
So, with that mentality, how does this mesh? Go and watch the video. Do you think this is an option a disposable diaper user will want? The benefit of disposable diapers is that you do not have to touch the urine or feces. You simply wrap it up in a poop time-bomb and toss it in the trash. Touching, tearing, opening, and utilizing a tool for swirling is not agreeable. What would you do if you were out and about? Do you take your swirling tool with you? No, of course not … the gDiapers would either get thrown into the trash can or flushed in the commercial toilet without the swirl stick, possibly clogging the public toilet. So much for that, right? And if a disposable diaper user was opposed to cloth diapers, it is most likely because they do NOT want to touch, dunk, and/or swirl their diapers, much less wash the diapers or gdiaper covers. For the few that do … it seems cloth diapers are a more environmentally friendly choice.
To be fair though, that wasn’t the only audience they may be targeting. Let’s consider that they are also looking at parents who are striving toward more environmentally friendly, or more natural choices, BUT want the benefit of a disposable.
Let’s compare - gDiapers and cloth diapers both:
- require a diaper cover
- require feces be dumped out in the toilet
- require that the diaper covers be washed
- put waste where it belongs - in the sewage system
- reduce the amount of disposable diapers out of the landfills
Defining Differences:
- gDiapers utilize renewable resources to create a disposable product * cloth diapers utilize renewable resources to create a reusable product
- gDiapers contain sodium polyacrylate (an absorbent chemical) * cloth diapers do not contain absorbent chemicals
- gDiapers cannot be used more than once * cloth diapers can be used through subsequent children
I appreciate the gDiapers website. They are straightforward and informative without the sensational language found at the disposable diaper websites. I just don’t see the market or the need for them.
If someone is willing to go through the steps needed to use gDiapers, choosing cloth diapers basically requires the same upkeep, won’t clog low flow toilets, reduces consumption of nonrenewable and renewable resources, keeps chemicals away from baby’s skin, and can be used over and over and over again.