let the challenge begin....

Let me start off by telling you what a fantastic time I had today at the Green Expo in Jacksonville. As many of you may remember when I first started this blog I mentioned my desire to switch to cloth diapers. I have not done so to date because I had yet to meet anyone using them and I had so many questions. Well there was a company there today called Baby Blessing Natural Products (www.babyblessingNP.com) and the young lady there was such a wealth of information. She told me everything I needed to know. Well ladies and gentleman I am so happy to report that later this week (when the shipment comes in) I will be the proud owner of cloth diapers. I ordered a package for a very reasonable price and received 15 cloth diapers, inserts, reusable bag for the diaper champ, reusable wash cloths (to replace the baby wipes), among other things as well. They also gave me free shipping. I went ahead and bought a bathing suit/diaper as well. I should receive everything later this week and cannot wait to tell you about how it goes. Below are a few reasons I have chosen to switch to cloth diapers.

CLOTH DIAPERS ARE MUCH FRIENDLIER TO THE EARTH AND ENVIRONMENT
Do you have any guess as to how long disposable diapers last in the landfill? Estimates range between 100 and 500 years per diaper, so each diaper you put into the landfill is a diaper that future generations will have to deal with in time. Disposable diapers are the third largest source of waste, behind only paper products and food packaging. That’s amazing, considering disposable diapers are one type of product and there are millions of types of paper and food packages. Besides the waste they produce, also consider that the paper, plastic, and chemicals used in those diapers has to go through the manufacturing process, wasting energy again and again, 18 billion times per year.

CLOTH DIAPERS ARE HEALTHIER FOR YOUR BABY
Besides the obvious health implication of minimizing diaper rash your baby will not be exposed to the chemicals present in disposable diapers when they use cloth. Disposable diapers contain both dioxin, a byproduct of the paper manufacturing process, and sodium polyacrylate, the chemical that turns urine into a jelly-like substance. Dioxins have been linked with cancer, birth defects, liver damage, and skin diseases. Long-term effects of the exposure of babies’ reproductive organs to these chemicals 24 hours a day for two to three years has not been determined. In addition, cloth diapers are made from breathable materials, permitting air to circulate to the skin while letting out ammonia, the byproduct of urine breakdown.