gDiapers

If you are interested in cloth diapering but not sure you want to take the leap from disposables, there is a nice alternative. gDiapers are better than disposables because you flush the waste instead of depositing it in a landfill. They have reusable covers that you wash in the laundry and flushable inserts. You can also compost or throw the insert away. They say it will break down in the landfill in 90 days vs up to 500 years for a disposable. The advantage of flushing over tossing is that the poop will be treated appropriately, vs going in a landfill (see Environmental Concerns at left)

I just bought a pack of these to use for a trip, where we won't have access to laundry facilities. I was about to buy the chlorine free disposables, when I noticed that for a few dollars more, I could get the gDiaper starter pack and a pack of disposable inserts. I tried them out and the first three diapers have worked great. Our 14 month old had a huge (as described by her dad) poopy and it got on the plastic insert but not on the cover. I figure I can wash the plastic insert in the sink at the hotel, and it will dry quickly. The flushable inserts have to be torn apart before flushing, so they are a little less convenient than cloth in this way.

Overall, the main advantage of these diapers over other cloth diapers is that you don't have to wash the inserts. This saves a lot of water and some time. I have to say, I really don't feel that washing diapers takes much time. It's not like the clothes laundry that you have to sort, fold, or hang and put away. At most, it takes 5 minutes to throw them in the washer, 5 minutes to throw them in the dryer or hang on a line, and a short amount of time to stuff, either all at once or with each change. I do like the idea that these diapers save a lot of water. I don't think we'll need to wash the covers too often, and they can go in with the rest of the clothes laundry. I'll give an update after our trip to let you know how it went.

UPDATE:
The G Diapers worked great on our trip and we did not have one leak in all 7 days. We didn't have access to a washing machine, and I did have to hand wash the plastic insert for every poopy diaper. This was kind of gross at first, but I got used to it. If I had access to a washing machine, I could have just rinsed the insert and then thrown it in the washer. My recommendation if you are going on a trip with the g Diapers is to have 4 or 5 of the plastic inserts and 3 or 4 of the cloth outers; more if you won't be near a sink and soap often. We had 2 cloth outers and 3 plastic inserts and got by OK. We were near our hotel room at least every 2 diaper changes.

My conclusion is that these are the best option for going on a trip without laundry facilities. Environmentally, these may be the best option for at home too, because you use so much less water. If I didn't already have a stash of cloth diapers, I would consider using the g diapers all the time. It is more expensive though, since you have to keep buying the inserts. Please leave your comments if you have used these!