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Your Impact
Good for the planet
There are 11 million diaper-age babies in the US. Each baby uses an average of 65 diapers per week. Which results in over 37 BILLION disposables being tossed EACH YEAR in this country alone. With raising awareness of plastic bags, bottles and straws, why is no-one talking about diapers which currently make up 30% of non-biodegradable waste in our landfills?
We have a growing global crisis. With issues related to climate change sounding alarm bells almost every day, our planet’s health has become too serious to ignore.
Yes, it can feel overwhelming, but there are things we can do.
For one, we can Live Less Disposably. Over generations, we’ve come to rely on the “convenience” of throwaways. Choosing items that end up in the trash over quality products we can use again and again. You might be thinking that you're just one person, how much impact can you really have? The answer is A LOT. Think millions of people, just like you, making billions of singular decisions and what a huge impact that will have. Policy and regulatory changes are hugely important. But they are not enough on their own. Personal behavior change is equally as important, and arguably more sustainable.
When you use the Esembly System, you’ll only need 48 diapers from birth through potty training — and because they’re made to last, you can pass them on to younger sibs, cousins or friends.
Over the last few years, a subset of “eco-friendly” disposable diapers has hit the shelves. They claim that they’re better for the environment, but the reality is that they are made from the same non-renewable raw materials (like oil and minerals) and renewable but environmentally taxing raw materials (like wood-pulp fiber and bamboo) as every other disposable. The bottom line is that even the disposables that claim to be made compostable or biodegradable will not effectively biodegrade when we place them in a our regular municipal landfills because they lack the light, water and bacterial activity required for the decay process to begin.
The only way to truly reduce our impact is to reduce our consumption.
Wear. Wash. Reuse.
Good for you
Blowouts: Talk to any new parent and you’ll hear a story of some ultra-messy diaper incident. That’s the thing about disposable diapers — they leak. Often. And because of that, blowouts have become synonymous with diapering. But did you know that it doesn’t have to be that way? Esembly cloth diapers keep messes contained — so you can avoid that particular parenting rite of passage.
On top of that, babies in cotton diapers potty train an average of one year earlier than their pals in disposables. Because our diapers don’t contain moisture-wicking sodium polyacrylate chemicals, older babies are able to correlate the sensation of needing to pee with the feeling of wetness after. Which gives them a head start on potty training.
Using the Esembly System from birth to potty training is considerably less expensive than using pack after pack after pack of disposables. With Esembly, after purchasing your diapers and accessories, the only recurring cost you’ll have is two loads of laundry per week.
good for them
Babies are in diapers 24/7 for upwards of two years. Skip the plastics, wood pulp fiber and sodium polyacrylate chemicals and swaddle them up in soft, comfy organic cotton instead. By using cloth diapers, you’re limiting the amount of potentially irritating chemicals against their delicate baby skin, thereby reducing the incidence of diaper rash.
You heard what?
"It takes so much water to wash cloth diapers that they really aren’t better for the planet than disposables."
Not even close. We’ve done the math. When washed responsibly, the amount of water you’ll use each week is equivalent to a handful of toilet flushes per day — something your baby will be doing in just a few short years once potty trained.
"It’s gross to wash diapers in the same washing machine as regular laundry"
Think about it this way, if the inside of your washing machine is dirty at the end of the diaper wash cycle, what does that say about the state of your diapers? If this ever happens to you, something has gone seriously wrong! Follow our step-by-step laundering process and you should be left with a fresh batch of diapers and a clean washer ready to take on it’s next load.
"Cloth diapers leak."
Not even a little bit true! In fact, quite the opposite. While disposables have become notorious for messy leaks, we pride ourselves on just how blowout-proof our two-part cloth diaper is.
"But the laundry!"
We get it. New babies come with a lot of extra work. But we’re only talking 2 loads of laundry per week! Every 2-3 days just dump the whole bag into the washer and let your machine do the work. No wash boards for our modern parents!
"Cloth diapers are not as absorbent and need to be changed more frequently."
Most childcare experts agree: while awake, babies should be changed every 2-3 hours regardless of the absorbency of the diaper. Our soft cotton Inner is super-absorbent and designed to keep your baby dry and comfy between regular changes. When your babe is sleeping longer stretches without being changed, add one of our Esembly Overnighters for an absorbency boost.
"Cloth diapers are so bulky that my baby's pants won't fit"
Babies in cloth diapers do indeed have poofier booties than babies in disposables. But as long as the pants have some stretch you won't have any trouble fitting clothes over their Esembly diaper. If you're buying baby skinny jeans, chinos or any other pant with no give, you may want to consider going up a size.
