gDiapers - are you using them?

I was so excited when I heard about the first biodegradable, flushable diapers that I almost wet myself. (I wonder if they come in adult sizes?) GDiapers mean no more diaper pail, no more smell, no more landfill guilt. You can buy them at stores like New Seasons, Wild Oats, Market of Choice and probably Whole Foods. It's a 2-part system: there is a cloth panty with a plastic liner and the flushable insert, which is about the size of a maxi-pad. The insert fits into the panty, and when it's soiled you simply take it out and flush it. Unless you have a toilet like mine.

The first time I tried it, I ended up sticking my hand into the flush hole to retrieve the stuck insert. Lovely. The second time I tried it, I let the insert soak in the toilet for about two hours hoping it would break down. It did, and it flushed. Neither of these scenarios where particularly appealing to me, so I gave up on it. But then my neighbor, Shelly, told me that you can pull apart the insert and it will flush easily. Excellent. So I'm going to give it another try. I'm wondering how often you have to change the insert...after every little pee? Because gDiapers aren't cheap. It costs about $15 for 32 medium flushable inserts. I'd love to hear whether anyone else has gone the gDiaper route.

(Note: Originally posted by Heather)

Comments

[Renee]

What I want to know is... How come some toddler socks will flush, but a gDiaper won't? :-)

[Damaris]

Ok, I will start by saying, I am not a parent, but I am a friend of Renee's and I am super interested in the environmental side of living and of being a parent as my friends are all starting to have kids and are experiencing some of these same conundrums. I actually heard an entire NPR spot on these gDiapers and have the answer to your problem. It lies in the same answer to the question "if they are biodegradable, then why don't they melt when the kid pees?" The diapers have an outside layer that holds all the absorbent stuff inside. The material inside is what is designed to break down and be flushable, so, in order to achieve this, you have to rip the liner in at least one place, drop it in the toilet and then let it sit for a few min before you flush. This allows the water to get inside the liner and to melt everything down. The makers of the diapers also said they occassionaly push the liner around with the toilet brush to speed up the process. Since I don't have any kids, I cannot vouch for any of this but I figure you can't get much better than the technique used by the developers of the product.

[Mary]

I bought Gdiapers en masse while I was pregnant. They sat, unused, for about 2 months after the birth before I returned them. I just couldn't get excited about them. I have been using seventh generation diapers since my daughter was born, with mixed results. Sometimes I love them and sometimes I hate them. There are many, many blowouts. After a trip back east with my sister last month which was filled with hotel-room baths and poopy EVERYTHING, she said that I may as well have her running around in underwear for how effective the diapers are. Prompted by that, I tried Tushies the gel-free alternative diaper). We used 2 of those before going back to 7th generation. They are very bulky and the tabs have no elastic, making the diaper either too loose to be effective or too tight to be comfortable. Five months and still looking for a better choice that is still envirnmentally friendlier.

[michael]

In addition to Gdiapers that we use with our baby, we also use a flushable bag for my dog's poop.

I flush my dog's poop down the toilet with a flushable doggy waste bag. Most eco-friendly way to get ride of dog poop.

The company is called Flush Doggy.

There are flushable dog poop bags. The best answer probably because dog poop can get treated just as your poop is.

FlushDoggy, is a fully biodegradable, flushable(water soluble) dog waste bag that is very eco-friendly.

Dog doodies are best to be flushed down the toilet and degrade naturally , just as our own doodies. Stop destroying our earth and start educating the public, one poop at a time. Be a responsible owner and go green for our pets.

[Rachel]

I have just started using gdiapers, but I use them with cloth inserts and love them! Gdiapers sells the cloth inserts which makes them cheaper. I use them, soak them in baking soda and water until my next laundry load (usually the next day) and toss them in with anything. Love them!