Babies produce a lot of trash for their small size, and disposable diapers are the main culprits, accounting for almost one percent of all the waste in American landfills.
More and more environmentally friendly parents across the Twin Cities are looking for greener alternatives to disposable diapers.
There's a bewildering array of green, greener, and greenest diapers to choose from, plus the old-fashioned diaper service is still with us. The choice can be daunting for a new parent.
Heres a guide to environmentally friendly diaper retailers and diaper services in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Buying Cloth Diapers
Cloth diapers have come a long way since our mothers used them. Today there's an enormous variety of different types and designs for all different budgets.
A local baby store such as Peapods, Bananas or the Natural Life Store, is the best place to look at a selection of different styles, and talk to an expert about what kind would be best for you and your baby.
Twin Cities Green, in Minneapolis, carries a selection of cloth diapers in their midtown superstore.Diaper Services
If you want to avoid disposable diapers, but you can't bear the thought of the laundry (totally understandable) another option is to contract a cloth diaper service to deliver clean diapers, and take the old ones away.
There's only one cloth diaper service in the Twin Cities, Do Good Diapers.
Not Quite Cloth Diapers, But Close
For parents who don't want to use cloth diapers, there are some other options that are better for the planet than disposable diapers.
gDiapers are made from a reusable, washable outside and a disposable, biodegradable inside. A small amount of laundry is involved, but the insides biodegrade quickly so there's no pressure on our local landfill.
Seventh Generation disposable diapers are made with less chemicals than standard disposable diapers. They'll still end up in the landfill, but they are more environmentally friendly to produce.
Both gDiapers and Seventh Generation diapers can be brought at Whole Foods stores.
