8,000 diapers or 12 Gro Baby diapers?

Did you know that the average newborn can speed through 12 diapers a day! Older babies and toddlers typically use about 6-10 diapers a day. If your baby is out of diapers entirely by the time she's two and a half years old (many aren't) that's still about 7,500-8,000 disposable diapers over those 2.5 years. Imagine if your baby is in diapers longer. When you think about it in terms of sheer numbers, cloth diapering makes so much more sense. Cloth diapering is not like days of past either. Forget sharp pins and messy leaks. Today's cloth diapers are highly sophisticated. For a basic primer on alternatives to disposables read Green Diapers 101: Eco-friendly Diapers for a cloth diaper primer read The New Wave of Cloth Diapers.

One cloth diaper choice is the Gro Baby system. Compared to disposables you'll use considerably fewer diapers. And by fewer I mean like thousands fewer. For example, the Live GroBaby Package has 12 Gro Baby Shells, 24 Gro Baby Organic Soaker Pads and 16 Gro Baby Organic Boosters which is enough diapering goodies to keep you diapering strong for a good long while.

How it works: Gro Baby is a modern, one-size diapering system. It comes with a unique waterproof shell and organic cotton soaker pad to minimizes waste and cost. When the soaker pad is wet you simply replace with a fresh and dry pad. The outer diaper shells can be used for multiple diaper changes. According to Gro Baby, 2-4 Gro Baby Shells are usually sufficient per day. Best of all like the name implies, Gro Baby grows with your baby. This diapering system will fit most babies from 8-35 lbs and the unique one-size Organic Soaker Pad fits babies from 8-35 lbs as well.

What about cost?

From a cost standpoint you can't really beat Gro Baby with disposables. Technically, if you're using disposables I recommend a less toxic eco-diaper brand or a biodegradable disposable/cloth hybrid diaper. However, both these eco-options will cost you. For example a package of Seventh Generation Disposables runs about $44 (for a bulk case of 104-140 diapers) which means you'd need about 66 packs in 2.5 years. That will run you almost $3,000. Now if you go with a less eco-friendly store brand diaper you will save some money. For example, in bulk, Target brand diapers will cost about $13.50 for 60-82 diapers. You'd need about 114 packs in 2.5 years which brings your total cost to $1,539. For a Live GroBaby Package you'll pay $375. Even if you had to buy a new set annually the total cost would only be $937 for 2.5 years a savings of $600 over Target brand diapers and a savings of $2,063 over Seventh Generation. You can do a lot with an extra $600-2,000 bucks right? Like furnish the whole darn nursery or use that money to extend your maternity leave. From a green living, health, and money perspective, cloth diapers are just plain better than disposables and Gro Baby is one good option. Visit the Gro Baby website to learn more.