| Think before you buy diapers. Like everything else | | | | Treat your gift diapers as the great road test. Before |
| about parenting, buying diapers is not quite as easy as | | | | you must go out and buy diapers on your own, |
| it seems. Of course, you must consider your own | | | | compare and contrast disposables with cloth. You |
| convenience. The baby will appreciate it if you consider | | | | want the best diapers for your needs. Assess their |
| her comfort. And, now, because you must save the | | | | convenience, their comfort, and their overall practicality. |
| planet for your baby and her children, you also must | | | | Your baby will let you know whether or not they are |
| consider Mother Nature's requirements. The old cloth | | | | comfortable, and you quickly will discover how |
| versus disposable diaper dilemma has grown | | | | "leakage" leads the criteria for practicality-it takes only |
| considerably more complicated. | | | | one good mess to force your reconsideration of the |
| You probably received several tiny mountains of | | | | whole dilemma. |
| diapers at your baby shower. The veteran parents | | | | You must think before you buy diapers, but know that |
| among your friends undoubtedly gave you the | | | | you can over-think the dilemma. No matter which |
| warehouse-store sized package of Huggies, because | | | | option you choose, you will exact a price from the |
| they understand the ease of tape tabs and the value | | | | planet. Yes, a disposable allegedly takes 500 years to |
| of elasticized legs. The "greenies" among your friends, | | | | break down in the earth. And, yes, washing cloth |
| however, gave you nice, soft, cuddly and fluffy | | | | diapers inevitably will take a toll on the environment, |
| all-cotton diapers; if they really have their hearts in | | | | because even with your all-natural detergent, you must |
| saving the planet, they thoughtfully included "all-natural" | | | | use some kind of bleach. Babies may be sweet and |
| detergent. The veterans argued convenience, pure and | | | | innocent, but they make some truly evil stains. |
| simple, saying you're no good to your baby if you're | | | | You do, however, have two opportunities for brilliant |
| constantly exhausted from laundry. The "greenies," of | | | | compromise. First, many parents go with disposables |
| course, argued global consciousness and local action, | | | | during the day when convenience matters most, |
| insisting you cannot keep deforesting Oregon and | | | | switching to cloth diapers for overnight wear. Second, |
| filling-up the landfills just to accommodate your baby's | | | | planet-loving inventors have developed bio-degradable |
| needs. The all-natural detergent makes the point that | | | | diapers and diaper liners. They're a little pricey, but how |
| you cannot ravage the water system just for your | | | | can you put a price on easing your conscience? |
| baby's sake either. | | | | |