Kate O'Connor is a new mom trying to bring back an old trend.
Before giving birth to her four-month-old son Noah, she and her husband knew they wanted to maintain control over the little guy's accidents with cloth diapers rather than disposable plastic diapers for environmental and economical reasons. But the vast range of types and the inability to rent locally made it difficult to determine the right cloth diaper for the job.
So in true do-it-yourself fashion, O'Connor recently became a supplier for seven different types of reusable diapers and is hosting free workshops to encourage local parents to stop pitching the plastic.
According to Environment Canada, more than four million disposable diapers are discarded every day, destined to end up in landfills. The average baby will go though between 5,000 and 7,000 diaper changes in the first two years.
The decision to opt for cloth diapers came naturally, said O'Connor.
"That just makes me shudder to think of all that plastic," she said.
"We felt much better about our choice to use cloth because of the environmental impacts. I know in Squamish people are so environmentally responsible and there's a big push in town to use cloth grocery bags instead of plastic. People just want more natural choices."
In the workshops, parents are invited to learn how to use the various options and register for a two-week trial rental of seven different types of diapers for $40 to make sure they choose the perfect fit for their baby.
Although cloth wraps may have acquired a bum rap for apparently being difficult to manage, parents will be surprised how easy they really are to use, said O'Connor.
Some, for example, work just like disposable diapers except mom or dad simply needs to throw the removable liner in the washing machine.
"Sometimes you think pins and saggy, leaky diapers, but it's not like that at all," she said.
Cloth diapers also save families money, explained O'Connor. The cost of 21 diapers for $25 each will amount to $525 and take care of a baby until the wee one is potty trained. Meanwhile, the cost of continually buying disposable diapers over three years reaches nearly $1,700, according to today's prices.
O'Connor is hosting the first workshop at 3:30 p.m. on May 30 at Gelato Carina. Registration is appreciated but not necessary and O'Connor can be contacted at oc.kate@gmail.com. For more information visit the website at www.seatoskybabies.com.
