Cradle to cradle flushable diapers

My first stop at the Green Festival this weekend in S.F. was the most fun, chatting with a husband-and-wife team who are bringing flushable diapers to the masses. The affable Jason and Kim Graham-Nye took turns holding mellow baby Harper and showing off their G Diapers, billed as "the world’s first" and "a revolution in diapers," and coming to west coast Whole Foods stores this month.

Unlike cheaper Huggies and their ilk, G Diapers are flushable and compostable, and unlike Kleenex, no old-growth trees fall to make them. They come with cute cloth bloomers and a reusable liner to hold what looks like a maxipad, but made of soft rayon and tree-farmed fluff-pulp. You can pick from a bunch of Gap Kids-like pant designs that brandish a “G” on the booty.

“It’s a hybrid—not as convenient as disposables but less hassle than cloth,” explained Jason (right). Still seems a novel step in the right direction; Blogging Baby and HipMama were excited this summer. During the pre-potty years, each kid uses 5,000 diapers, which make up two percent of  the junk in landfills, reported Wired last year, finding that the biodegradable diapers currently sold in green grocery stores may be nearly as bad for the waste stream as their mainstream counterparts.

G Diapers cost $24.95 for a starter kit with two pants, 10 flushable inserts, and a stick to help break up and shove the poopy pad down the toilet. Online ordering is coming soon at gdiapers.com. If you live around Spain, check out biodegradable corn fiber diapers from Crianza (via Treehugger) in Barcelona.

Like many of the businesses at this weekend's festival, G Diapers has a grassroots story. After the Graham-Nyes had their first son, they got hooked on flushable diapers made by a company in their native Australia--so much so that they bought the company in 2003 and moved to Portland, OR, to promote it. Before jumping into this venture, the couple wrote romantic tourist guidebooks together.

Add-on: Other companies sell flushable diaper *liners* online, such as  Green Mountain diapers for $12.95 for a three-pack and Hana's Organics' 100-sheet rolls for $6.50. But they're made of different stuff (as far as I can tell), are not available in chain stores, and as Kim points out, they're meant to sit inside of regular diapers.

Comments

[Kim Graham-Nye]

Just wanted to clarify that other companies do make flushable diaper "liners". They are not diapers, but are simply a thin layer of flushable material that lays between the diaper and the baby's bottom. They are designed to help parents remove the poop from either cloth or disposable diapers and put it in the toilet...where it belongs. gDiapers are in fact, the only flushable diaper being made today.
Thanks again for your great comments! Regards, Kim Graham-Nye

[Jason Graham-Nye]

Thanks for the mention! And despite rumours Harper's 'Mellowness" had nothing to do with those Hemp cookies on offer at the Festival