gDiapers – the flushable option
gDiapers are truly the Third Option – the first new diaper to come along in 40 years.
How they are made:
A gDiapers Flushable is made from cellulose fibers from sustainably harvested trees. Cellulose is the building block of all life and is the most abundant form of living biomass. It can be made into a natural polymer called rayon, or pulped into paper products. The outer coverstock of a flushable is made of cellulose rayon (as opposed to plastic in conventional disposables).
A gDiapers Flushable is elemental chlorine free, perfume free, latex free, and plastic free. Inside the Flushable is fluffed wood pulp and SAP, the bare bones materials also found in a disposable diaper. The wood pulp creates the wicking action and the SAP absorbs the moisture.
While some forest practices are destructive and highly controversial, as in the case of cutting down tropical and old growth forests, if done well tree farming can actually have a minimal ecological impact or even a beneficial one. Sustainable practices include protecting wildlife habitat, preventing soil erosion and providing stream buffering as well as replanting trees. The timber used to make a gDiapers Flushable comes from softwood plantations, not from virgin or old growth forests.
The outer pants, the ‘little g’ pants, are made of cotton. The Flushable is held in place by a breathable polyester liner.
Cotton has significant environmental issues associated with its growth and production (see Cloth section). However, typically a child needs only 12 - 16 pairs of ‘little g’ pants during the diapering period and they can be used again on subsequent children.
How they are used:
With the gDiapers two-part system, the ‘little g’ pants generally stay clean and need washing no more than once a day. The Flushable is changed when soiled (and the snap-in liner as needed). Because gDiapers are plastic-free air is free to flow through the fabric and flushable, keeping baby bums cool and dry, decreasing the likelihood of diaper rash.
The Flushable can be flushed, home-composted, or tossed. Because gDiaper Flushables are made from natural cellulose and wood pulp, they readily break down when flushed and will not harm sewage treatment facilities. To save time Flushables can be preloaded into the 'little g' pants and ready for use, so in a typical day, two pants might be rotated between changes. (see tips)
How they are disposed:
gDiapers are a certified Cradle-to–Cradle product, which means everything in a gDiapers flushable gets re-absorbed into the eco-system in a neutral or beneficial way. If your wastewater goes to a sewage treatment plant, the diapers you use will end up as biosolids, a safe, rich, and valuable fertilizer. In many cases biosolids are used in forestry to help grow young trees, which is how the bulk of the gDiaper flushable began its life.
Urine-only Flushables can be safely added to a home compost pile, adding valuable nutrients to the mix and benefiting the garden.1 Note: Human feces should NEVER be composted at home; solid waste should be flushed and safely treated along with adult waste.
The SAP in the Flushable is chemically neutral and non-toxic to plants, people and soil. Because of its water holding qualities it is often added to biosolids and compost to increase moisture retention.
Some may argue that flushing things down the toilet is not the best approach as it is a burden on local treatment facilities and promotes an ‘out of sight out of mind’ mentality. But the facts are that the best way we currently have for treating human waste is in our existing sewage facilities.
If wet Flushables are added to home compost, they take roughly 50-150 days to breakdown. This is the best disposal method, ecologically speaking, because if you can home compost the wet Flushables you’ll turn waste into a resource that can be used in your own backyard!1 Home composting does take some knowledge to do properly.
