Comments on: Confessions of a Future Ecodad http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/ dedicated to stirring the pot Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:48:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.3 by: Children Furniture http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-50299 Sun, 27 Jan 2008 03:37:05 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-50299 Hello, Thank you for sharing this with us. I enjoyed your articles that you have written. I can’t wait for the next one. You have a talent. Hello,

Thank you for sharing this with us. I enjoyed your articles that you have written. I can’t wait for the next one. You have a talent.

]]> by: Matt Rees http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-42088 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:51:08 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-42088 We've gone with cloth nappies, we inherited a bunch from friends and freecycle so only bought a few. We launder them ourselves, yes we use more water but avoid the landfill issue. When travelling we use disposable, I suppose we're only light green but it's a workable solution for us. We’ve gone with cloth nappies, we inherited a bunch from friends and freecycle so only bought a few. We launder them ourselves, yes we use more water but avoid the landfill issue.

When travelling we use disposable, I suppose we’re only light green but it’s a workable solution for us.

]]> by: Rick http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-39439 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:40:25 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-39439 Hi Green Girl, There's enough hoopla with a baby being born without adding piles of unnecessary plastic to the nursery to confuse things. My current dilemma is that we tried to switch baby Nico's formula (he needs to be supplemented right now) to an organic, soy-based mix and he showed his dissatisfaction by getting a bad case of gas and rashy runs. Back to the hospital's recommendation for now... Good luck with your little green sprout! Rick Hi Green Girl,

There’s enough hoopla with a baby being born without adding piles of unnecessary plastic to the nursery to confuse things. My current dilemma is that we tried to switch baby Nico’s formula (he needs to be supplemented right now) to an organic, soy-based mix and he showed his dissatisfaction by getting a bad case of gas and rashy runs. Back to the hospital’s recommendation for now…

Good luck with your little green sprout!

Rick

]]> by: Jolly Green Girl http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-39422 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:21:49 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-39422 Hello Eco-dad.. congrats! I am also having a baby soon and trying to decide how to be more Eco-friendly and not give into the whole baby hoopla. I am also going with cotton diapers and organic clothing as much as possible... and organic veggies and fruits that I will make myself when the baby is old enough for solids. As for furniture and baby items.. it has been hard finding Eco things but I like your idea of 2nd hand stuff. Best of luck and will be checking in again. Cheers Hello Eco-dad.. congrats! I am also having a baby soon and trying to decide how to be more Eco-friendly and not give into the whole baby hoopla. I am also going with cotton diapers and organic clothing as much as possible… and organic veggies and fruits that I will make myself when the baby is old enough for solids. As for furniture and baby items.. it has been hard finding Eco things but I like your idea of 2nd hand stuff. Best of luck and will be checking in again. Cheers

]]> by: Rick http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-36493 Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:29:03 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-36493 Great suggestion Michael. I'm still leaning toward the gDaiper right now, but I guess there are different shades of green, so to speak. I'm assuming that your problem with the gDiaper was the amount of water used during flushing? I'm guessing that you factored in the amount of water used when rinsing, cleaning and laundering cloth diapers and found that flushing uses more. It's one of those things that falls into that "Grey Matters" zone, and one that will continue to be debated by parents seeking sustainable methods of poo disposal. Great suggestion Michael. I’m still leaning toward the gDaiper right now, but I guess there are different shades of green, so to speak.

I’m assuming that your problem with the gDiaper was the amount of water used during flushing? I’m guessing that you factored in the amount of water used when rinsing, cleaning and laundering cloth diapers and found that flushing uses more.

It’s one of those things that falls into that “Grey Matters” zone, and one that will continue to be debated by parents seeking sustainable methods of poo disposal.

]]> by: michael nau http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-36254 Wed, 14 Nov 2007 07:53:45 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-36254 as an 'ecodad', i have to join the conversation on the issue of diapers. we have used gDiapers when traveling and found them convenient. after some *real* soul searching we concluded that flushing away inserts ten times a day (or more) with a newborn is not cool, and definitely not a responsible choice. likewise with 'chlorine free' options. so, we looked into cloth diapers and found a solution that works for us. it does involve scraping baby poop off the diaper, but we got over that pretty quickly when we figured out that we were keeping about 7000 diapers out of landfills, as well as supporting the small business which makes our favorite organic hemp diaper. as an ‘ecodad’, i have to join the conversation on the issue of diapers. we have used gDiapers when traveling and found them convenient. after some *real* soul searching we concluded that flushing away inserts ten times a day (or more) with a newborn is not cool, and definitely not a responsible choice. likewise with ‘chlorine free’ options. so, we looked into cloth diapers and found a solution that works for us. it does involve scraping baby poop off the diaper, but we got over that pretty quickly when we figured out that we were keeping about 7000 diapers out of landfills, as well as supporting the small business which makes our favorite organic hemp diaper.

]]> by: Rick http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-35766 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:12:49 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-35766 Thanks Austin, Yeah. Weddings, graduation, over-the-top children's birthday parties.... I know it's cliche to say it, but doesn't it seem like Christmas decorations are up in stores even earlier this year? Cha-ching! Regarding gDiapers, my wife also told me that they have some kind of club on Wednesday for parents. I can only assume that sustainability and babies is one of the topics of discussion. Pretty neat. Thanks Austin,

Yeah. Weddings, graduation, over-the-top children’s birthday parties…. I know it’s cliche to say it, but doesn’t it seem like Christmas decorations are up in stores even earlier this year? Cha-ching!

Regarding gDiapers, my wife also told me that they have some kind of club on Wednesday for parents. I can only assume that sustainability and babies is one of the topics of discussion. Pretty neat.

]]> by: Peggy http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-35139 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:32:10 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-35139 I have two boys and we've been fortunate enough to receive so many 'gently used' items ... toys/clothes/shoes/books. Between hand-me-downs & the secondhand stores, it's so easy to do. With my second boy we asked for no new gifts since we saved everything from the first one. The one exception was our cloth diaper service. I've heard great things about gDiapers and I've used 7th Generation while traveling long distances (I'll have to look into how they break down in landfills), but I love my cloth diaper service. I believe the cost of gas for pick-up/delivery is likely equal to/or better than the amount of gas it takes to deliver the disposables to the stores (I don't know where they're manufactured). And energy/water needed for washing them is less than washing them at home. I don't think you could go wrong either way ... but one good thing about cloth diapers ... kids tend to potty train earlier. My son was fully potty trained before 2 1/2 years (I can only hope the same happens w/my second!). Best of luck w/your new addition ... I have two boys and we’ve been fortunate enough to receive so many ‘gently used’ items … toys/clothes/shoes/books. Between hand-me-downs & the secondhand stores, it’s so easy to do. With my second boy we asked for no new gifts since we saved everything from the first one. The one exception was our cloth diaper service. I’ve heard great things about gDiapers and I’ve used 7th Generation while traveling long distances (I’ll have to look into how they break down in landfills), but I love my cloth diaper service. I believe the cost of gas for pick-up/delivery is likely equal to/or better than the amount of gas it takes to deliver the disposables to the stores (I don’t know where they’re manufactured). And energy/water needed for washing them is less than washing them at home. I don’t think you could go wrong either way … but one good thing about cloth diapers … kids tend to potty train earlier. My son was fully potty trained before 2 1/2 years (I can only hope the same happens w/my second!). Best of luck w/your new addition …

]]> by: Austin Ramsland http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-35102 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:48:21 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2007/11/08/confessions-of-a-future-ecodad/#comment-35102 Congratulations Rick! I don't have kids, but I definitely understand the need to have less of a footprint when (as you so aptly put it) bringing "some small footprints into the world." It seems that there are complex cultural systems and industries that hover at every personal milestone: birth, coming of age, prom, weddings, babies, you name it. And the things you need to buy always seem to add to the equation, not make things simpler. Another clear example is weddings. Everyone says - let's just try to keep it simple; but the average price to get married these days is around $30,000. Is that what simple costs? The gDiaper story is a nice departure from that trend of consumption and complexity. Thanks for sharing. Congratulations Rick!

I don’t have kids, but I definitely understand the need to have less of a footprint when (as you so aptly put it) bringing “some small footprints into the world.”

It seems that there are complex cultural systems and industries that hover at every personal milestone: birth, coming of age, prom, weddings, babies, you name it. And the things you need to buy always seem to add to the equation, not make things simpler. Another clear example is weddings. Everyone says - let’s just try to keep it simple; but the average price to get married these days is around $30,000. Is that what simple costs?

The gDiaper story is a nice departure from that trend of consumption and complexity. Thanks for sharing.

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