Debunking Seventh Generation's "Big Green Lies"

As environmentalists, we look at companies like 7th generations with admiration, right? While we have tried to cut down on paper towel use, or gotten rid of the need altogether, have contemplated family cloth, stopped using harsh chemical cleaners, clothes and dish detergents and OF COURSE stopped using disposable diapers - we look at 7th generation as one of the best alternatives, the people that make the "greenest" versions of those things we try so hard not to use! Well......brace yourself - it appears that they are beginning to act like the "Big" business they are becoming.

In their new set of short shows called "Big Green Lies" - 7th Gen attempts to debunk typical green myths - most recently cloth vs. disposable. You can see the segment here. Way to try and over-simplify things, huh? Did they fail to realize that most of us wash our own diapers and that if you use additive free detergent you don't have to rinse the diapers over and over and over....and you certainly do not have to use bleach or even the clothes dryer for that matter if you like to use the clothesline. There are so many different factors that they completely ignore, yet being who they are and assuming the roll of "green authority" lots of people will just watch this and take it as the end all of answers.

Although their diapers are bleach free and lack many of the harmful chemicals that mainstream diapers contain, they didn't mention that when telling people to stop over-thinking the decision because it was 50/50. They also neglected to talk about how disposables can also lock in body heat, raising the temperature of the scrotum which is being studied as a contributing factor of male infertility.

What it really just boils down to for me and lots of other educated moms who have chosen cloth for their kids is this: In the US, 27.4 billion disposable diapers go into the landfill each year - these diapers are estimated to take between 250 and 500 YEARS to decompose...but we really don't know for sure, do we? There were no disposables diapers around 250 years ago, which means that ALL the disposables that have ever been made are STILL breaking down....somewhere in a huge pile of trash.

Shame on you Seventh Generation.

Happy Earth Day!

So we know opinions about the environment, carbon footprint and green living really run the gammet these days. More than in the past especially, since these thing are more popular subjects and more people are aware of the effects of their lifestyles, people are trying to make better decisions for the future of the planet.

Most of the moms I am friends with are generally more environmentally friendly than the average bear on some level, some more so than others. For example, a new mom friend that I have recently made since moving, is quite the *activist* - she is the person honking at the cars and shouting when she sees young children not in their car seat, she will stop a mom in public to show her how to adjust the her baby's car seat straps or her Ergo or a better/more effective way to tie her Moby. Just recently we got into a great "sandbox" discussion about cloth vs. disposable (we were literally in the sandbox!) Oddly enough, there was one other mom there who was an avid cloth diaperer (we suspected it....and she confirmed later in the conversation.) The other adults were a young lady and her partner - they had a 3 yr old boy still in diapers and an older lady, who we assumed was the grandma - she had a 3-ish yr old little girl who may have been potty trained and another on her back in a very nice sling.

My activist friend very smoothly struck up the conversation as a result of the young mom asking if her daughter was still in diapers and my friend telling her that she had just recently potty trained at around 2.5 yrs. The young mom was very impressed which prompted us to launch into our "Cloth diapered kids potty train earlier speech". I love the questions! "What do you do with the poop?" "Do you have to use bleach?" "Does it make your washing machine stinky?" "Do you really save a lot of money?"

I don't think we convinced her, necessarily, but made her think! The boyfriend ran when he heard the word "WASH" *heeheehee*, but she listened, and the older woman smiled and nodded. Our cloth diapering ally piped in a few times - overall a success!

Just a little food for thought for all you "closet" cloth lovers out there - and those who have yet to come into the light! Especially this being the week we all celebrate Mother Earth and communities try and clean her up a bit. Tell someone about cloth! Tell them how easy it is, how healthy it is for the child and if need be, tell them it really is the hip thing to do! Oh and as always.....Happy Diapering!