It's about more than saving money. It's about doing what we can to leave a healthy environment for our children and beyond. I don't want my children's first, and longest lasting impression on the planet to be a pile of dirty diapers in a landfill.
In the early 1980s, my parents used cloth diapers on my sister and I. They had a diaper service but kept some of the diapers for use as dish rags, cleaning cloths, and hand towels. I grew up with the idea that cloth diapers were normal.When my friends and cousins started having kids, a few used cloth and I learned about "modern" diapers. When I had my first child, one friend gave me part of her stash and another gave me a copy of Changing Diapers. I had something to start with and a way to learn more, but not much of a support system. I muddled through for most of that first year, washing diapers almost every night so I would have enough clean diapers to send to daycare. Then I discovered my local chapter of RDA, Lehigh Valley Diaper Circle.
LVDC is more than just a cloth diapering support and advocacy group. They are a family support system. We have play dates and parties. We talk about parenting and life. When a member is in need, we lift them up and help out with meals, childcare, sympathetic shoulders, and more.
I do cloth because it about more than saving money. It's about family and the environment, the past and the future. Some of those same cloth diapers my parents saved thirty-something years ago now get used on my children. That's a lasting impression I'm happy to leave.
