I LOVE LolliDuos™

My Work Wife Melissa has created the greatest diaper ever! The all new LolliDuo™ is fantastic for several reasons; here are my five favorites:

• The LolliDuo™ is a truly versatile one-size cloth diaper. You can use is as a diaper cover, a pocket diaper OR you can use it as a diaper cover but stuff it for extra absorbency. 
• LolliDuos™ are trim enough for daytime use but thirsty enough for overnight.
• The entire diaper saves at least six water bottles from going to the landfill. This is because the high quality performance fleece, that we are now known for,  is  made from recycled bottles.
• We have several super cute color combinations.
• You can choose snap or hook and loop closure.

Want to see more? Click here.

I had the pleasure of hanging out with Miss Ellie in a LolliDuo™ - she was around 9lbs in these photos and as you can see, they fit her really well.

Don't believe me? Read what other folks are saying.

I honestly believe that Melissa deserves a HUGE Hooray for her genius in designing all LolliDoo® diapers. Well done Melissa, well done!

For That Price Those Diapers Must Be Made of Gold!

I have heard this a few times and as a former cloth diaper consumer I can relate. In my opinion LolliDoo™ diapers ARE MADE OF GOLD!

Firstly we use as few virgin resources as humanly possible with the technology we have available. Each diaper has a minimum of 8 recycled beverage bottles in them. Saving them from the landfill, re-using our trash and furthermore protecting the virgin resources needed to create brand new fleece. Our cotton is organic and even our stainless steel snaps are made from recycled steel.

See - GOLD!

Moreover - everything we manufacture is domestic. We are paying Americans to work which not only strengthens our economy but we have the peace of mind that all of our suppliers have ethical working conditions. The downside some might say to manufacturing in the States with domestic components is the expense. Yes our textiles cost more then something made in China - yes we are paying our seamstresses a living wage and yes our Overnight diapers are a bit more expensive BUT you get what you pay for.

With LolliDoo™ diapers you not only get a bulletproof overnight solution but when you buy a LolliDoo™ diaper:

~ You are supporting the economy
~ You are advocating for small businesses
~ You are honoring WAHMs (our seamstresses) who are able to make their own schedules to put their families first and therefore also supporting families
~ You are endorsing organic farmers
~ You are getting behind recycling
~ You are sending a message to the disposable diaper companies that they need to step up their game and offer a more sustainable solution
~You are helping to establish a relatively new industry that is almost completely run by moms
~ You are choosing your baby's health over so-called convenience
~ You are saving over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine that are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby EACH YEAR.
~ YOU are BUYING GOLD!

When people insinuate that LolliDoo™ Overnight eco-pockets™ are too costly I like to remind them that not only are you purchasing a diaper that will prevent night time leaks BUT you are supporting, women, the environment, the economy and your child's future.

For more information on LolliDoo™ eco-pockets™ please click here.

Is Bamboo aTruly Sustainable Fabric?

My short answer is no. I wish it were, honest to God I wish it was. I love the concept and it is super soft and would be a great inner for diapers. Originally Melissa and I were all ready to create diapers out of bamboo. That was until we did some research.

Dangerous chemicals are used to transform the plant into liquid and then into fibres to be spun into fabric. These chemicals can cause a plethora of health problems and neural disorders for the manufacturing workers. A developing nation like China rarely (if at all) uses systems to help control the production and disposal of those chemicals.

From http://victoria-e.com/2007/10/04/how-green-is-bamboo-fabric/

Additionally, Chinese manufacturers to begin clearing out natural forests in order to plant more fast-growing bamboo. As of today, I could not find a domestic source for bamboo fabric. It is only made in China and in China many cultivators are starting to use fertilizers that wouldn’t meet U.S. organic standards in order to increase the yield of their plantations.

There are two ways of processing bamboo for fiber.

1.Mechanically. This is referred to as the – eco-friendly – mode, the plant is physically crushed and natural enzymes are used to break the bamboo walls into a mushy mass so that the natural fibers can be mechanically combed out and spun into yarn.

2. Chemically. This is the more cost-effective, less labor-intensive, and extremely toxic, friendly method, a process of hydrolysis-alkalization and multi-phase bleaching refines bamboo pulp from the plant, which is then processed into fiber.

You could verify that your bamboo clothing has been certified by a professional certification group such as the ÖKO-TEK STANDARD 100, which ensures that chemicals used in the production do not have any negative effects on human health and the environment. But, chemicals are chemicals, right?

Melissa and I searched and searched and could not find a source of bamboo without the chemical method of production. Another big issue for us is that there isn't any domestic bamboo fabric, which goes against our "buy local" philosophy. There is a really great bamboo farm right here in Tucson, but, they don't manufacture fiber, they build beautiful tables, chairs and other furnishings with their bamboo. They also grow and sell bamboo for shade. You can check them out at http://www.bambooranch.net/.

While the bamboo plant is remarkably sustainable, we have yet to find a way to weave it into a sustainable fabric. I hope that someone somewhere can tackle this issue so we can reap the benefits of bamboo fabric. But until then, LolliDoo® products will not be made from Bamboo.