Bye-Bye gDiapers

Chalk this one under the "Why so much green to be green?" column.

Going with gDiapers was a tactical line item in our Green Baby strategy for Bodhi. But after almost four months we're throwing in the towel and transitioning out of the gDiaper system. Why? Dollars and "sense".

For almost half of what we pay for gDiapers we can get nearly double the amount of conventional diapers. It pains me not to be able to compost our pee-only diapers and lessen our waste stream, but when push comes to shove, the Wallet Factor always seems to win the battle in this theater of economic war.

So that got us thinking (and to some extent, condemning): Why does trying to be an eco-conscious consumer have to break the bank so much?

Now I clearly understand the dynamics of supply-and-demand-meets-eco-label-premium, but if we're going to change broad-stroke consumer behavior, green products cannot be just accessible by certain socioeconomic strata. It creates a kind of Green Haves vs. Green Have Nots.

That being said, changing mere consumer behavior is not the silver bullet solution to our environmental woes. We all know that. But at the end of the day, I believe limiting overall consumption (a.k.a., buying boatloads of stuff) is a better strategy across the board. Doing more with less and changing the tide of consumer excess has more longer term traction.

Much easier said than done, I know. It's something that will take hard work and deliberate thought. And in today's world those are two things many try to avoid at all costs. Yet another conundrum.