1st Great Cloth Diaper Change
was successfully held in Bacolod
All 14 mothers who successfully changed their babies’ cloth diapers during the 1st Great Cloth Diaper Change event here in Bacolod. Together with them is organizer, Dr. Jamine Cruz-Nalumen, with her baby (far right).
April 22, 2017 is a special date for cloth diapering as moms who use cloth diapers on their babies and young children gathered around the world to simultaneously change their children’s nappies. Here in the Philippines, it was held at exactly 11:00am EST. The event was held in correlation to the World’s Earth Day 2017 celebration, which is April 23.
As mothers, we are aware that cloth diapers comprise the biggest portion of our baby’s trash. In a day, we go from six to 10 nappy changes, depending on our child’s feeding and waste disposal habits. It was reported that disposable diapers take about 550 years to completely decompose, so you can just imagine the trash that we are building up as we raise our children.
But there is a better and more environment-friendly option: CLOTH DIAPERS. Many moms have switched to using cloth diapers on their children, if not totally, at least partially. Like in our case, we used disposable diapers only at night, so we consume only 1 diaper per day until our daughter became toilet-trained at 2 years old. My reason for this was I don’t want the both of us disturbed during our sleep at night because I am also very exhausted.
Anyway, the Great Cloth Diaper Change is a worldwide movement promoting the use of cloth of diapers and educating mothers about their benefits. At the same time, it is making a statement to the world that there is a choice. You can buy disposable diapers and throw them away after a single use or buy several cloth diapers and use them until your child is toilet-trained. And you can give them away or resell them as used ones when your child has outgrown them.
The cloth diapers given to the participants. So adorable!
Here in Bacolod, the group called Cloth Diaper Addicts PH organized the event under the management of Jamine Cruz-Nalumen, mommy of three and a cloth diapering activist. It was held at the Business Inn and was attended by friends, families, sponsors, media partners, and witnesses and of course, participated in by 14 moms and their babies or toddlers. Since my daughter is already toilet-trained, I just attended as a witness together with fellow breastfeeding and cloth diapering advocate, Mommy Jireh Poquita, owner of JJC Nutritreats. I was also invited to talk about the benefits of homeschooling.
Related story: Choosing to Homeschool our Daughters
Signing the witness statement with Mommy Jireh of JJC Nutritreats here in Bacolod, makers of nutritious treats for the whole family.
The witness statement
The event was started by several talks and about 15 minutes to 11:00am, the mothers and their toddlers were already called to assemble in the middle of the room to get ready. They were given the official GCDC cloth diapers to let their kids change into, which was also one of their giveaways from the event. There was a 15-second countdown where the mommies raised the cloth diapers and at exactly 11:00am, they altogether changed their kids. It was a fun time and every one successfully changed their kids during that the designated moment. It was also quite an experience for us witnesses.
My inaanak, baby Gio, and mommy Daphne of Cleft Support Group-Philippines, also joined the event.
At exactly 11 am, the mommies simultaneously changed their kids’ cloth diapers.
After changing, the mommies raised their kids in jubilation–happy to be a part of a worldwide movement.
So to mommies-to-be, do consider cloth diapers for your babies. This message can also go to those who are using disposable diapers. You still have time to make the shift. Not only is it environment-friendly, it saves us a lot of money, too.
Lootbags given to the participants.