Seventh Generation Hit And Miss, But Worth a Try For Greenies
Written: May 14 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: manufacturing chlorine-free products releases less dioxin in the environment, reducing cancer risks
Cons: for the cost they are not very different from other diapers
The Bottom Line: Buying these diapers makes a contribution to a noble cause. If it does not happen to be a cause that concerns you, you won't be terribly impressed.
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| joyfulgirl91's Full Review: Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Diapers |
I am so much holier than thou.
At least, I felt that way while I used Seventh Generation. There are many reasons to love these diapers, and insist to all who will listen that they simply must seek them out and buy them.
Seventh Generation is a company that produces normal household products in a more environmentally friendly way. For the privilege of an appeased conscience while using paper towels, doing laundry, and changing diapers, the tree-hugging consumer must pay a little more and probably shop at the crunchiest stores in town. I've used many Seventh Generation products. Some I like, and some I don't, but I have to hand it to the company for being genuinely interested in offering environmentally friendly products that the casually green consumer will actually buy.
So why do I have a cupboard full of Pampers? I wanted so badly to stay loyal to this diaper, but over the last few months my feelings toward them have run hot and cold. At this time, my opinion is lukewarm.
A greener diaper? You mean, like, biodegradable, right?
Seventh Generation diapers are widely misunderstood, both by parents who have never tried them as well as their customers. Both groups might be surprised if they read the packaging, which clearly explains how their diaper is the same and how it is different from mainstream competitors. Their goal, as always, is to offer a product that doesn't require parents to give up too many conveniences in exchange for lightening their footprint on the environment.
Unfortunately, very little can be done about disposable diapers. The landfills are where they hit our planet the hardest, and this diaper will not biodegrade any sooner than whatever Proctor & Gamble or Kimberly Clark are offering - which is just this side of never. Not only is the gel that makes diapers so astoundingly absorbent likely to stick around long after our bones are dust, but even the seemingly harmless paper covers are unable to biodegrade in our anaerobic landfills. Seventh Generation diapers state that they are not biodegradable, although many parents who use them believe they are, since they don't read the packaging. If you are concerned about filling the landfills with diapers, your only options are cloth diapering or a naked baby.
Some parents who don't dig reading the package also assume that Seventh Generation does not use Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP). Since I have experimented with both methods, I have decided that cloth diapering is a much better option than gel-free diapers for parents who are determined not to use the substance. Gel-free brands are prohibitively expensive, almost never sold in bulk, and require the same vigilance and number of changes per day as cloth. The inclusion of SAP defines the modern diaper. Although the preponderance of the studies about this gel conclude it is safe in diapers, the material is viewed with some suspicion. Seventh Generation clearly states on their packages that their diapers use SAP because they believe it is essential to create a diaper that will perform on a level with their competitors, and also because they consider it safe.
Seventh Generation are different from mainstream diapers because they are chlorine free. They are brownish in color, and lack any cartoon character decorations or fragrance. Basically, this is a diaper very much like all the others in the grocery store, but passes on extra chemicals. This makes perfect sense to me - why should diapers be bleached white, perfumed, and printed with licensed characters if these processes pollute the environment with carcinogens? They are also manufactured in the USA, which benefits the environment by cutting down on energy consumption during distribution. If you can't get yourself worked up over dioxin in the groundwater, and you aren't moved by the company's mission statement, there is no good reason to pay more for these diapers.
If you close your eyes at the register, you can pretend they cost less.
The very worst thing about these diapers is that they cost so much more than other brands. Prices of diapers vary a lot with coupons and sales, but a search on drugstore.com shows a case of Seventh Generation (the most economical way to buy, and good luck finding a case sold off-line) priced at 37 cents per size four diaper. A case of Pampers Baby Dry costs 29 cents per size four diaper. Again, excepting the chlorine-free materials, these diapers are only as different from other brands as those other brands are from each other. Paying more for these diapers supports a company with noble goals and responsible practices, but whether or not they are a fabulous diaper worth every penny or soggy lumps of chlorine-free trash depends on your baby and your preferences. I can only describe my own experience and observations.
These look so familiar...
Placed side by side, Seventh Generation diapers look a lot like Pampers Cruisers, only in that recycled-paper shade of brown. They have the same elastic selvages on the inside, and the SAP is distributed all the way from the front to the back edge. This design seems to start with the assumption that your baby is short, but can expand vertically if they are taller, making it flexible enough to fit close to the baby's body without constricting them. The tabs are very stretchy velcro which are much wider than any other brand I have tried. The cloth-like cover feels smooth and not crinkly, and the whole diaper is very thin. While many diapers have elastic edges along the back and around the legs that stick out in a ruffle, these are contained neatly in a cord style. These do a very good job of moisture wicking, and when the baby wets the SAP absorbs evenly. There are no clumps or sagging - in fact, I have to give these diapers a squeeze to know when she needs to be changed, since they look the same wet or dry.
I've used these off and on in sizes 2-4, and I've come to the conclusion that they work well for my baby only when she is on the very low end of the weight guidelines. Size 2 is for babies of 12 to 18 pounds, and the small package I used during that time worked well on a 14 pound baby. I remembered how well they worked, and later bought size 3's (16-28lbs) for a 16 pound baby. For a few months, I experienced no problems and felt righteous. She wore these as she transitioned from a cruiser to a runner, and they stood up well to her increased activity. After she crossed the 20 pound mark, however, they became less reliable. They weren't bad enough to hate, but now and then I would pull her out of her car seat after one errand too many and feel damp pants. I blamed myself for stretching the time between changes, but they got worse as she got bigger. By 22 pounds, I felt disappointed enough in their performance not to buy them again, but when my husband came back from the grocery store with size 4's (22-37lbs) I decided there was no harm in using up the box. My daughter is somewhere between 22 and 23 pounds on our bathroom scale, and these are working quite well now that she is at the bottom of the weight limit again.
Even in a size that works well, I have a few issues. These bead like crazy, and I hate picking those beads off my daughter's skin. Perhaps SAP is not the dangerous substance the alarmists suggest it is, but it is still full of human waste, and if that isn't cleaned off it will cause irritation. Another problem is the velcro tabs. They fasten quite securely, but after the diaper has been worn for awhile, they cannot be pulled off and refastened. They will tear the paper and no longer stick, which is inconvenient for disposal since they won't close up into a tight tamale. Using these also make me angry with The Man, because they are so close to being Pampers. They make me wonder why all the other companies won't just stop using chlorine in their diapers so I can buy a product with the same benefit at a lower price and in the grocery store. Finally, at the end of the day I am still clogging the landfills with diapers, and the fact that they are chlorine-free impresses me less and less as my daughter grows. As the sizes get bigger, the packages cost the same but include fewer diapers. Since she can still wear Pampers Cruisers in a size 3, I am getting more for my money by using them as long as they fit.
No VPLs
I do still keep some of these on hand because they have a nice aesthetic benefit under light clothing - not only are there no characters printed on the diaper, but their beige color functions as a nude undergarment. The tidy elastic style around the top of the diaper prevents these from sticking out over pants, so these are a good diaper when I want her polished and ready for the paparazzi. Because they are so thin, I can also fit more of them in my Skip Hop mini-changer than other brands. They have their uses, but that accounts for maybe ten percent of our total diaper consumption. My favorite diaper is still Pampers Cruisers - bloated corporation, Sesame Street characters, chlorine bleach and all. I really loved the idea of raising my daughter in Seventh Generation diapers, but when all is said and done, I would rather donate the money I don't spend on them to charity. I would recommend these diapers to green families who are already making an effort to purchase chlorine free products, but not the friends who require a crash course in why chlorine is harmful.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
joyfulgirl91
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Member: Jessica
Location: San Diego, CA
Reviews written: 157
Trusted by: 136 members
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