A fellow blogger (Pamela from Daytontime) emailed me a link to a blog post announcing a new campaign from Huggies that utilizes “mom bloggers” as brand ambassadors for a new diaper drive.  The Drive is called “Every Little Bottom” and aims to donate 20 million diapers to diaper banks over the next 8 months.

Yes, you read that right, 20 million. And the sad fact is: that is a drop in the bucket of the worldwide consumption of disposables.

But I am not writing about the diaper drive.  There are families who truly need diapers, and food, and other things that these big companies can provide.  Do I wish these families were using cloth diapers?  Absolutely.  Is it possible for them all?  Not really. Without access to laundry facilities it is difficult to use cloth diapers.

This is what Elita of Blacktating commented on that post:

I just don’t see any way around using disposables for low income moms. Instead of pointing the fingers at poor women who don’t have many options, why don’t we ask why parents of means aren’t using them?

The first part of the comment I slightly disagree with.  Even some low income families have washers and dryers.  Many do not.  And coin laundry can become costly, transportation to the facilities hard to come by, etc.  I get it.  I want to cloth diaper the world but I have to be realistic. And the blanket statement that cloth diapers save money so we should provide those, which will last for one or more children, doesn’t always apply.  In theory cloth diapers are the best option because they last, they work for many sizes in most cases, and the families would never need to buy diapers again.  But without access to proper facilities to wash them how useful are they? Not everyone wants to hand wash diapers (I personally do not, thank goodness for my own washer) or has the time.

The second part of her comment did resonate with me.  Even though cloth diapers are the economical choice, there is no reason the upper and middle class shouldn’t or couldn’t use them.  Just because a family has “disposable income” that doesn’t mean they should literally be buying diapers that are meant to be disposed of. Families with means have access to any cloth diaper they want and washers/ dryers.  Some even have enough to hire someone to wash their diapers for them!  Why wouldn’t you use cloth diapers if you didn’t even need to wash them yourself?

Shouln’t we be focusing more on converting those who can afford either option more than pushing cloth diapers on families who hardly have the means to wash them?

Once again, before you think I am pro disposables, I am speaking of families in the modern world who just don’t have the time to hand wash diapers, or transport their own laundry and cloth diapers to a laundromat.  I still hate the thought of all of these diapers going to a landfill, but if more families who could buy a stash without blinking did so, that is better than nothing.  I know many in the cloth community see things in black and white.  There is a grey area too that should be acknowledged.

This is why I hope Operation Fluffy succeeds.  Widespread media attention is needed to make cloth diapers visible.  The Green movement is being followed by plenty of upper and middle class families.  They pay extra for organic food, natural cleaners, sustainable clothing, hybrid cars, and solar panels for their homes.  But somehow they still use disposables!  They just don’t know there are modern cloth diapers!

And for families in need who do have laundry access, cloth diapers should be the answer. This is why The Cloth Diaper Foundation helps families get started who cannot afford to buy their own cloth diapers.  There is no easy answer to the diaper dilemma faced by needy families, but both ends are trying to meet the need.

Image Credit: Jonathan Harford via Flickr

BottomBumpers AIO

BottomBumpers AIO

Rumparooz One Size

All diapers together

Mothering Magazine Article

Rockin' Green Sample

Letter to Ellen and DVD of videos

Shake Weight for Babies and Wiggly Giggler

All together

I added a few other odds and ends, including some photographs of babies wearing the embroidered “Ellen” diapers and washing instructions from Kelly’s Closet.  In case you are wondering, the Rumparooz, Fuzzibunz, and Bottombumpers diapers were sent free of charge for the package. I paid out of pocket for the Zany Zebra (Which I wasn’t even supposed to get but there was a mixup so I felt obligated to pay, long story, and why I have 2 cupcake diapers for Ellen’s niece, Eva) and the embroidery on the covers which were used for the video shoot.  The covers themselves were donated by Kelly’s Closet (5 of them).  Kim from Rockin’ Green gave me the sample but she had no idea it would end up in the package.  I bought the Wiggly Gigglers (in case you are wondering, I made a Shake Weight for Babies video to send to Ellen for laughs)

As suggested by the title, this is my last effort for Operation Fluffy.  I have put a lot of time, effort, and money into the operation.  If this doesn’t work, nothing will.  This package is literally being handed to Ellen Degeneres by someone in her staff.  Let’s just say I have a friend, who has a friend, who has a friend that works at the show.  ’Nuff said.

I want to thank everyone who has been involved in Operation Fluffy. It has been a fun ride!  A special thanks to the generous companies who sent in items for the video and the package! And a thank you to Jillian’s Drawers who allowed me to invade their community room to film the video (which is being edited still, it will be in the package.) A VERY special thank you to the moms and dads who brought their babies to be filmed in the video!  I can’t wait to share it with you all.  If these adorable diapers don’t convince her how cool cloth is, nothing will.

If you listened to me last Sunday on the Cloth Diapers Rock radio show from The Feminist Breeder then you know part of what is coming up for #operationfluffy.  If you didn’t listen, you should anyway just to hear Gina and I blab about cloth diapers etc.

June 8 I will be filming an awesome video of babies dancing in embroidered cloth diaper covers (donated by Kelly’s Closet!) with the phrase “Cloth. Dance. Ellen.” on the butt.  The diapers are being embroidered by Bottombumpers.  Mandi from Jillian’s Drawers is letting me invade her community room which is housed in her brand new store in Ithaca, NY.  I will be filming the babies there.  Where am I getting all of these babies?  I have asked some local residents in Ithaca to let me borrow their children.  My own son will be dancing as well!

I have something even more awesome for the video planned that is sure to make Ellen smile.  It involves a Shake Weight and babies.  You will have to wait and see if I can pull that off!

Once the video is finished I am sending it to her along with some custom embroidered diapers.  She is getting a Bottombumpers AIO with “Cloth. Dance. Ellen.” on the butt and her niece, Eva, is getting her own custom diaper with an appliqued cupcake and her name on the back.  I will also be including a few other brands of diapers in the box to show her how amazing modern cloth diapers are.

I am really excited about what is coming up.  Even if we don’t get the diapers or the video on her show, rest assured it will get some traffic on YouTube.  And any exposure for cloth diapers is great!

I have been a busy bee lately and  wasn’t able to post this earlier!  Join me tonight for The Feminist Breeder’s radio show airing at 10 pm CST. That is 11 pm EST (I think, lol).

I’m sure there will lots being discussed about cloth diapers, and a little about #operationfluffy.  There are some updates that I might be able to share on the show that I haven’t revealed online yet!

If you  are up late listen in.  If not, you can catch the show later on at this link.  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thefeministbreeder/2010/05/17/cloth-diapering-is-cool

And please, for those who tune it, ignore my southern accent.

With close to 300 lovely mamas tweeting to Ellen last night it was easy to get lost! We had at least 4,000 tweets yesterday!  Our goal was to bombard Ellen with facts about cloth diapers and show her how adorable they are.  I think we did that, and then some. Unfortunately we didn’t trend, but that wasn’t for lack of trying!  We just happened to be the same night as a big game.  Now I am going to show you some of my favorite tweets!  For a detailed look check out What the Hashtag!

The Funny Tweets!

The Good Idea Tweets.

The, Yeah, Good Point, Tweets.

The Oh So True Tweet.

The Mantra!

And finally, the all about me tweets!

A HUGE thank you to The Eco Chic for hosting the party and to the people who helped promote it.  Kelly’s Closet and Rumparooz both sponsored some giveaways to gain more attention.

There is still work to be done!  Keep an eye out for more updates!

Don’t forget to be at the #operationfluffy party on Twitter tonight at 9 PM EST.

Are you ready?

• Have you uploaded your fluffy photos to Twitpic.com to tweet @TheEllenShow?
• Have you figured out how to use Tweetgrid.com to be able to follow the chat? (party tutorial)
• Have you signed up to follow @KimRosas and @TheEcoChic?
• Have you told your kids to be in bed on time?  (This is a biggie for me, my son has been a night owl lately!)
• Have you told all of your friends to be there?
• Have you prepared yourself for a ton of fun?

If you have done all of the above then you are ready for a party!

I wish wish wish I could tell you what I am working on in regards to #operationfluffy.  It is top secret but all kinds of awesome! It involves custom embroidered diapers, dancing, video, and fun!

See you tonight!

@TheEcoChic has posted all of the details on her website.  She was kind enough to host this party even though it was supposed to be her week off!

Synopsis:

Thursday night we will all be tweeting to @TheEllenShow using the #operationfluffy hashtag.  We will send pictures of our adorable babies in cloth diapers and tell her how much better cloth is than “jean” huggies.  PUKE!

I did want to add, to make it easier to tweet pictures, use the twitpic.com service.  Upload your photos ahead of time to make the party more about tweeting and less about searching for and uploading pictures.  The pictures will show up without having to click them if you use Tweetgrid.com for the party.  If you need help learning how to do Twitter parties, I have a little tutorial for you.

If you belong to a cloth diaper board (Cloth Diaper Nation, Diaperswappers, The Bump, Cafemom, BabyCenter, etc…) I would love your help in spreading the word.  If you make a post about #operationfluffy’s Twitter party you get (5) extra entries into a giveaway of your choice!  I have 2 ending today (Real Nappies and Bravado) so if you want entries in those you should hurry up!)  Or, if you have another idea to spread the word give me a shout and I will let you know if it counts towards extra entries!

To get those entries leave a comment with the link on this post and leave (5) comments on the giveaway of your choice also linking to your post.  Say something like “Extra Entries #operationfluffy post” and leave your link!

If you haven’t already, go join our “Get Cloth Diapers on The Ellen Show” page on Facebook.

This page has lots of members but we always need more.  Be sure when you join to invite your cloth diaper loving friends.

There is a rumor that an #operationfluffy Twitter bomb is going to be planned for next week with the help of @Ecomommedia (Eco-Friendly Twitter Party Planner).  She was able to get #diapershops trending 2 weeks ago.  What about #operationfluffy?

For this to really work we need more people involved than are on Twitter.  Once the plans are finalized I would love members of cloth diaper boards like Baby Center, DiaperSwappers, Cloth Diaper Nation, The Bump, CafeMom, Justmommies, DiaperPin, etc to try and get people involved in the party.  If they knew how awesome the #clothdiapers community was, they would want to be on Twitter anyway!

If you remember, we launched a Twitter, blog, and video campaign called #operationfluffy to convince The Ellen Show to feature modern cloth diapers on the show.  The campaign had hundreds of people involved who tweeted and taped their babies dancing for our You Tube video of babies in cloth.

Then I got word from a diaper maker who was told they would be on The Mother’s Day show.  I was happy and sad.  I was happy to see cloth diapers on the show but sad only one type and brand would be presented.

Unfortunately, cloth diapers were bumped because Huggies stepped in with their ridiculous “cloth like” jean diapers.  You know what else is like cloth? CLOTH.

And, lets be honest.  Even if you use disposables, how ridiculous are these?  It makes baby girls look like hoochie mamas in cut off booty jean shorts.  And boys, well, erm, I am not gonna touch that with a ten foot pole.  But lets just say it looks ridiculous.

I am torn.  I was under the impression Ellen was very green.  She said on her show “If there’s one thing that all babies need — it’s diapers, and lots of ‘em!”  Not really.  12-36 in total will do, none of which end up in the landfill.  A friend suggested I tally up how many diapers Ellen gave away which will then end up in the landfill.  The entire audience received a 6 month supply of Huggies.

I was not able to find concrete numbers as to how many seats the studio holds.  I did find an account of a woman who attended the show who knew that there are a guaranteed 150 seats for out of town guests.  Meaning there are more than 150.  I am going to guess there are another 100 seats, for my purposes.  Maybe more, maybe less.

250 audience members received a 6 months supply of Huggies.

The average baby goes through 8 diapers a day.

That baby will use 1,456 diapers in that time frame.

So lets say Huggies gives those families 1,456 diapers.

Multiply that by 250 guests.

Ellen essentially put 364,000 diapers into a landfill.*

These guests could have had cloth diapers!  In a perfect world that would have kept 364,000 diapers out of the trash.

Like I said, I am dissapointed.  I understand she is running a business and Huggies poured millions into her show in the form of advertising.  Cloth diaper companies, even the biggest, couldn’t do that.

Ellen, we want you to think about the influence you have on the country.  Think of the good you can do for environment if you promote the use of cloth.

You can tell The Ellen Show how you feel.

Tweet your comments (please be nice) to @TheEllenShow and use the hashtag #operationfluffy.

*I pulled these numbers from the air based on guesses.  Obviously that is not a correct number.  But it is demonstrative of how many diapers will be thrown away by those parents.