I found the following statement completely maddening and ridiculous:

"But hunting for a plain white specialty brand, like the eco-virtuous Seventh Generation—or, God forbid, switching to cloth diapers—means turning the desire for a marketing-free rear end into a marketing counter-statement."

We use cloth (and when not convenient, 7th generation disposable) diapers for both our kids. Our daycare is fine with it, we save tons of money in the long run (which makes it easier to afford the occasional 7th generation) and we're not filling the landfill. The cloth diapers these days are pretty easy, we wash them at home, they come in cute colors, and have absolutely no product tie ins.

It's statements like the one above from the article that perpetuate the status quo that no reasonable options exist outside of mainstream, mass-marketed, elmo-bedecked products. Alternatives do exist and they aren't that difficult to discover if one does a bit of research.

Because they're full of shit.

I agree entirely. People blanche at the idea of cloth diapers. They're a cinch, home laundering is easy in modern washers, they save you a bundle, and our multi-certified daycare was quite cooperative about using them. Plus, they really cut down on diaper rash.

I don't know if the writer's a city dweller, but for my family cloth diapers would be tough because we don't have our own washer/dryer. The logistics of the disposables are just easier. I can see the appeal of cloth diapers, for sure, but for some the convenience factor of disposables is pretty high.

As a baby shower gift, my in-laws sprung for a diaper service since we didn't have our own washer and dryer. The service provided a diaper bucket, and the diaper guy would come by once a week and take away a bag of dirties while leaving a bag of clean ones. It was awesome.

With all the travelling my hubby and I have to do for work, and the fact the day care said "No way!" to cloth diapers, we went with disposables.

Got to say, haven't had an issue with diaper rash at all.

Would have loved to have a diaper service! Closest one is 70 miles away though, and charged a huge premium for service to our area. Way cheaper for disposables.

That's funny. When my oldest daughter was born I was given 2 dozen cloth diapers from a charity group and usually that was all we had to use. I washed them at the laundromat and sometimes by hand and hung them up. Back then,we didn't have much money, but I had plenty of time - which is what everyone seems to be short on these days.