Sustainable Diapering Exists and Is Surprisingly Easy

You know those moments when a product, tool, or book enters your life and immediately, you wonder how you ever survived without them? Esembly is that for me. A series of fortunately timed events (read: a fortunately timed sponsored social post) brought this organic and sustainable diaper system into my awareness at the perfect time. Perhaps, this sounds a little over the top — but if you’ve been a new parent trying to stay on top of diapering in a way that doesn’t destroy the earth — then you can attest that the struggle is real.To be perfectly honest, after the birth of my first son, we used disposable diapers. Although they were biodegradable, there was always a part of me that knew their environmental footprint was not great. In a bid to do our part, we briefly considered cloth diapering. However, that soon fell by the wayside as the realities of new mom life and running my own wellness business simply did not allow enough time with cloth-based diapers full-time. It was, however, just an excuse when I look back on that decision.A few months ago, before the arrival of my daughter, Grace, an Esembly post popped up in my feed. I’m a big “Google before you buy” person and immediately jumped online. A few searches later and I had learned that Esembly was founded by two New York new moms who had decided to find a diaper solution for modern families. They had specifically wanted to create a company that was a) environmentally responsible, b) did not require hours of laundry, and c) used organic and non-toxic materials.

I then learned from their website that 32 BILLION diapers are thrown into landfill each year. Until this point, I had not realized the scale of disposable diapers' impact.

Learning this statistic catalyzed my drive to do better and with Grace, I was determined to get on top of diapering and signed up for Esembly.To be perfectly upfront, Grace has only been with us for a few weeks — so we’re still in our first month of Esembly, but already they have transformed diapering for us. One of the biggest gifts has been the way that they’ve streamlined cloth diapering. The process uses inners, outers, and wipes. Essentially, you wrap your bub in an inner for absorption and an outer for containment (AKA big leaks). Then you change the diaper every 2-3 hours by tossing the inner and reusable baby wipes into your laundry bag and reuse the outer. In terms of laundry, Esembly suggests 2-3 times a week.One concern of mine was storing the dirty diapers between washes. To combat any odor, Esembly created the Pail Pouch, a waterproof bag made from the same material as the outers, so soiled diapers and accessories are contained for up to three days until you get around to your laundry. They also created their own natural Pail Deodorant to keep things smelling fresh; it also kills the alkali in diapers and helps boost the performance power of the washing powder.Another question that had been playing on my mind was how to use cloth-diapers outside of the house. You can tell this is a brand made by moms that have been there. Understanding that preparation is everything with a newborn, Esembly created a diaper bag that has two waterproof compartments to store new and used diapers until you get home. Plus, the bag itself is adorable. Actually, all of their designs from the outers to their bags and even their laundry powders are beautifully designed.

Outside of obvious environmental factors, another reason we decided to go with Esembly was their commitment to non-toxic materials from the diapers themselves (made with GOTS-certified cotton) to their baby skin care products that are made with organic and all-natural ingredients.

As any parent knows, those first few weeks and months are a time of getting to know your baby’s personality — but it’s also a time of getting to know their routines, rhythms, and likes and dislikes. It's been a gift to have had Esembly this time around. Even just having a step by step system takes a lot of the stress out of diapering and has created a seamless structure during this new transitional phase for our family. It feels strangely supportive like having a diaper doula on hand that’s helping you with everything from diapers, to laundry powder, to rash cream. Basically, this frees you up to spend less time thinking about diapers and more time with your baby. I’ve also found that we’ve spent less time buying diapers — and unexpectedly, less money. To be honest, this was not as high on my priority list as materials and sustainability, but already, we’ve noticed we’ve saved money. Speaking to Liz from Esembly, she explained that on the Esembly system you only need 44 cloth diapers from birth to potty training as opposed to 6,500 disposable diapers, which averages out to be around $2,000 in savings.All of this is to say that Esembly is a formula that is working wonders for our family. To any of our THE FULLEST readers that are also in this stage of life (or about to be) — honestly, I can’t recommend Esembly enough. It feels amazing to know that you’re not leaving a huge carbon footprint, have found a system that integrates into the realities of modern parenting, and is safe for your baby — not to mention way cuter to look at.To help you on your journey, Esembly is now offering 15% off your first order, just use the code THEFULLEST at checkout.Nikki Bostwick is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of THE FULLEST and host of THE FULLEST Podcast. She has always been passionate about providing wellness content that offers a perspective outside the mainstream narrative — one that is holistic, diverse and inclusive. Since launching, Nikki has grown THE FULLEST to include a daily digital platform, a weekly podcast, a botanical product line, and a wholesale business alongside her amazing team. She is also a mom of two, nestled in Newport Beach with her high school sweetheart and their Siberian Husky.