Before my child was born, I researched the price of every possible way for his poop to be recycled!
I imagined composting waste in my own yard, using the compost to grow food for the baby, and then feed it to myself and the baby for the ULTIMATE CELESTIAL KARMA breastmilk and babyfood!
Cloth diapers. My home had a water well and septic system, but I'm too lazy for that much washing.
Hybrid diapers (Cloth covers, disposable compostable inserts). I'm still too busy for that much washing.
Disposable, compostable diapers. If they work well, no extra washing!
After the child came along, I ended up doing with #3, but gave up composting after just a few weeks. I still recommend this for less than Utopian situations. Even in a landfill, compostable diapers breakdown MUCH faster than ones full of plastic.
I'm obsessed with paying as little as possible for ANYTHING. Compostable diapers cost up to $.70/piece compared to under .15/piece for regular diapers at big box stores. So I figured out how to balance Karma with Economics:
A. As of today, there are only 2 brands of FULLY compostable diapers: Broody Chick, and Poofs. 3 more brands are mostly compostable, but need to have tabs or other pieces removed: Honest, Naty and Delora.
B. Price after JGAR6995 discount code on Diapers.com is as follows for a 15 pound baby:
Poof $ .32/piece
Broody Chick $ .38/piece
Naty $.27/piece
Honest $.17-.23/piece Best price is when bundling with wipes on Honest.com, additional 35-40% off codes are sometimes available)
Delora $.60/piece
Rules to Pay as Little as Possible:
Honest.com offers "free" samples or trials (actually comes out to over .50 per diaper & wipe, since you pay for shipping) but also has great Diaper & Wipe monthly bundle pricing, bringing price under .20/piece and close to that of regular diapers. I'm not a huge fan of autopaying for the monthly bundle, but Honest diapers are by far the cutest on the market, you can pick different designs every month, customer service is amazing, and you can cancel anytime.
For any other brand, Buy on Diapers.com, they have BEST prices, even better than Big Box stores. Free shipping over $49. Free returns for 1 year.
Use 25% off new customer code on Diapers.com (maximum $20 off, so bring total close to $80)
Share codes with friends & family, so they get the same deal when purchasing from your registry. Baby registries like Amazon and Babylist allow you to add items from any website, including Diapers.com
Always pay using a cashback credit card (which you then pay off next month so you're not charged interest)
Conclusion: Honest Diapers are by far the most economical, but not the very best performing, in my experience. Poofs are the best performing, softest, and fit my child well, so they are my personal favorite. Poofs are the green loop design in all the photos, Honest are in the bottom right.
If you are going with conventional diapers, I recommend Huggies for performance. The absolute cheapest diaper choice is Pampers in jumbo packs.