Your Compostable Diapers Are Going into the Landfill.

We need to talk about compostable diapers, folks. As someone who has
dedicated years of my life to helping our local families provide safe diapering options for their babies while protecting our beautiful home, these new diapering trends are driving me bonkers!

If you live in the Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo or Morro Bay areas, or any of the areas around and in between, we do not have a compostable diaper option. I find this is easiest to describe using the example of a banana peel. The actual banana peel is compostable, but unless you are properly composting it, it is going in a trash can, which will then be dumped into a landfill. The banana peel is then landfill trash. The same is true with your compostable diapers.

From my experience working with companies in other parts of the country that do offer compostable diaper service, they are telling us that the system is not exactly perfect. Once the diapers go the facility, they are given a limited time to break down. After that time period, the area is raked and all solid waste goes to the landfill. 60% of diaper waste that is properly composted is still being transferred to our landfills!

We at Tinkle Belle have contacted all of the local compost facilities that service our areas. No one is currently interested in or able to develop a compostable diaper program. What we’ve realized is that this is not the best way for our business or our customers to achieve their goals.

The greenwashing is real. The truth is that we do need to be careful. We do need to do our research. In the meantime, we’ll all continue to do our part! As we continue to research and pursue other options, we remain dedicated to making it as easy as possible for you to choose cloth diapers.