Preparing for the challenge...

There has been a lot of hype around the coming Flats and Handwashing Challenge that will be starting on May 23rd, 2011 and running through May 30th, 2011.  This is the article that inspired the challenge..I find it very sad that families resort to leaving their babies in soiled diapers for hours longer than they should because they can hardly pay for the diapers they have.

Fortunately there are those out there trying to educate and assist low income families on cloth diapers:  the Giving Diapers, Giving Hope Foundation educates and loans diapers to families in need.  I believe they are doing wonderful work.  I have heard a lot of chatter from people who will be sending their flats to this great organization after the challenge.  I plan to do so with mine as well-provided we don't fall in love <3.

 This is our last week to get things in order.  I ordered a dozen flats from Swaddlebees yesterday.  They should be here in about 3 days.

I have been practicing folding flats and fitting them on Levi using old receiving blankets. I currently have 1 PUL Thirsties Duo size 2 cover and 3 woolies. I am hoping to churn out 1 more wooly by Monday so that we have an extra for rotation since we will exclusively be in flats and covers...

We plan to go tonight or tomorrow and get a 5 gallon bucket, plunger and a couple new drill bits so that we can make a Camp Style Washer to clean our diapers.  I will also be investing in a rack to dry our diapers since we are in an apartment.

I plan to document the process as we go...I have not decided just how I am going to do it yet, but I imagine it will be a combination of photos, videos and blog posts....

I am excited for the challenge for many reasons:
*I want to know that even if we were without a washer I could indeed still cloth diaper with a smile on my face!
*I want to bring awareness of the ease and savings that cloth diapering can provide to a family struggling to diaper their child/children.
*I hope to bring attention to the lack of environmental impact that cloth diapering has vs disposables. And show that the amount of water it takes to wash cloth is minimal in comparison to the 500+ years it takes for a sposie to break down in a landfill....