365 Diapers (Whole Foods) are ECF, and free of fragrance, latex, and TBT. We are also calling them Sneaky Stuff because of their lack of disclosure about phthalates, dyes, and lotion.
Price per diaper: $0.24
Earth’s Best Tendercare Diapers At first glance these diapers appear to be at least Good Stuff: they use a “plant based plastic” for their top-sheet and back-sheet and a cellulose fluff/SAP/bio-SAP core. However, there is no info on whether Earth’s Best diapers are phthalate-free or lotion-free. They do claim to be dye-free, but don’t give any info on what is used for the print. There is a general absence of transparency about the composition and percentage of the diaper that uses “plant-based plastic.”
Price per diaper: $0.32
Huggies Diapers are ECF, and free of fragrance, lotion, latex and parabens. The label states that they are “EU 26 allergens free,” as well. I’m not moving them from Sneaky Stuff because they do not disclose any information about phthalates, dyes, or the composition of the back-sheet.
Price per diaper: $0.59 to $0.88
Kirkland Signature Diapers As many of you know, Kirkland has made some great improvements to their diaper, and now appear to be free of latex, chlorine, fragrance, lotion, and artificial dyes. That said, there is no evidence that they are free of phthalates (we chatted with a rep and they said that they were unable to provide an answer about phthalates) and of course they are still made of petroleum-based plastics. They state that “some of the polyethylene is made from sugar cane” I would like say they’ve upgraded from Bad Stuff to Okay Stuff, but with a lable that boldly claims that these diapers are “made with plant-based materials,” coupled with the lack of transparency on phthalates, we have to call these green-washed, and therefore Sneaky Stuff.
Price per diaper: $0.26
Mamma Bear (Amazon brand) are ECF, fragrance free, latex free and hypoallergenic, but have no further information available. Mama Bear gets a “Sneaky Stuff” designation for lack of disclosure about phthalates, dyes, and lotion.
Price per diaper: $0.16
Rascal & Friends Premium Diapers A few of you asked about this brand, but the response we received was: “Unfortunately, we are unable to provide a detailed ingredients list of our diapers, as this is commercially sensitive. We are proud to say that our products are free from formaldehyde, elemental chlorine, phthalates, parabens, gluten, and endocrine disruptors. We also have a focus on no nasties, and our diapers contain no latex or fragrances and we only use water-based inks! The inks we use are non-toxic and completely harmless to baby’s skin.” Without more details on what is in these diapers, we will consider them Sneaky Stuff.
Price per diaper: $0.22
Up & Up Diapers (Target) are Sneaky Stuff because the label states “petroleum-free lotion” and “perfume-free” as opposed to simply being lotion-free and fragrance-free, although we did confirm that they do not contain phthalates.
Price per diaper: $0.43
268 comments
Maia James
Hi Tina-
Kirkland are conventional diapers, so they aren’t Good Stuff, unfortunately.
Tina
What about kirkland brand diapers? Where do they rank?
Cecilia
I am very curious about anyones experience with Honest Company diapers, as I’ve read ALOT of reviews stating that they leak and blow out often. I’ve read up on earths best, seventh generation, and babyganics and what I’ve found is that they hold up way better than them. I do like Honest for not using as many ingredients and being a bit safer than the other brands, but I dont like hearing that their diapers suck. (I do buy their other products though). Just wanted to see if someone could share their experience. Thanks!
Maia James
Thank you! I do need to update this page, because now in my Brooklyn neighborhood we have compost bins outside of our apartment, so we now compost!
Jen
I also live in NYC and am wondering if you are aware that you can drop off compostable matter at your local Greenmarket. I don’t know if every NYC greenmarket offers this, but every one that I have checked (four different locations in Manhattan) does.
http://www.grownyc.org/compost
According to the website, they do not accept all compostable matter, but every greenmarket compost volunteer I’ve spoken to says that certain banned waste, meat scraps for instance, are okay so long as they make up a small proportion of the compost you bring. My guess is they will not accept a bag full of compostable diapers, but maybe they can accept one or two in a grocery bag full of the okay stuff, e.g., fruit and veggie scraps. Of course, babies use up A LOT more than 1-2 diapers per week!
Another thing – even the “best” disposable diapers, Bambo according to your website, won’t biodegrade properly in a normal landfill even if they are made with all or mostly all biodegradable materials. Landfills are too tightly packed for things to break down so these biodegradable diapers will be around just as long as the regular diapers, sadly.
Maia James
For that I like the Honest reusable one:
http://goo.gl/R9BT1H
Bonnie Denham
Do you have a recommendation for safe swim diapers?
nilam
tell me that pamper is good or bad diaper
Maia James
Will add to our list for review when we update this guide!
FTM
What about Aleva Naturals Bamboo Baby diapers? Your site is so helpful, thanks!