EarthBaby
The Bay Area's compostable diaper service
I wondered the same thing (in Berkeley) but couldn't find a cloth service when our kiddo was born. I elected not to do home-wash cloth diapers because (a) I'm lazy and (b) I wasn't convinced that the inefficiency (water/electricity use) of my small home washer was worth it, as compared to a large-scale industrial laundry process. So I went with EarthBaby, and I would just like to put in a plug for their FANTASTIC service. Seriously. Mid-pandemic, when US mail only showed up twice a week, UPS left our packages all over the neighborhood, and the grocery deliveries stopped coming altogether...EarthBaby never missed a beat. We have never had an incorrect order, they take away our diapers like magical clockwork, they communicate really well about upcoming holiday schedules or product changes, etc, and our driver is super nice. Sorry this doesn't answer your question, original poster, but if anyone else on this thread is wondering, EarthBaby will make your life easier. And as someone else mentioned, since you can't put diapers into your green bin, this felt like my best shot at keeping them out of landfill.
I don't have info on cloth diaper services, but can you share more about your skepticism around EarthBaby? Their website certainly claims the diapers are being composted (https://earth-baby.com/how-it-works), and not sent to landfill, but if you have some specialized knowledge here, that would be helpful to hear more about. Best wishes finding a cloth service!
While not a cloth diaper service, we used Earth Baby - a compostable diaper service. It's more expensive than traditional disposable diapers but we felt that the lower waste was well worth it. After using traditional disposables a few times for travel, I began to prefer the quality and texture of the compostable diapers and used them exclusively for 2 kids. We used the service in Oakland and San Francisco. As a bonus, they're very flexible with regards to ordering/exchanging diapers as babies grow.
We have a 16 month old and have been using Earthbaby since she was a couple of months old. We were signed up from the start but since she was born early, she didn’t fit their diapers for a while.
We love Earthbaby!! They are reliable and flexible and very friendly if you need to call them. We chose compostable over cloth because my understanding is that living in a drought prone area makes constant diaper washing (and my friend who used compostable out of state washed diapers a lot) more wasteful than composting. I have even read that resource use between cloth and disposable is basically a draw! This may not be true for cloth diaper services though since they use higher efficiency equipment than we have in our homes.
Congratulations! I’m sure you will find what works best for you and you family.
My child has been out of diapers for a few years but we did use Earthbaby and I really liked it. I found it to be really convenient. I liked that they were dropped off and picked up and that i could add other things like wipes or lotions/creams. I also liked that if we were out and about we could toss them just like regular disposable. It got even better when her day care started using the earth baby service too.
Good luck with with your first baby!
I love Earth Baby and their service is great - super easy to use website and they exchange sizes, recyle diaper/wipe packing for you. Their Naty by Nature diapers work really well. We have been nothing but impressed so far.
I have experience with Earth Baby. The company is great. Customer service is outstanding - friendly, responsive, helpful. Delivery / pick-up is reliable. Unfortunately the size 1 diapers did not fit my son well. We currently have our account on hold (another convenience) and will definitely try again when he is bigger. (A friend of mine also had the same experience with the size 1 diapers but the larger sizes work for her daughter.) I highly recommend giving them a chance. If you get a referral the first delivery is super discounted, if not free. (Feel free to contact me if you need a referral.) or just buy a package of naty diapers yourself and see if they work. Good luck!
Hello! We use earthbaby now and love it. We started when my son was maybe 3 or 4 months and are still using them, he is 22 months now. I think the diapers work great and rarely leak. I think we waited until he had a bit more chunk to his body before we started with the service because their smaller diapers didn’t fit as well. So we just used disposables for the first 3 months. With my older son we did tiny tots and then we started washing our own cloth diapers. That was also fine, but obviously more work. Earthbaby customer service is excellent and it is reassuring to know that the diapers are not ending up in a landfill. If compostable was not an option I would have done cloth again. Having second kid and working I just didn’t want any extra work. Happy to answer any other questions -
We have been using Earth Baby since my daughter (second child) was born in March. I love the service. The company is very responsive to efforts to reach them (either phone or email). They use Naty diapers, which are not QUITE as secure and absorbent as the big name brands (but we had plenty of blow outs when using those while traveling, too) but you do have some sacrifice for composting, and I feel better about putting my baby into healthier diapers. I personally have significant climate anxiety which keeps me up at night, so I appreciate being able to minimize the major impact of diapering. We chose compostable over cloth because water seems the most precious resource in our part of the world, and when I researched it wasn't clear one was definitively environmentally better. It would probably be cheaper to launder cloth diapers at home, but I do so much laundry already I wasn't up for that.
The service itself is not much more complicated than putting out your garbage on trash day. We have a recurring order and every once in a while I add an extra pack of diapers, wipes or even baby shampoo. They drop off your order every week when they pick up the soiled diapers. It's been a smooth experience and in 8 months, we've never had a problem.
We have been using Earth Baby for our now 8-month old since she was about 2 months old. We love it! They are like the diaper fairy, taking away our dirty diapers and bringing us whatever we need every week, without having to step foot into a store. We don't have a laundry machine in our apartment, so cloth diapers were not going to work for us, and the thought of regular disposables clogging up our landfills was horrible. I have been super pleased with the service so far.
Here are the pros and cons of the service/products from my own experience: In terms of the diapers themselves, they are not the softest, a bit more papery in texture than typical pampers, but definitely not uncomfortable. Our baby seems to like them just fine. We find them to be just as absorbent as any other diapers, generally keeping a full-night's worth of pee in place without leaks. Also, we have never had a problem with diaper rash while using them (with the exception of a small rash once, but it cleared in a day). Like any diaper, blowouts do happen occasionally, they are not some miracle cure for too much poop, haha. The one thing to note is that their diapers do not have wetness indicators, so as a first time parent I wasn't sure if I would notice that the diapers were wet. In hindsight, the whole idea of a wetness indicator just seems so silly, as you can tell how wet the diaper is just by feeling how squishy it is! Also, at first I wasn't too thrilled about the selection of wipes that they had to offer, but once I used the unscented wipes I find them to be great.
While the service is great, their website can be a little tricky to navigate at first. For example, I had to call their customer service people to ask them how to add different recurring items to my list. But once you know where to go and how it works, it is a breeze. They are also super accommodating about things like vacation scheduling, or needing to exchange unopened diapers packs for a different size.
Overall, I would definitely recommend. It is incredibly convenient, and you are really helping the environment!
We've used Earth Baby for two years. Every single delivery has been on time and correct. Customer service is very responsive. Diapers work well. They feel slightly stiffer than Pampers and we've recently switched to Pampers for overnight diapers as we found the Earth Baby ones couldn't hold quite as much, but generally absolutely no issue with performance of the compostable diapers. All told we end up spending about $140/month for garbage-can-sized compostable bags for the diaper pail, diapers, compostable wipes, and the service fee (for one child).
We've been using the Earth Baby service since our son was born and overall really like it! The service is consistent and the diapers mostly work fine, though we just moved up to to size 5 and I have noticed they seem to rip a little more easily. One big note is that we use regular disposable diapers for bedtime/overnight (our son sleeps ~11 hours) -- the compostable ones don't cut it.
We use Earth Baby and absolutely love it! The Naty diapers are amazing so absorbent and good for sensitive skin and the service is fantastic (I'll occasionally switch to my parent's house in a different city in the Bay Area and then back to my home when we come back and they have no problem with it). According to them it is greener than cloth but I didn't double check the numbers. I also like that if we are traveling, I can just toss them and not have to bring them home. I highly recommend these diapers and the service. You must get the diapers through them (although they are also available on amazon etc) and you must compost through their service since they need a specific type of composting.
I'm sure several others with chime in with the same response but Earth Baby IS great. We love what they do, what they represent, and how easy they make it to be environmentally sound. I'd say the diapers do about 85-90% of what the diapers filling up landfills can do (and I'm glad they don't have the weird, fake perfumed smell of disposables). My husband and I feel the trade off is well worth it keeping plastic diapers that take decades to break down out of landfills. Having them pick up/deliver diapers to the door has worked out really well and even the packaging the diapers come in gets picked up with the diapers.
We adjust our order each week as needed for wipes and diapers (though they offer a host of other products). I really, *really* wish I could convince more parents to try out Earth Baby since it's our all of our kiddos who will ultimately pay the price for landfills and plasticizing of our environment. They even send a packet of free diapers so you can try it out first.
We got an Uppi diaper pail for the compost bags needed and then use the paper bag they deliver the diapers in to absorb moisture in the bottom of the pail and replace it weekly (or anytime we take the diapers out).
We also carry a Ziploc bag in our diaper bag to take home and compost diapers changed on the go.
Thank you for asking and congrats! (Our second baby also arrives this March...So soon!)
We have been very happy with Earth Baby, a compostable diaper service. Their diapers are not strong enough for overnight use, but otherwise they are great!
Earth Baby composting diaper service! They serve Oakland/Bay Area. We used it for our son and it is amazing - zero landfill waste, zero. Wipes, diapers, their packaging and the bags are all composted commercially and become saleable compost in 14 weeks. Excellent responsive customer service. It will cost you more than buying the giant boxes of disposables, but if not adding thousands of disposable diapers and that human waste into landfill is a priority for you, I highly recommend Earth Baby. For our household it was so worth it. Check out their free trial. https://earthbaby.deliverybizpro.com/p-35-how-it-works.html
Archived Q&A and Reviews
April 2012
RE: Earth Baby diaper service vs tossing in green bin
I use the Earth Baby service and my understanding is that the city cannot handle soiled diapers in their composting system as they're still considered human waste even if you 'shake the poop' out. If you want to double check I'd recommend you contact your city just to be sure. (On a side note, I do like the service a lot & the products are good. Figure as long as I'm choosing disposable over cloth it's worth a little more to keep them out of landfill.)
mama of an earth baby baby
Jan 2012
RE: Compostable diaper services
We've been using earth baby. We chose them over tiny tots because it worked out to be cheaper (I don't think this is true if you do a combo of cloth and compostable, which only tiny tots allows you to do, but was true for only compostable).
We really, really like the fit of the nature's best diapers, and did not at all like the fit or feel of the ones TT uses (a friend gave us some to try while we were deciding). We've found the company to be very responsive and friendly, and had no problems with pick up / drop offs.
At ~15 months, we go through about 5 a day. Usually a little less, but we just used that for planning a vacation and it worked out about right. They are comparable (or even a little better) to 7th generation disposables, but seem to hold their shape better and not sag as much. Even if we were to stop the service we'd keep using the same diapers. l.
Hi - I'm going on three years with Earth-Baby compostable service. I got my son out of diapers just in time to have a new baby in them. I have had a great experience with them. Their customer service is excellent, their website is easy to navigate (it has been improved since they started) and I feel really good about not adding to the landfill. Our kids are in daycare, so cloth was not an option, but I really feel like this might be the best of all worlds -- no water usage to wash cloth, nothing in the landfill. The people who run it are parents and are very thoughtful about things. If your baby suddenly outgrows a size, they'll take unopened packs back, no problem. They can also accommodate vacation schedules easily. You set up your account with a recurring delivery, but you can change it at any time. And if you realize you need something between recurring deliveries, you can add it on to your next pickup. It's all pretty easy.
You asked about the diapers: they are great. I actually used Nature BabyCare diapers even before we found out about Earth Baby, because a friend recommended them. They are very absorbant, but also feel soft and breathable, without all the plastic-y feeling of other diapers. They fit well, stay on well, and are way less bulky than cloth diapers. My only complaint is they don't make a newborn size. They do run small (so I change to the next size up at the bottom of the weight range for that size), but unless your little one is a real heavyweight, you'll probably need to do something else for at least a couple of weeks before you can do the Nature BabyCare. They do make a pull-up, which my three year-old is in at night, and we've been happy with that. Nature BabyCare diapers are more expensive than store brands, but not terribly so. Earth-Baby sells them to you for less than I can buy them on Diapers.com, so you're not getting ripped off there. They charge a monthly fee for the pickup, no matter how many diapers you send. The fee has increased since I started with them, but it's still very reasonable.
EarthBaby's front door pick-up and delivery is very easy. They sell other stuff on their website, too, including the compostable bags you need to collect them in. We inherited a DiaperGenie, which doesn't do compostable bags, so I do transfer the diapers each week into a compostable bag, but if you have a different collection bin, you won't have to do that smelly task.
In terms of how many diapers I go through, that really depends on your babe. My daughter is a once a day pooper, so we probably only use 5-7 diaper a day with her, even though she's still an infant. My son was an every-other-feed pooper, so we went through a lot more. But I think the compostable diapers are more like disposable ones than cloth in terms of absorbancy. Anyway, I definitely recommend Earth Baby. It's a great service! I'll sign with my name, because I think if you tell them I referred you, I get a free pack of diapers or something. Shannon
Congratulations! And good for you for exploring compostables. We've tried both Tiny Tots and Earth Baby this year. Based on my experience: Go Earth Baby.
We've been solely using compostable diapers for our baby (our first, now six months old), with an occasional disposable here and there during travel. We've been totally happy with our decision.
We started with Tiny Tots because Earth Baby did not (at the time) service our area. Initially, we thought the diapers were great - surprisingly absorbent and very few leaks - although they felt a little 'paper-y'. But as our baby grew they no longer fit very well. We started having more frequent leakage because of the ill fit - neither the size up or size down worked quite right.
Then we got word from Earth Baby that they started servicing our part of town. The brand of compostables that Earth Baby uses is - for us - way better. The material is softer and they have great elastic waist and leg bands, translating into a better fit and far far fewer leaks. They are more like disposable diapers in fit and feel than the brand used by Tiny Tots. We felt bad leaving Tiny Tots (they have great customer service), but for our baby the Earth Baby diapers are AWESOME. The absorbency is comparable to brand name disposables but without the weird gel-ball filling and the guilt. We love them.
You've probably worked out that the pricing is comparable between the two. Oh, and it might just be our babe, but it's a very rare occasion when he gets diaper rash. His butt is very happy in compostables.
As for how many we go through, it varies. Right now at six months old we might be using 40-55 a week? Sorry for the big range - I'm just guesstimating. We used MANY many more when he was a newborn!
Good luck with your decision! Compostable Diaper Lover
Experience with Earth Baby Diaper Service?
Oct 2010
Hi, We are considering using this service for our new baby and wondered what experiences others have had with the products and/or company? http://www.earth-baby.com/pages.php?pageid=14 I've used the brand of wipes they sell but not the diapers. I'd love any comments about quality and fit of diapers (I tend to have slender babies) as well as anything about the service itself. Thanks! Susan
We have used Earth-Baby for 8 months now and LOVE it! The pick up and delivery are always reliable, N.Berkeley pick up is on Thursdays. We use the diapers and wipes. If you have a slender baby, I do, the diapers are great, nice snug fit not super bulky. You will know immediately if you need to go up or down a size, because a blow out will happen. They work overnight as well, no leaks. My son is 8 months 18lbs and wears a size 3. You can order the starter pack and everything you need comes in it to get you going. You have to use compostable bags for the waste, we use the bio bags in our diaper champ, and have had no problems. The diapers start fitting at around 8lbs, so if you have a small baby, my son was 6lb 13oz when he was born, you may need to wait until the baby is a bit bigger as the newborn diapers did not fit him right away. After the start up fee of $25.00, we pay about $18-20 per week including the diapers, wipes, pick up and delivery. Very worth it in my opinion. They are a wonderful company and provide excellent customer service. I've called them many times with a last minute addition to my order and they are always happy to help. Good Luck! The Kuehnl Family
I used this service for a couple of months and I found it too expensive. You pay $30/month for pickup and drop-off, but you still pay full price for the diapers in addition to the $30/month cost. I liked the diapers (and I have a skinny child) but I have serious doubts about how Earth Baby is able to compost them; the diapers themselves do not claim to be compostable, and searching through articles about them on the web reveals that they are only 60-80% compostable materials.
Tiny Tots (http://tinytots.com/) also has a compostable service and when I switched to that my costs went way down. You can even get a 'hybrid' cloth/compostable service. I used them until my daughter potty-trained and highly recommend their customer service as well. Sarah
We've used Earth Baby for a year and love them - the products are great, the service is even better and you feel good about not clogging up our children's world with their diapers! The diapers seem to be standard size. Only hint: the adhesive on these diapers isa bit different than on toxic ones. At first I didn't see that there was a 'designated' area for the diaper tabs to be stuck to - so I was just blindly securing the diapers, and every so often one wouldn't stick very well. I thought it was a manufacturing flaw, but now it's not an issue at all. I would recommend Earth Baby to everyone - it's my new standard baby shower and new baby gift - one month of the service to get started!
I have to say that I am 'over the moon' about Earth Baby. Finally, I get the convenience of disposables with the peace of mind that they are truly composted. My daughter started getting vicious diaper rashes with the cloth diapers and it stopped the second we switched over to Earth Baby. The hamper does get really stinky though and we moved it outside our house to avoid the stink- the cloth did not seem to reek as badly. The diapers seem on par with other disposables as well. It costs slightly more than using cloth, but it's worth it when you think about all the water you are conserving. Brasa
We've been using Earth Baby compostable diaper service since my daughter was born April 6th, 2010. We have been very happy with it. The diapers fit well on our child who has always been the long and lean side. We put her in a size up from her weight range and we've had only occasional overflows. The only downside is that it is a little pricier than the other options. But, we feel like it's been totally worth it for the convenience and ecological benefits. We also have a few other friends who have been using it and are happy as well. They also deliver things like nursing pads & diaper balm with is really handy. The nursing pads are also compostable. We also bought a daiper champ that works well with the compostable bags. I'd definitely recommend the service. Sara
We've been using Earth Baby for about a year now, and I have no complaints. I LOVE the Nature Baby Care diapers and wipes - I was using them with my son even before Earth Baby started delivering to my neighborhood in SF. I used to buy them from Diapers.com, but Earth Baby sells them a bit cheaper, so it's not like I'm paying extra for the diapers in order to use the service. I have no complaints with Earth Baby. Their website used to be a bit confusing when you were placing new orders, but they've fixed that. They've never missed a delivery or a pickup, the billing is very simple and hassle free, and it's easy to reschedule deliveries or pickups when you are on vacation. You always get someone on the phone or by email if you need to troubleshoot something. Most of all, I feel really good about decreasing our impact on the environment. You can't deny, disposable diapers are convenient (and we didn't have a choice of cloth, because my son was in daycare), and this way, you get to have the convenience without the guilt. Love the compostable option
Nov 2009
Has anyone in the area started using the Earth Baby compostable diaper service (http://www.earth- baby.com/home.php)? According to the website, service in our area just starting in October. Seems like a great idea. We have used this brand of disposable diapers and wipes (Nature Babycare) and they work great. Unfortunately, I was aware of the problem that municipal landfills are not the ideal environment for these compostable diapers to break down quickly. So this seems like a great solution to me, but thought I was ask if anyone has experience with the service before signing up. Thanks Jennifer
We've been using Earth Baby diaper service for about a month and a half now, and we love it! You do have to buy the Nature Babycare diapers and wipes from them in order to use their service, but the cost of the diapers is very close to what you would find elsewhere. Plus, it's really convenient to order online. They have great customer service if you have any questions. Laurel
We've been using Earth Baby since they started up in Oakland a few months ago, and we have been very happy so far. It's very satisfying to see how much less garbage we have each week! The diapers are pretty good quality in terms of absorption and fit, too. For me it's well worth the extra cost, which is around $29.99 a month (plus they make you buy the diapers from them--not sure how their price compares to Target). satisfied customer
Oct 2009
Hello, I was wondering if anyone was familiar w/ Earth Baby Compostable Diaper Service and could share feedback? My co- worker recently told me about them, it's a diaper service that picks up/ delivers compostable diapers instead of cloth and then composts the diapers into soil. My son's 20 mths and we've used cloth diapers since birth but they're getting pretty unbearable. We're expecting our second and I'm not sure I'm up for double diaper duty w/ the cloth and would love another green alternative. My understanding is compostable diapers sent to a landfill aren't much different from tradtl diapers so the fact that these are actually composted sounds pretty compelling. Any feedback or thoughts would be much appreciated!! Carrie
I have been using Earth Baby Diaper service for a few months and am quite happy with them. I too was feeling guilty about the waste of disposable diapers, but my day care doesn't do cloth diapers, so I didn't start out with cloth, like you. I had been using Nature Babycare's diapers since my son was born, which are compostable (and GREAT!) but knew that it didn't make much difference as long as they were going to the landfill. Anyway, I'm feeling much better about the Earth Baby service. They pick up our used diapers once a week (we just leave them on our porch) and once a month they deliver my recurring order of diapers, wipes, etc. If I miscalculate (so far, I'm having a hard time predicting exactly what I need for monthly supply) I can add in an extra order, to be delivered with my pickup. They charge a monthly fee for the service (and it doesn't matter how many kids you have), plus you have to buy the diapers from them. For what it's worth, they sell the diapers slightly cheaper than Diapers.com, so I feel like I'm getting a fair deal. You have to use compostable bags to put them on a porch, but I still use the diaper genie, but just cut the knotted ends and dump the diapers into a big bag at the end of the week. My only complaint is that their billing is a little confusing. But I understand they are trying to fix it. Shannon
My baby is 9 days old & has only worn earth baby's diapers (actually nature babycare diapers). They just started delivering in the East Bay, but I was so eager to get my hands on them, I had them delivered to a friend's house in SF before the baby was born.
I like the mix of convenience & eco-friendliness. They deliver to your door, then pick up the dirty diapers & compost them, using a fraction of the resources needed to wash/disinfect cloth diapers, and no toxic chemicals (cloth diaper services need to use bleach). They deliver wipes, too. Their goal is to eliminate disposable diapers and wipes from landfills (go, diaper activism!) Other companies offer what they call compostable diapers. However, they will not likely compost in landfill, and/or contain non-compostable ingredients. You canb0708>Tidee Didee Diaper Services t do it yourself, because you cannot put human waste in your own compost. This is the only service that will pickup the diapers and compost them in their facility that does it safely with a minimum of energy. They have a GREAT rep w/ parents via Natural Resources, the eco baby store in SF. I'm so excited to have another option! The size 1 is a little big on our newborn (7lbs @ birth; 7lbs 7oz now). We've had a few leaks, but we're new parents, so we're still learning how to put them on securely.
The person I spoke to there is Karen, info [at] earth-baby.com. She's a mom, so she gets it. Super nice & really helpful. A in Berkeley C
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