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Is there such thing as a cloth diaper you don’t want anymore?

I know for me, it’s hard to get rid of cloth diapers. Okay, so the truth is that I’ve never done it. Despite the fact that I know I can get anywhere from 50-75% of the price of new diapers for my used diapers in good condition by reselling them, and despite the fact that I have more diapers than any one person could possibly expect to use (even if I had multiple babies in diapers), I still have yet to get rid of a diaper. Ever.

I’m working on that.

Maybe knowing that I can help other families with my old diapers will work when the chance of making money won’t.

April is coming up, and since it’s Earth Day month, a lot of companies and nonprofits are thinking about how they can highlight green, eco-friendly initiatives. One that I was a part of last year, and that I’m excited to be able to participate in this year, is the Great Cloth Diaper Change. Organized by the Real Diaper Association as part of its “real diaper week,” the Great Cloth Diaper Change is an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the most cloth diapers changed at one time. Last year we set the record for the first time (with 5,026 participants) by coordinating multiple events to occur at the same time in different timezones across the globe. This year, on April 21, we’ll try to beat that record.

Here in Atlanta, the Great Cloth Diaper Change will take place at noon at a not-yet-publicized intown location. As a participant, you’ll get a bag full of free cloth diaper stuff, which means you might find yourself in my situation: with a few more cloth diapers than you need. Which brings me to the part of the event that I’m probably most excited about.

A few months ago, I met Kia Smith of Atlanta Diaper Relief, a nonprofit organization that collections donations of (disposable) diapers and distributes them to families who need them. For many of their clients, monthly budgeting means balancing the cost of diapers against the cost of medicines or food. Most–okay, all–of their donations are disposable diapers, and although I realize that it can be difficult to use cloth diapers if your child is in daycare or you don’t have a washing machine, I still thought, when I first met Kia, what a shame it was that they didn’t even offer cloth as an option. Because a donation of disposable diapers only helps until you run out of diapers. But a donation of cloth diapers will help for as long as your child is in diapers. Even if you’re only able to use them part-time, they’ll still cut down significantly on your diaper cost.

And so, the Atlanta Diaper Relief will be partnering with the Great Cloth Diaper Change this year to run the first ever Atlanta cloth diaper drive. Kia will be accepting donations of cloth diapers throughout the month of April, and then she’ll distribute them to clients who are interested. I’ll then offer workshops as necessary to teach recipients how to use their new cloth diapers–and I may do a workshop for a daycare or two as well.

If you’d like to donate diapers, it’s not too early to start!–contact Kia and she’ll coordinate picking them up. Or, you can bring them to the Great Cloth Diaper Change. And if you don’t have any diapers you’re willing to let go of yet, consider bringing a few receiving blankets (which work great as flats), some Snappis or pins, or a cover or two.

In other news: don’t miss this giveaway!–comment on last Friday’s post to win a week of FREE organic lunches.