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This might be a little TOO through back, but when I was a baby we lived in East Germany and my mom used to wash our diapers in boiling water in a big pot. I haven't gone into great detail, but she clean the solid poo off first and then she'd have a designated pot for diaper washing. But I was also potty trained at 8mo. so there was always a "load" in a day or two...I don't know how it would work out if the child is older...therefore not pooing as often, therefore you'd have some stinkies hanging around a couple more days to compile a whole "load"

Hope this helps

Mom was hard-core green in the 70s and raised the 3 of us in cloth throughout the 80s. We had to use the laundromat, which we did weekly. We just had a big kind of Rubbermaid-looking diaper pail which we kept them in, sealed up. We swished the stinkies around in the toilet to get out the solids.

So yeah, it takes work but it's possible. I never had to do any of the lifting... just lots and lots of folding.

If your intent is green, then I would suggest against the diaper service. The services we contacted assured us that they washed the diapers multiple times (as many as 7!) in hot water for sanitation purposes. I'm sure that level of cleanliness is comforting to some parents, but the water use made this option for us even less appealing than the disposable diapers. If you are committed to laundering every other day, there isn't any reason why you cannot "prewash" in your own toilet (a toilet brush really helps), store the wet diapers for a day, and then tote them down to the laundry room for a full wash. This approach requires real dedication and a significant investment in waaaaaaay more diapers than you think you'll use.

And nickel525: 8 months! Someone in your house was really motivated. We think we're lucky that our daughter "got it" this week at 26 months.

I agree on skipping the diaper service for green intent.
we use g diapers and they are the only cradle to cradle certified diaper on the market currently!

we find them easy to use and we love all the other things we don't have to consume, such as a diaper genie or diaper rash cream, because we use gdiapers.

We flush ours but i don't feel guilty when i have to toss them becuase they biodegrade in 50- 150 days compared to a disposable which can take about 500 YEARS. it's the plastic that is the probelm and although 7th gen and other "green disposables" are a step in the right direction, they still contain plastic.

i would recommend the gdiapers if cloth seems overwhelming in a shared laundry situation. Lots of people use cloth IN the gdiaper covers so you may want to try that too...

goodluck!

As for the early "potty training". it's really common everywhere but the states. Try looking for EC (elimination communication) on the web and you'll find some great info about the growing movement here in the the US green community.

we started with our daughter at about 4 weeks and she loves her potty time. We use way less diapers and it's increased our communication with her vastly. it's more about responding to her needs than "training" her.

We help our little ones with every other need from their birth why not staying dry and clean? After 14 month we can't imagine doing it anyother way.

again, goodluck!

We use gDiapers with cloth inserts when home and do one small load of laundry (washer on smallest setting) every 2-3 days. We bought a good foot-pedal trashcan for storing the diapers and line it with a cotton-poly laundry bag that gets washed with the diapers. Works pretty well with minimal mess and stink.