The diapers are coming off.
For the second year in a row, Chilliwack moms will be partaking in the Great Cloth Diaper Change on April 21.
Instead of wrapping their babes up in disposable diapers, they'll be swaddling them in cloth diapers in an effort to raise awareness around the mounds of disposable diapers stacking up in landfills.
"Each year billions of disposable diapers enter landfills where it takes hundreds of years for them to decompose," said Heather McNamara, executive director of the Real Diaper Exchange, a non-profit association that started the international event last year.
The average baby goes through a conservative 3,000 diapers a year, times that by three years, and just one baby alone is contributing to at least 9,000 disposable diapers ending up in the landfills.
According to Environment Canada, more than four million disposable diapers are discarded per day in Canada; that's approximately 1.7 billion a year that will sit in landfills for hundreds of years before breaking down.
The Great Cloth Diaper Change is hoping to change that.
"We hope to show the entire world that cloth diapers are a real option for today's modern families, particularly catching the eye of expecting and new parents who may be seeking more planet-friendly and affordable alternatives to disposable diapers," said McNamara.
Last year The Great Cloth Diaper Change had 6,363 total participants from 203 sites in 10 countries. This year, it's hoping for more.
In Chilliwack, the event will take place at the Mathieson Centre, located at 45195 Wells Road, at 9 a.m. on April 21.
To date, more than 50 mom and baby pairs are registered.
For more information, contact Pam McCaughan at 604-846-5115 or by email at fraservalleycloth@gmail.com, or visit the website at www.greatclothdiaperchange.com.