**Post by The Eco Chic

Grab your camera!

It’s time for the 2nd annual Real Diaper Association (RDA) 100% Reusable Cloth Diaper Photo Contest! Today (10/19/10) is the first day you can submit a picture to the contest. Anyone can enter the contest – all you need is a child in cloth diapers and a camera. Entries will be collected from now until November 3rd and there is a special treat for the 12 best photos that are submitted.

All submissions will have a chance to win. Any active RDA member as of November 5th, 2010 has the opportunity to vote on the best 12 pictures. (To become a member of the RDA follow this link to the contest rules and click Make a Donation on the right – membership is only $25 per family for the year.) But never fear – you don’t have to be a member of the RDA to submit your photo to the contest!

What happens to the best 12 photos? They will be used to create the 2011 RDA Cloth Diaper Calendar! And the picture with the highest number of votes will become the Cover Model – and win a Flip UltraHD 2nd generation video camera OR $150 Gift Certificate to my favorite diaper retailer – Kelly’s Closet! Tough decision on which prize I’ll choose when I win – think I may pick the gift certificate for more cloth diapers!!! Which prize would you pick if you beat me in the photo contest? Two runners up will also win great prizes from Metro Minis and Sub Tree Hugger – and all 12 finalists will get a copy of the 2011 RDA Calendar!

Hmmm….now which diaper should I choose and where should my setting be? The beach maybe? A park? In the pool? A holiday inspired picture? Oh the choices are endless!

Want to learn more? Want to win even MORE great prizes? Join the RDA along with Eco Chic Parties for a Kick Off Twitter Party – TONIGHT! Tuesday, October 19th from 9-10pm ET on Twitter (of course!). We’ll be answering all your questions about how to enter and going over some of the rules with you. We have some special guests joining us with lots of fun prizes including:

Nifty Nappy: giving away a combination of NINE cloth diapers of assorted styles and prints! Fitteds, pockets, swim diapers, and more!

The Willow Store: giving away TWO starter kits featuring their Super Saver shells and inserts.

Growin Green Bums: giving one lucky family a year membership to the RDA – so they can vote for their baby!

To RSVP for the #REALFlashyBums Twitter Partybe sure to visit Eco Chic Parties NOW and enter! The party starts at 9pm ET but I hear that Eco Chic Sidekick is offering up some pre-party training starting at 8pm ET for anyone who is new to Twitter! That’s TWO hours of party fun! What are you waiting for? Go enter – and don’t forget to bring your camera!

Interview with Nicki:

Please tell me the birth story of your company, PlanetWise, Inc.

How to enter (please leave a comment for every method of entry)

Mandatory Entry:

Visit Growing Green Bums store and tell me your favorite print by Planetwise, Inc.

For Extra Entries:

Become a fan of Growing Green Bums on Facebook. Leave a comment.

Follow @GrowinGreenBums on Twitter and tweet this Giveaway. Please tweet, Want your diaper stink to go away? Visit @GrowinGreenBums blog & win a Planetwise wet bag package! http://tinyurl.com/34far38 #clothdiapers Leave a comment with your status.

You can tweet once a day, leave a comment with your status for each tweet.

Follow me through Google friend connect. Leave a Comment.

Subscribe to my blog via email through feedburner. Leave a Comment.

Grab my button and post it on your blog. Leave a Comment.

Blog about this giveaway. Post a link in the comment.

Join our newsletter. Leave a Comment

Giveaway ends on September 10, 2010 12pm EST. (Open to US only).

For all the bumGenius fans out there, waiting on the edge of their seat….refreshing their youtube video site….It is finally here! Their announcment of their new and imporved diaper, the 4.0! Here are some of the new features:

Changes in the new bumGenius 4.0 One-Size Cloth Diaper:

1.  Now accommodates even larger babies!  Better yet, the diaper still fits small babies too.

2.  All new hook & loop closures (also available in refresher kits)

3.  Accessible, easily replaceable elastic.  All elastic tack-points are now visible from the inside of the diaper.  To replace elastic, turn the diaper inside out, thread new elastic through the casing and stitch it down at each end.

4.  Three new colors.  Bubble (light lavendar), Noodle (light cream) and Sweet (light green).  We are waiting on shipments to arrive from Egypt and anticipate being able to ship the new colors in all of our other products soon (details to come via the Updates page on the wholesale website).

5.  And my favorite new feature… you now have your choice of closures (snaps or hook & loop).

How to Preorder:

Visit our site and order color/clousre/quanitity of your choice.

Please select “Local Pick Up” and “check” at checkout! You will receive free shipping and will not be charged!

Once stock arrives, I will contact everybody and make arrangements for payment!

Thank You!!!!  Stock from Cottonbabies will be shipping July 14th.

The Real Diaper Association is a wonderful non-profit organization focusing on education and support for cloth diapering families across the United States. Recently they have implemented a great campaign for cloth diaper use in daycares. They teamed together with the Real Diaper Industry Association to create “Cloth Diapers in Daycare“.  After a year of planning and surveys, they created a cloth diaper friendly daycare directory and materials to distribute to educate daycares about cloth diapers! What a great organization!!!! RDA’s new campaign is “100% Cloth Diapers Every Time”. This is a brand new campaign and you can learn more here: htttp://www.realdiaperevents.org  I support 100% reusable cloth diapers for all babies! The first focus of this campaign is using cloth diapers all night with your baby! You can participate in the campaign by sharing your insights on what works for you during nighttime diapering!

Thank you again for all your support during this time! I hope you will be able to join us at our first meeting!!!

Here is some information about Bird-E Towels™:

Bird-E Towels are reusable towels made by hand in Florida. As the name suggests, these are paper towel replacements. Whatever you might use a paper towel for, you can use these cloths. Dry your hands, wipe up spills, clean the dining room table, dinner napkins, etc, etc. Even better then paper towels, you can actually clean glass and mirrors without leaving linty bits like paper towels and other cloths can do.
What’s the problem with paper towels?? The main problem is that the paper towels that most people use are made from virgin tree pulp. That means that trees are cut down and harvested for something that you are going to use ONE time. And then it gets thrown away…adding to the landfill problem. Oh and to make it even worse for the environment, they bleach the pulp releasing toxic chemicals into our environment. (For something that is used one time?!?) I use unbleached cotton to avoid that aspect of manufacturing. Whenever you get a chance, choose unbleached for a healthier earth. So, cloth is better in so many ways. You can expect years of use from these cloths. And considering that you can toss these small cloths in with laundry that you already have to do…it doesn’t really have much environmental impact once you get them home.

Another great eco-gift we received was from family in Wisconsin! They searched their local markets for some “local” handmade items! One of our favorite gifts was from Dragonfly Soaps out of Spooner, WI! We received a number of different soaps, one of our favorites is the Gardener’s Friend Soap: Lemon juice, sand and pumice make this bar an excellent cleanser for people who work with their hands (only for use on hands). We also received some dog shampoo, which I am excited to give that a try for our dog!

I couldn’t find information on them online, but I do have a contact address! I do have some information on homemade hand milled soaps! This information was included in the gift: “Most of the soaps and shampoos we buy in stores are not soap, but detergents made from petroleum distillates. Soaps are made with animal and/or vegetable fats, lye and water in a process known as saponification. We use beef tallow, olive oil, cocoa butter, ly and water as main ingredients for our basic soap. Hand milled soaps are cured basic soap which has been grated, remelted with a variety of skin friendly additives and molded. Though they take longer to make, they are harder and last longer. This process also protects the additives as the soap is no longer caustic when milled.”

I hope everyone of you had a wonderful, peaceful Christmas! Thank so much for your support in 2009 and looking forward to the opportunities 2010 holds!