Photo by Andrea Werner
Every year some 40,000 babies are born in Berlin. And with the average infant shitting and pissing their way through roughly 2500 diapers in the first year alone, that’s a lot of diapers to deal with. While disposable options are undeniably convenient, their green credentials are terrible. Enter Windelei. Founder Sonja Specks wants to make the switch to cloth easy and convenient. She has selected a simple and – crucially – reliable diapering system with a flushable liner for solid waste, an organic cotton insert to absorb liquid and an adjustable,waterproof cover. The cloth layer can be tossed into a wetbag for later pickup. Windelei’s service begins with an at-home consultation and a week-long test period. Any eventual contract includes a weekly pick up of dirty diapers and drop off of fresh ones. Even the laundry soap is eco-friendly! Prices start from €108.25 per month. Meanwhile, Kreuzberg-based Dycle is hoping to turn all that baby waste into black soil – a fertile, synthetic soil. The “diaper cycle” startup has developed a bio compostable inlay using raw fibres and hemp that biodegrades within a year. It can be slipped into a washable cover, and then, come changing time, thrown into a bucket with some biochar ready for weekly collection. The inlay is being trialled by 50 local families for the final testing phase and should go into production by the end of the year, prices to be announced.
