What happens to the diapers that are returned to Thirsties? Is that it? Is the diaper doomed to lay in a landfill when they still have life in them? In most cases, the answer is NO! We care too much about our diapers and mother earth to let that happen! (Of course, the ones that are dead do have to be disposed of.) If you don’t understand my humor, please let me know. ;) We at Thirsties believe not only in providing the customer with a useful, affordable, and quality product, but we also believe in sustainability. One of the ways in which we do that is repairing the returns (if possible), and donating to those who need them. If you have submitted a return with Thirsties before, you would receive a response like this: “We sincerely apologize for your flawed Thirsties item, and we are happy to help! Your satisfaction is very important to us. We are replacing your item/items. Included in the package will be a prepaid label. Please use the prepaid label to send us our defective item. We will repair the item if possible, and donate to supply needy families with diapers and accessories. No need to buy a mailer or special envelope to return your item to us. Our Eco Enclose mailers are made to use twice, so simply use the second adhesive strip to close the Eco Enclose mailer, and leave in your box for your mail carrier to pick-up.” Although we get back less than .5% of sales in returns, it still adds up to a large amount considering how many we sell.

Most of our returns go back to the sewers who repair them, and then we donate them to our local County Health Department to be dispersed to needy families. Our returns for worn Aplix take a lot of time to fix, and they go to LCDSF!, who generously makes the repairs and donates to needy families. We are so glad to be able to be recycling used diapers, and passing them on to those who can use them!

Written by Sonya Choron 1/20/12