Cloth diapers are hardly a new technology. They were used in some form in the beginning of the 19th century. But by the early 20th century the disposable diaper drive swelled, and in 1949 Proctor & Gamble gave the US market the first diaper that today’s consumer would recognize as disposable. The market changed instantly, and the cloth product that had endured was replaced by an efficient, cost-effective landfill polluter.

Sixty years later consumers are once again discovering cloth diapers, and bumGenius is filling the growing demand. Jennifer Labit, owner of Cotton Babies, Inc. and creator of the bumGenius line, says, “The biggest opportunity we have in front of us is the quickly turning tide of public opinion in favor of cloth diapers. More and more families are turning to reusable products in the face of a tough economic situation or simply because they want to make a less wasteful product choice for their family.”

The brand does sell through retail locations, but relies heavily on the Internet for sales. While many consumers may buy bumGenius diapers from an online baby product retailer (Amazon.com, for example), there is a good chance that, at around US$ 30 a pair, many parents are going straight to the source: bumGenius.com.

The bumGenius website should be credited for its clean approach; it is, after all, a brand that must avoid a messy appearance. A large amount of white space accomplishes this. And the color scheme could not be more “baby.”

A website promoting a cloth diaper brand faces a couple of roadblocks, even with the most environmentally sensitive new-age parent. First, there is the lack of sexiness that many “green” products boast, such as the Prius or some other self-congratulatory earth-friendly brands that one can smugly showoff to acquaintances. The bumGenius website should be credited with its straightforward approach and with not trying to hype the brand into something it is not: a diaper is a diaper, and bumGenius.com refrains from making any politically correct statements or overtly saintly claims.

Next is the diaper’s not-so-glamorous, um, “footprint.” Giving up 100 horsepower in exchange for fuel efficiency and saving Al Gore’s tears is a far easier sacrifice than having to—or not having to—deal with fresh feces. So how does a website make consumers feel good about exposing themselves to poop? Marketing. Selling shit, after all, is what marketing is all about.

Marketing by means of education is the answer. Unfortunately, this is an area where bumGenius.com could do better.

The bumGenius website should be educating potential customers on two fronts. The first is underscoring that its product is very environmentally friendly. And sometimes, like in presidential elections, you promote yourself by highlighting the competition’s failings. True “green” champions know how effective statistics can be. For example, estimates suggest a baby will use about 5,000 disposable diapers in his or her infancy, which amounts to nearly 28 billion diapers nationally or 3.4 million tons of annual landfill waste. The Environmental Protection Agency says this figure is about 2.1 percent of total US waste. And that was from the agency’s last study…in 1998. This says nothing of the toxic manufacturing process.

However, despite how convincing the environmental argument is for cloth diapers, it is not bumGenius’ most important customer-education concern. Regardless of social conscience, no parent will willfully buy a product that offers inferior quality or discomfort for their baby.

In this respect bumGenius does a commendable job communicating that its product is better for a baby’s skin and overall health. Though it could stand to have a section dedicated specifically to these points, the site does take several opportunities to reinforce them on its product pages, which themselves are blueprints for simple, informative product promotion. Bravo.

In the end, word of mouth will be the driving impetus behind a parent’s decision to purchase bumGenius, or to choose cloth diapers as an alternative to disposables in general. Labit recognizes this reality and explains, “Word of mouth marketing is important to the bumGenius brand. Happy parents using bumGenius are the most productive form of advertising available to us. We're grateful to be the top reviewed cloth diaper online and to have many of those happy parents helping us along.”

This kind of pro-cloth potty mouth will certainly help this diaper brand clean up with eco-conscious parents.