Help BugaluBaby End Diaper & Period Poverty while Preserving the Planet

BugaluBaby aims to bring eco-friendly products to consumers & people in need while providing education on the importance of making sustainable purchases.

Our Story

Hello, I am Elisha LaFleche, and this is my husband Andre; we are the owners of BugaluBaby.

I started this company to provide healthier, more economical, and more sustainable alternatives to plastic disposable products.

Our Impact

Roughly 27.4 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills each year. This comes out to 7.6 billion tons of annual waste. Disposable diapers are the 3rd most abundant consumer item in landfills and represent

30% of non-biodegradable waste. And when you break down 27.4 billion diapers a year at the average of $.20 a diaper, that is roughly $5.48 billion a year we are throwing in the garbage. The average family spends $900 a year just on disposable diapers. It's no wonder the average expense for a child is $12,000

in their first year. The average female will go through over 11,000 disposable menstrual items in her lifetime. That equals roughly 20 billion sanitary items filling landfills each year. Wrapped in plastic, these items can take centuries to biodegrade. On average, a woman spends anywhere from $130 - $300 a year on disposable pads and tampons. That comes out to $4,290 - $9,900 spent over a 33-year span. And incontinence

supplies can cost $200-$300 a month.

We are burying ourselves under mountains of garbage while emptying our pockets of over $62 billion a year just in the US alone.

And these products are not just bad for the environment. New studies are finding several harmful toxins in our disposable products that have been linked to skin irritations, irregular menses, infertility, and even cancers. https://www.anses.fr/fr/system/files/CONSO2017SA00...

Going Without

There is also another side to this story. While billions of diapers and pads make it to landfills each year, there are also millions of people who simply can’t afford these products, so they go without.

1 family out of every 3 can’t afford to buy diapers. In a recent article in the Washington Post, “I see parents not putting anything on their babies because they don’t have diapers,” she said. “I’ve seen people use shopping bags with some rags in it. I’ve seen T-shirts. I’ve seen people keeping the diapers on longer than necessary, and the diapers sag down when the babies walk.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/01/diaper-banks-pandemic-poverty/ https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/health/what-happens-when-poor-parents-can-afford-

While young women are using old clothes and rags for menstrual health, a study by Harris Insights & Analytics found that 1 in 5 girls cannot afford menstrual hygiene products, and 25% missed class due to lack of access to pads or tampons. https://www.k12dive.com/news/report-finds-period-poverty-a-top-reason-girls-miss-school/565424/

And, on fixed incomes, many seniors simply cannot afford incontinence supplies. https://www.o-wm.com/article/cost-burden-absorbent-incontinence-products-senior-patients

Sadly, WICC and Medicare do not provide for these daily fundamental needs, leaving these people to wear products longer than recommended or using old rags, clothes, newspapers, whatever can be found. This leaves them at risk for skin rashes and infections.

Solution

BugaluBaby has a solution that will provide sustainable alternatives that are healthier for us and our planet. Reusable cloth diapers and pads are a healthy, sustainable, permanent solution. Diaper banks are only able to give out a few disposable diapers at a time due to a lack of supplies. Donating one pack of generic 210ct disposable diapers at an average of 8 diaper changes a day will last 26 days. And then what? 26 days may sound like a lot but that is less than 1 month out of 24. For one baby. For less than the cost of 2 months of disposable diapers, 1 set of cloth diapers will last that baby until potty training and be passed on to help someone else. Cloth pads and diapers provide a healthy, sustainable, permanent solution for today and tomorrow all while helping keep excess waste out of landfills.

We want to make pad and diaper donations a permanent part of our business and serve our neighbors who simply do not have access. Previously we have raised enough money to send 20 young women in a Kenyan orphanage each a set of menstrual pads. This improved not only their physical health but also their social health. We want to bring these smiles to young women across the country.

BugaluBaby has 2 main goals:

• To bring sustainable, healthy products to consumers and educate people on the importance of making purchasing decisions that are healthy for them and preserve our environment.
• To provide chemical-free reusable cloth diapers and pads to people desperately in need. This doesn’t just fill a need for today but is a permanent solution that can be used over and over again. Cloth diapers can even be used again for another child.

But we need help to make this happen.

Change is scary, especially when talking about replacing products that help contain pee, poop, and blood. We want to get our products in front of consumers so they can see for themselves how simple and effective they are. I also want to educate people on the importance of finding healthier and more sustainable solutions to fulfill our everyday needs. I want to show people how making small little changes can greatly impact preserving the environment. While the environmental issues may feel overwhelming, 1 person can really make a difference by making a few sustainable changes.

Originally, we were going to travel and interact with consumers and organizations through craft and vendor fairs, street markets, and farmer’s markets. Unfortunately, Covid had other plans. On to Plan B. We want to create a mobile boutique where we can meet with consumers, educate our communities on protecting our environment, and discuss diaper and period poverty issues in every community.

What We Need

We have been funding our business through our savings which is now gone. We need help to move forward.

Our initial goal of $6500 will allow us to:

• Increase our product stock to meet the demand of consumers and fill community need - $5,000
• Redo our website to expand our reach and set up our ongoing fundraising platform. - $500
• Consult legal counsel regarding setting up our non-profit side of the business appropriately. - $1000

Our Stretch Goal of $26,000 will allow us to:

• Purchase and convert an old bus or trailer to take our boutique across America, fulfilling our consumers' needs and outreach programs that can finally provide permanent solutions to an overwhelming issue.
• Allow us to establish a separate non-profit to continue to raise funds, awareness, and provide pads and diapers to people in need on a much larger scale.

Your donation will not only help us end diaper and period poverty tomorrow, but we will also donate to

someone in need today. We will send you a set of pads so you can with your loved ones and hopefully inspire them to make healthier purchases.

Please take this information to your communities and help spread the word on the benefits of reusable products and start the discussion about diaper and pad poverty. There are likely people in your area that

are facing this issue today.

Wash, Reuse, Repeat for a better Today & Tomorrow for Everyone.