From 2009 to 2013 I ran a home based online cloth diaper business in Brockville, Ontario. I attempted to keep the business going after moving to Kamloops in 2013 but due to a lack of time, and my priorities changing as my children got older, the business slowly faded away.
When I started this business I also unwittingly began my teaching career. With disposable diapers dominating the market, the know-how required to use cloth diapers is disappearing. A large part of my interactions with customers was based on educating them on how to use, wash, and generally care for cloth diapers.
The following is a selection of artifacts that remain from Bums Away.
The Real Diaper Association began organizing the Great Cloth Diaper Change in 2011 – a worldwide event where a Guinness World Record was set for the number of cloth diapers changed simultaneously. I organized a local event for the Great Cloth Diaper Change in Brockville. Some photos from the event as well as newspaper articles about it are below.
Adobe-Scan-May-5-2025
In 2012 I again organized a local event for the Great Cloth Diaper change. Below is an article promoting the event.
Adobe-Scan-May-5-2025-22013 was the first year our location had more than 25 participants, allowing us to count toward the official Guinness World Record total. Our Brockville site contributed 28 diaper changes to the world record, which saw over 8,000 cloth diapers changed simultaneously in 15 countries on five different continents. Here are some photos from our event.
In the spring of 2013, I had the pleasure of being able to donate newborn cloth diapers to the Brockville General Hospital. This initiative served to reduce waste and to show new parents that there was an easy-to-use alternative to disposable diapers. The following article was posted in the local paper.
Adobe-Scan-May-5-2025-3After moving to Kamloops in 2013, I promoted my business by participating in the farmer’s market, local baby shows and, along with Snug Glee Bumz cloth diaper service, in Waste Reduction Week.
The 2014 Great Cloth Diaper Change was different for me. Having recently moved to Kamloops, I couldn’t rely on the momentum I’d built in previous years. However, since I had started from scratch in Brockville three years earlier, the idea of beginning anew didn’t feel overwhelming.
Because there was an existing Diaper Change event in Kamloops, I chose to host one in Merritt instead. Organizing an out-of-town event presented a few extra challenges, but we still had a small, enjoyable gathering. I was happy to hear that some parents in Brockville had taken the initiative to continue hosting the event there in my absence, ensuring the tradition lived on.
Below are a couple of artifacts from the 2014 event in Merritt, BC.
First-local-Great-Cloth-Diaper-Change-Saturday-Merritt-Herald