This post is the third in the series “Homemade Mother of the Week.” If you know a woman who is thoughtfully sharing her passion for the planet,  families or the well-being of others, please nominate her for this special recognition.  Send an email with all the details to maureen@homemademothering.com

When Lori Taylor received her a doctoral degree in history, she was thinking about nothing but the future.

“I walked through graduation with my five day old baby in my arms,” Lori recalls.  And her baby was wearing a cloth diaper.

While cloth diapering her two children, Lori fell in love with the Firefly brand.  She was heartbroken when she found out the company was going out of business in 2001.

“I couldn’t stand to see them close, so I bought it,” she says.

It was her determination to build her business and awareness for cloth diapering that led her to her next venture.

“I kept saying it would be great if someone started a guild or association for people who supported cloth diapering,” Lori says.

She finally decided that she was that someone.

In 2004 she gathered a group of six other people to establish the Real Diaper Association. Modeled like the La Leche League, the RDA focuses on helping activists and volunteers in different parts of the country.  They didn’t think it would be possible to have centralized expertise because experiences and needs change from place to place and time to time, so they “focus on local people being the experts,” Lori says.

Those local experts are a team of volunteers who are trained to listen to parents interested in – or struggling with – cloth diapering.

“We ask the volunteers to come up with a vision for their local circle,” Lori says. “Some focus on low-income families, some focus on sewing diapers to give away. It really depends on the local needs and desires. There is a solution for every need.”

Within the cloth diapering community, many parents have specific opinions about what type or brand of cloth diaper is best. While Lori believes plain cotton and wool diapers can’t be beat, the RDA supports all kinds of reusable diapers.

The issue of how cloth diapers impact the environment is one Lori addresses on a daily basis.  She says many people claim that there is no difference between cloth and disposable, but she says cloth are considerably better for the planet.

“Cloth and disposable are not the same. You can lower the environmental impact by 40% if you choose the right diapers, monitor the temperature of the water and air dry,” Lori says. The RDA has a supplemental site, http://whatawaste.info, that explores the environmental benefits to cloth diapering.

Since cloth diapering is so beneficial for the planet and parents’ wallets, Lori has noticed a significant increase in the number of parents choosing cloth diapers for their little ones.

“More manufacturers are getting their diapers in more mainstream stores,” Lori says, recalling the days when her children were young and she had to order cloth diapers via mail-order catalogs.

Now that the Internet has become the primary source for cloth diapering information and materials, Lori says cloth diapering is easier than ever. Her retail site, www.Fuzbaby.com, features her hand-made, hand-dyed and hand-painted works of art designed to cover little bums.

“I considered having diapers made by contractors in larger factories, but the quality wasn’t good enough for my customers,” Lori says. “I have high standards, so I’ve kept it small. Its a bit overwhelming, but I really enjoy it.”

When she’s not sitting on the board of the RDA and sewing diapers for Fuzbaby, Lori homeschools her two children, ages 13 and 10.

“We are a home family. We believe in home business, home schooling and home birth,” Lori says. “We are dedicated to family and home. We keep it simple and homemade.”