Changes to Vaudreuil-Dorion’s cloth diaper funding program

A program offering a financial boost to Vaudreuil-Dorion parents willing to give cloth diapers a try is not taking off as well as the town had hoped.

To date, some 13 families have applied for a refund after purchasing cloth diapers since the program debuted last April.

Despite the slow start, which officials admit might be because not enough people know about the funding, Vaudreuil-Dorion’s environment department will ask the town to continue it once a trail period ends early next year, said Hugues Charbonneau, Vaudreuil-Dorion Environment Director. “I’ve spoken with some of the people who have received the rebate and they are very happy with the program,” Charbonneau said, admitting, “so far it’s not going as good as we had hoped, but maybe not enough people know about it.”

Last spring, Vaudreuil-Dorion unveiled a diaper program allocating $10,000 in municipal funds for up to 1,000 families – or $100 per family – willing to switch from disposable to cloth diapers during the next year.

The program, open only to Vaudreuil-Dorion citizens, was originally aimed at parents whose babies are 6 month-old or younger, or those born before February 1, 2011, when the trial will end.

Additionally, parents had to prove that they’d purchased at least 24 reusable diapers by submitting a receipt before getting the $100 in funding.

But recent changes that have eased the parameters mean parents now have to buy 20 cloth diapers instead of 24, while the program is open to people whose baby is one-year-old or younger, or those born before February 1, 2011.

Stephanie Le Vaguerèze, who spearheaded the municipal aid movement with her sister Sandra by asking the town to adopt the program, says business at their Vaudreuil-Dorion store, Bedon et Fripons, is brisk. “We have a lot of people coming in to buy cloth diapers that know about the program and others who are happy to hear about it,” she said, adding, “It makes a big difference to have that help.”

For information about the diaper funding, call Vaudreuil-Dorion’s Green Line at 450 424-8578. For a list of Quebec municipalities offering such funding or for information about how to approach a town that does not have such funding, go to www.subventioncoucheslavables.com.