Well that only took two years.
If it doesn't stink [and how could it, with a slogan like this: "Proven #1 with #2!"] I think that we daddy types can take full credit for spurring a cleaner design that's easier to use on both ends of the process, filling and emptying.
The big change: the DGII gets rid of the diaper sausage twisting mechanism--saying it now, doesn't it sound like a crazy idea to begin with?--that, in theory, sealed each diaper separately as you stuffed it into the continuous odor-trapping garbage bag. However convenient it seemed on the loading end, in practice, the sausage was unwieldy to toss out and often unfurled into a giant stinkbomb for whoever emptied it. [And you don't have to be Ward and June or Mike and Carol to know how the traditional division of diapering labor played out: mom changed'em, dad took'em out.]
The original sausage skin-like refill bag is still there--given the profit margins on proprietary consumables, that's one design feature that'll never go away--but now it gets closed off by an odor-stopping clamp: no more stuff-and-twist, just stuff. And when you empty it, you just cut the bag using an internal blade [reassuringly called a "childproof cutter"], and then you tie it up and haul it off.
Brilliant? You tell me. If anyone's using a Diaper Genie II already, tell it like it is. Especially if you've tried other diaper dumping technologies. And let me know where you got it, because it's not on Amazon, Target, or BuyBuyBaby's sites yet. And the BRU site has a "New & Improved Diaper Genie" that's anything but.
Oh, and if any a'you whippersnappers think the blogs didn't play a part in Playtex's development process, you just ask Laid Off Dad where they came up with the Oh Baby! photo contest and "He Said, She Said", the sure-to-be-humorous-assuming-it-ever-gets-off-the-ground duelling parent author feature on DiaperGenie.com...
"Getting to know your Diaper Genie II" [diapergenie.com via ub]
previously: Please Redesign the Diaper Genie [daddytypes, 06/04]
Update: The Diaper Genie II is at Target for $29.99 [target]
So basically they've just "new-and-improved" it into being a Diaper Champ, the only difference being you still have to buy their dumb bags.
Does it come with the disembodied hand? Because that would be a true innovation, though you'd need two of them to do the changing. "Thank you, Thing."
This design looks suspiciously like the Diaper Dekor, right down to the inclusion of the "childproof cutter." The only real functional difference seems to be the clamp, which the Dekor does not have (it uses a rubber gasket on the lid, instead).
{the hand was already there; I only added the caption. The funny thing is, the Diaper Genie had a flimsy gasket, too, more like the opening of a Dispos-all, but only for holding the bag in place while you twisted it. -ed.]
Yeah, sounds and looks like the diaper dekor.
Looks like they took some pointers from the Diaper Dekor -- except for the clean and simple exterior design, that is. For all those modernist snobs out there, how can you live with that monstrosity of American product design in your home? Get the Dekor!
I'm going to stick with my tried and true cheap-o method - using the plastic bags from the grocery store. Tie those nasty dipes up and take them straight to the bin in the garage.
Man, I love these things. Couldn't they have double-wrapped these diapers? I mean, while we're contributing to the landfill, can't they work to take up as much space as possible? What about vacuum sealing to ensure that if the diaper doesn't end up in a landfill it will never break down? This thing is the main reason I went with cloth. It does a good job of emphasizing how committed the baby industry is to destroying the environment
[only if they can get $20 up front, and $10/month per baby for it. Sheesh, who wouldn't consider screwing the planet for $200? Oh wait, they only get wholesale margins, $120. now it's not so clear. -ed.]
Just get a Simplehuman stainless flip lid can. Only stinks for the couple tenths of a second that the lid is open while diapers are being deposited. And it doesn't look like ass. With its substantial weight and the flush fitting inset lid, it's also the only can I've found that our dog can't get into (and I've learned that the hard way). Because "diaper sausage" sounds like an exciting culinary innovation if you're a dog.
Saw one of the "new and improved" ones at a Target in Gaithersburg (the Rio center), MD, last weekend.
Target offers it for $29.99
[d'oh, thanks. -ed.]
Still doesn't look as nice as the Dekor, still requires you to stuff your (disembodied) hand into the thing. I think I'll keep my Dekor.