#Clothbummums: How green engagement with cloth nappies influences consumer well-being

• Cloth nappies are one product type where the sustainable is more attractive than the unsustainable. • Consumer well-being changes through the four stages of sustainable engagement. • Burden-reward paradox shows that chores can become rewards through systems of control. • Visual diaries highlight the fashionable value of owning sustainable products. This study demonstrates how consumers’ green engagement with a functional, sustainable product (cloth nappies/diapers) directly enhances their subjective well-being while reducing carbon emissions. We conducted two qualitative studies with 27 cloth nappy users and thematically coded visual diaries and focus group data on NVivo. The study offers distinct insights into customer engagement, sustainable post-adoption behaviors, and subjective well-being through a novel theoretical framework comprising three distinct but overlapping layers: the aesthetic trap, the burden–reward paradox, and the well-being cycle. Product ownership and the fashion value of displaying a green product boost consumers’ subjective well-being, and parents’ self-perception is enhanced when the tasks associated with sustainable product usage are rewarding. The well-being cycle of sustainable engagement emphasizes how subjective well-being and identity transformation are dynamic and sustain long-term engagement. Managerial recommendations include increasing desirability of the sustainable product and emphasizing individual benefits by enhancing the visibility of product usage systems.