The Bottom Line on the Great Diaper Debate

Hey Mr. Green,
From a strict environmental perspective, what type of diaper--cloth, disposable, or hybrid (disposable liner)--do you recommend?
--George in Wentworth, New Hampshire

The central question is this: Is it worse to (a) waste billions of gallons of hot water washing diapers that come from pesticide-doused cotton fields or (b) produce and toss the more than 27 billion disposables that end up in U.S. landfills each year? I recommend cloth--a daring statement, because diaper ecology has long been clouded by "analysis paralysis," and many environmentalists still can't reach a conclusion.

National Geographic's Green Guide (thegreenguide.com), a source I greatly admire, says there's "no easy answer to the 'cloth or disposable' debate." The EPA doesn't take a position either.

So how can Mr. Green be so certain?

First, it depresses the hell out of me to think that an infant's first ongoing contact with the outside world involves the twisted cult of disposability that bedevils our environment--a subjective argument, true, but not all environmental decisions need be made solely on the basis of science. John Muir didn't protect the great outdoors because of life cycle studies and scientific findings but because he loved it, and its abuse made him feel downright rotten. And damn it, that's how I feel. 

The second major reason for rejecting disposables is the other bottom line. Disposables can cost from $1,500 to $2,000 between birth and potty training, while you can obtain four dozen cloth diapers and a half-dozen plastic covers for less than $100. Costs for washing, detergent, and drying are about $200 per year ($150 if you line-dry). So you save up to $1,500 per kid by using cloth. Invest those savings in a lifetime Sierra Club membership, and your reusable diapers dump all over disposables.

Comments

[Maria Bruhns]

And another pro cloth argument is the manufacturing of dispasables! I'm sure the carbon footprint of making something once (like a cloth) is much, much smaller than making it several hundred times over (like a disposable). I love the "Bum Genius" cloth diapers we have for our daughter!

[V Whittick]

One side benefit of buying cloth dipers is the great supply of very soft cloths you don't need to purchase for use when polishing, dusting, or car wax removal after the kids grow up!

[Lois Braun]

Another point for the cloth diaper side of the equation: according to a friend of mine who took the time to research the issue, it's completely unnecessary to wash diapers in hot water. Using cold water I'm sure brings the carbon cost down even further.

And there's yet another approach--don't put diapers on the kids at all. When I was living in Kenya I observed women who were so in tune with their babies movements that they were able to quickly grab the kid and hold him/her over the appropriate receptacle to do his/her thing. Ok, maybe this only works in warm Third World countries...but I hear there's an increasing movement amongst Western parents to do this too.

[Sue Ann Allen]

Although my kids are well past the diaper age (we did use cloth, back then), young friends of mine have a baby and use NEITHER. They use a non-diapering system! It is called elimination communication and I found this web site: http://www.thediaperfreebaby.com/. I was very impressed that their baby, from about 5 weeks old, has given them signals which they can "read" and know when she will need to be taken to the toilet. They hold her over the toilet, and avoid either cloth or disposables! (They do use something when traveling or visiting, because this system is not accident-free.) I don't know a lot about it, but, when we lived in Africa, I remember local friends telling me their babies were toilet-trained at 6 months old and I thought, "WHO is trained?? That baby has the PARENTS trained!" I was pretty sceptical. In fact, the parents do have to train themselves to be attuned to interpreting the baby's subtle cues. They call it "communication!" I think it is pretty common in countries where cloth or disposable diapers would be a luxury. Obviously, not many day cares are set up to deal with this, so it mostly requires an at-home parent. Good luck to anyone who wants to try it!

[Loran Davidson]

My son was born in 1975, in NYC, and I started using disposables at first. Then he developed a serious, ongoing rash, all over his bottom, that no amount of antibiotic creams seemed to cure. So I found "General Diaper", the only diaper service left in Manhattan at that time. Problem solved!! No more rashes!! General Diaper came 1x a week, new clean nappies swapped for a bag of very used ones. I don't recall now what it cost, but I remember at the time calculating that it WAS less than the disposables.

I have also heard from friends in Scandinavian countries that, in the summer at least, the babies run around without diapers, and so potty training starts early and gently!

[t]

If you've been the one to change the mustard seed poo that smells bad enough to make you dry heave, then you can have your say. The rest of you should stay out of it. My mom used cloth (no diaper service in this town but don't forget to add the pollution of the drivers and harsh soap makers) I used disposable. You see, I have a life and I'm not going to stare at my baby twenty four seven to see if his eyebrow moved and he may need to poop. Get over it. I nursed and used disposables and made my own baby food, my friends use formula, gerber, and cloth. It all balances out in the end.

[rbenson]

The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission has received numerous complaints about single-use diapers. These include the DEATH of babies from suffocation and asphyxiation by the wood pulp stuffing, the plastic shell or the tape tabs. In addition there have been hundreds of complaints about rashes, allergic reactions to chemicals, perfumes or plastics as well as injury due to foreign objects like wood splinters and metal scraps found inside the diapers themselves.

Further complaints from parents using super-absorbent single-use diapers include severe skin irritation, oozing blood, fever, vomiting and staph infections.

History may repeat itself in the marketing of these super-absorbent single-use diapers. The Rely® tampon, introduced in 1975 was removed from the marketplace because of the sometimes fatal Toxic Shock Syndrome associated with its use. These super-absorbent crystals are the same ones now being used in single-use diapers!

Many doctors claim there is a rise in infections, especially in baby girls, as parents tend to change single-use diapers much less often than cloth diapers. Single-use diapers don’t breathe well and don’t feel wet, increasing diaper rash as heat and moisture provide an excellent medium for bacterial growth.

Employees in factories manufacturing super-absorbent diapers suffer from fatigue, female-organ problems, slow-healing wounds (suggesting a compromise of their immune system) and weight loss.
RAW SEWAGE IS A PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD

Not since the Middle Ages has there been so much human waste in our garbage. There is NO safe way to dispose of single-use diapers. Flushing them down the toilet causes 95% of clogged sewer lines in the US, and creates 43,000 tonnes of extra sludge per year. Most people simply toss these soiled single-use diapers into household, hospital or roadside garbage. This adds 84 million pounds of raw fecal matter to our environment per year.

Raw sewage is then dumped in landfill sites, breeding viruses and bacteria. As many as 100 viruses can survive in soiled diapers for up to two weeks, including live polio virus excreted by recently-vaccinated babies. According to Environment Canada, once in landfill sites – which are not designed to handle human waste – single-use diapers threaten the health of sanitary workers, water supplies and our wildlife.
UNECOLOGICAL

Did you know each baby in single-use diapers consumes 4.5 trees and puts two tonnes of solid waste into our environment (based on 2 years in diapers)?

Single-use diapers are the single largest non-recyclable part of household garbage. It costs the public 50 million per year to operate landfill sites, monitor pollution and replant forests to keep up with the surging tide of single-use diapers.

In Toronto alone, for example, we must deal with 43 million single-use diapers per year, weighing 5000 tonnes and costing $500,000 to haul them away. Manufacturing single-use diapers for Toronto’s babies takes 450 tonnes of plastic and 30,000 trees.

Reportedly, 2.4 million trees in Canada and one billion trees world-wide are used per year, just to manufacture single-use diapers. In Canada, the manufacturer of single-use diapers consumes 65,500 tonnes of plastic and 9,800 tonnes of packing material per year. Their potential for recycling remains low and they contain chemicals whose long-term effects on users and the environment remain unknown.

Bleaching the wood pulp with chlorine gas to give it that desirable bright, white look produces toxic chemicals such as dioxin and furans. These pollutants make their way into the mills emissions and into the diapers manufactured from the pulp.
UNCOMFORTABLE AND UNSAFE

Putting a non-breathable synthetic next to your baby’s most sensitive and most intimate body area is extremely uncomfortable. Would you put a trash bag on your baby? Single-use diapers are just fancy trash bags with a lining. Would you give your baby a plastic bag and say good-night? Your baby is in danger of suffocation when single-use diapers are left within reach. Your baby will be in diapers 24 hours a day for up to 3 years and deserves to be safe and comfortable.
Now even if the carbon footprint is the same between cloth and disposable diapers there is no comparison between the toxic chemicals and the waste produced by disposables. One of the problems today is everyone is focused on the carbon footprint and ignore all the other factors such as chemicals produced and used to create these products. Let's not get caught up in the buzz words and forget about everything else. Now when you go to make your next purchase on baby diapers you have a lot of choices to make but remember that the choice that you make affects a very small little person that has no voice of there own.

[dental health center]

This part of the comment "National Geographic's Green Guide (thegreenguide.com), a source I greatly admire, says there's "no easy answer to the 'cloth or disposable' debate." The EPA doesn't take a position either. " I find very interesting, thanks for the information!

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[financial spread betting]

This is something that my partner and I were debating. I am in favour of cloth but she isn't. We have a couple of month's to decide yet!

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thank you ~

[Louis]

It's really good to hear that companies are manufacturing eco-friendly products which gives a lot of environment safety.

[Christian Dior]

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[baby products]

To use diapers or not is the debate that is continuously being commencing through out.

[Louis]

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[Rain]

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[Natural Baby Ideas]

We now have 2 kids and one in the oven. We used reusable diapers for the first two and intend on doing the same for the third. Of course there are ups and downs to both sides, but come find out why we continually choose cloth: http://www.naturalbabyideas.com/forum/our-reusable-diaper-experience/. As for the expense, we make our own landry soap! HIGHLY recommended!

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[Giselle]

We're a cloth diapering family. I have three kids and we've cloth diapered all three. My reasons are the cost, the damage to our planet from single use diapers and that I prefer to have my kids in soft cloth. I'm also the blogger behind www.nurturebabynaturally.com, where I write all about cloth diapering, babywearing and natural living.

[P90X Review]

now that is a best bottom line to end this debate.

[ויזה לארה"ב]

i used organic mutiple use diapers with my babaies

[רופאי שיניים]

I like your post. Another advantage of buying diaper tissue is the large amount of soft tissue, no purchase is necessary for use in polishing, dust, or growing the elimination of car wax to the kids!

[Lauryn]

I've read about disposable diaper liners to use with cloth diapers. Has anyone used these? They sound like an ideal way to drastically cut down on garbage, especially any plastic garbage, from disposable diapers, while still making it easy to chuck the waste into a toilet (where the sewer system is designed to deal with human waste). I haven't seen them, but I assume they would be something like baby wipes, but dry.