29 Diapers

Just as with plastic bottles, you may not realize how disposable diapers pile up until you see the numbers.

Let’s Start with Logic

If you Google “cloth diapers waste,” you will come up with nearly as many websites telling you that cloth and disposables use the same amount of resources as sites telling you that cloth is the clear Green winner. Let’s use logic here: Who really believes that plastic and paper disposable products, that have to be re-created over and over so you can use more of them, use fewer resources than a reusable cloth alternative? By that logic you should be eating off of paper plates and using plastic forks and cups, using and throwing away plastic grocery bags every week, and drinking water from plastic bottles, because making real dishes and bags takes too many resources. Are you kidding me? Yes, cloth diapers do take some resources to manufacture, and to wash, but the numbers aren’t even close. I think we know this instinctively, and we’re proving it as a society by gradually shifting away from disposable grocery bags and plastic water bottles toward more sustainable replacements. Hopefully a shift toward modern cloth diapers, which are much easier to use than the ones our mothers abandoned when they had the chance, is coming soon.

Health Considerations

Besides the carbon “buttprint” of your diaper choice, there are the health benefits of cloth diapers to consider. Disposable diapers contain “a waterproof polyethylene outer layer, an inner layer made from wood pulp and synthetic polyacrylate [the absorbent crystals that turn to a gel when wet to lock in moisture] and a water-repellent liner. Most brands have fragrances and perfumes.” (Source: http://www.borntolove.com/wrong.html) These ingredients have been associated with cancer and damage to the reproductive system and other organs. Just look at the SkinDeep Cosmetics Database entry for Pampers. Yikes! Speaking of Pampers, their new DryMax diapers, with extra-absorbent cores, seem to be confirming concerns that the polyacrylate crystals that provide disposable diapers’ absorbency can harm babies’ skin (among other things): DryMax diapers, which have more of these chemicals in order to lock away moisture better than any other disposable diapers, are being blamed for chemical burns, severe diaper rash, and even bloody pustules on babies’ poor bums.

So What’s The Difference, Really?

You know I’m going to tell you that cloth diapering makes a difference, but just how much of a difference might surprise you. I got into cloth diapering to save that seductive $1000 per year over disposables, but once I saw the numbers below, I couldn’t in good conscience go back to disposables for any reason. Check out just how big a difference cloth diapering can make:

• “7.6 billion pounds of diapers a year are discarded in the U.S. That’s about the weight of a billion newborn babies.” (Source: http://whatawaste.info)
• “1 baby will produce 1 ton of trash over 1 year when using disposable diapers.” (Source: http://www.expectantmothersguide.com/library/boston/clothdiapers.htm)
• “The Landbank Consultancy, commissioned by the Women’s Environmental Network in London, reprocessed Procter & Gamble’s 1991 studies that falsely claimed the environmental impact of disposables was not materially worse than cloth diaper usage. The Landbank Consultancy used Procter & Gamble’s own findings in their two studies and other information researched on the impacts of processing both disposable and cloth diapers. They concluded that disposable diapers create 2.3 times as much water waste, use 3.5 times as much energy, use 8.3 times the non-regenerable raw materials, use 90 times the renewable raw materials and 4 to 30 times as much land for growing raw materials. The Landbank Consultancy even took into consideration that when wearing cloth diapers, there are more frequent changes–they assigned a 1/1.72 ratio to offset the difference. Procter and Gamble did not submit a legal challenge to this report. Simply put, since disposables consume 70% more energy than the average reusable diaper per diaper change, is it really WISE to use 3.4 billion gallons of oil and over 250,000 trees annually to manufacture them when they already end up in our overburdened landfills?” (Source: http://www.diaperpin.com/clothdiapers/article_diaperdrama4.asp)

• Disposable diapers have been linked with the following health concerns:

1. “Male Infertility–Disposable diapers could be the cause of the sharp rise in male infertility over the past 25 years. It is thought that disposable diapers heat up boys testicles to such a degree that it stop them from developing normal.
2. Sodium Polyacrylate, which is linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome and can therefore no longer be used in tampons, is the super absorbent gel in disposable diapers. You can find the little ‘gel balls’ on the skin of your baby’s bottom. It is interesting to note that employees in factories manufacturing sodium polyacrylate suffer from female organ problems, slow healing wounds, fatigue and weight loss.
3. TBT (Tribulytin)–In May 2000 Greenpeace found TBT in Pampers® Baby Dry in Germany. TBT is one of the most toxic substances ever made. It harms the immune system and impairs the hormonal system. There is speculation that it could cause boys to become sterile.
4. Dioxin–Traces of the carcinogen Dioxin have been found in disposable diapers. Dioxin causes liver disease, immune system suppression and genetic damage. It is a byproduct of bleaching with chlorine gas and is banned in most countries. Unfortunately, the USA still allows it.
5. Asthma–In 1998 a study showed that childhood respiratory problems, including asthma, might be linked to inhaling the mixture of chemicals emitted from disposable diapers.
6. UTI infections in baby girls also seem on the rise with an increased use of disposable diapers. Babies’ poorly developed outer skin layer absorbs about 48 chemicals if you use disposable diapers & wipes and standard baby products. This can be greatly reduced by using cloth diapers and natural baby products.” (Source: http://diapersafari.com/diaperinfo/whyclothdiapers/)

• On the label of disposable diapers, it says that you are supposed to remove solids from used diapers and flush them down the toilet, because landfills are not designed to deal with human feces, which could leak into ground water and contaminate drinking water supplies. But what do you think is happening when we throw away more and more disposable diapers every year in the U.S.? “Over 27.4 billion disposable diapers are consumed each year in the U.S,” (Source: http://www.expectantmothersguide.com/library/boston/clothdiapers.htm) and according to WhataWaste.Info, a project of The Real Diaper Association, not only the number of diapers disposed of is rising every year, but the percentage of our trash that is comprised of disposable diapers is also rising every year: “The percentage of trash from diapers has gone up every year and continues to go up.  With increasing population, one could understand how raw numbers go up, but this is percentage going up.” (Source: http://whatawaste.info/)
• “An average child will use between 8,000 -10,000 disposable diapers ($2,000 worth) before being potty trained…. In the United States alone these single-use items consume nearly 100,000 tons of plastic and 800,000 tons of tree pulp. We will pay an average of $350 million annually to deal with their disposal and, to top it off, these diapers will still be in the landfill 300 years from now. Americans throw away 570 diapers per second. That’s 49 million diapers per day.” (Source: http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html)

Now for some good news! As if you needed a reason beyond protecting your baby from harmful chemicals, reducing your impact on the planet, and saving mega-bucks, here are some additional benefits of using cloth diapers:

• “Potty training is easier with cloth diapers! On average cloth diapered children potty train 6 months earlier than children wearing disposable diapers. Cloth diapers do not mask the sensation of wetness.” (Source: http://diapersafari.com/diaperinfo/whyclothdiapers/)
• “Modern cloth diapers are more breathable than traditional latex disposable diapers, keeping baby cooler, and encouraging more frequent changes, which both help prevent diaper rash.” (Source: http://www.expectantmothersguide.com/library/boston/clothdiapers.htm)
• “Using modern cloth diapers is much simpler than most people think, and often work even better than disposable diapers! Because modern cloth diapers are made using ‘real’ elastic, many parents find that they contain poop much better, while the ability to add extra absorbency means they often work better than disposables at night and with babies who are heavy wetters.” (Source: http://www.expectantmothersguide.com/library/boston/clothdiapers.htm)
• Modern cloth diapers can be stored in a dry pail with a waterproof cloth liner bag, and the bag AND the diapers can all be thrown in the wash, and in the dryer, together. That means you never have to deal with dirty water, handling dirty diapers, or complicated wash routines. Cloth diapers mean about 3 extra loads of laundry per week.
• Of course if you reuse your cloth diapers on more than one kid, the savings add up to even more than the initial $1000 average. I’m saving so much money by using cloth (and by saving money on baby gear using some money-saving techniques that I will share with you soon) that I started a college fund for my daughter with the extra money left over in my baby budget. That’s right: cloth diapers will help put my baby girl through college, and then she can go on to make an even bigger difference in the world. Happy diapering!