Now, it was simple for me to switch from tampons to the DivaCup. But that was a mere matter of something that was cheaper, easier and more Earth-friendly.
But if I was a parent, the choice between the oh-so-easy on the go disposable diapers and the earth-friendly cloth diapers, it would be more difficult. What do you do with dirty cloth diapers? Wouldn’t that be more laundry in the long-run, meaning more water wasted?
The newsletter from Low Impact Living discusses it:
“This is a complicated environmental issue. On the one hand, disposable diapers clog landfills and contain plastics made from petrochemicals. On the other, cloth diapers require large amounts of water and energy to wash.
It takes an enormous amount of plastic and paper to cover American baby bottoms with disposable diapers each year– almost 100,000 pounds of plastic and 200,000 trees. And the amount of diaper trash tossed into landfills is staggering: 18 billion diapers, or 3.3M tons, according to the EPA. That is the environmental rationale for the cloth diaper camp.
Cloth diapers do require substantial water and energy use to keep them clean. One well-regarded study found that cloth diapers use about 40% more energy than disposable diapers. Water use is another significant issue (although much less if you use an Energy Star upright clothes washer!).
We land in the pro-cloth camp. Water heating energy can be secured in low-impact ways (such as using a tankless or solar hot water heater), while most disposables still use oil-based plastics. And, landfill space is growing ever scarcer. Organically grown, unbleached cotton products offer the healthiest, most environmentally friendly option. Fortunately cloth diapers have come a long way. They can be used 100-150 times and come with straps for handy fastening. See some great organic cloth diapers here. When you consider the chemicals in the plastics, bleaches, and scents used in the disposable diapers and that these chemicals rub on your baby’s skin and are breathed by your baby, we hope you’ll be even more persuaded that cloth is the way to go.
However, we realize many of you will not give up the convenience of disposable diapers. If you go that route, we recommend Seventh Generation Diapers. Seventh Generation also makes many other great non-toxic household products, so be sure to look for them when you can.”
What do you think? Which camp are you in?
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