Here is an article to help make a better decision on which is greener: cloth or disposable nappies?
The debate over disposable versus cloth nappies is no longer new. It used to be that the debate was about the most convenient. Nowadays, the focus is on the environmental impact of diaper production, how much is spent in usage and how they are discarded.
Much ado has went into this topic, with most environmental studies on diapers being funded by diaper makers themselves. Households with children need not worry about diaper makers disparaging each other’s products, since some plain and clear facts are also coming to light.
Cloth vs Disposable Diapers
Cloth diapers have been around for a long time, especially after mothers discovered that snake skins and tiger skins are harder to come by. But these days more people are using cloth diapers not to save the animal kingdom, but more to protect our environment. The invention of paper disposal diapers was a convenient way of taking care of our babies mess and cheap diapers were making it more economical to use them, but it does take a longer time to get rid of the paper diapers after that.
Cloth diapers are gentle on your baby's skin and are free from chemicals used in the disposable diapers. But many mothers are asking why use cloth? Isn’t it more troublesome to wash and fold and keep cloth diapers? And won’t it less hygienic for the baby when the baby starts to pooh and wet the cloth diaper? It all depends on how you use the cloth diapers and whether you know how to use the cloth diapers in the first place. When used correctly, cloth diapers are as good as disposable diapers when it comes to protecting the baby and making it comfortable after the baby has soiled the diapers.
A Little bit of History
The invention of the disposable diaper in the 1950s was at the time, and often still is, hailed as one of the most liberating inventions in history for parents. Taking off in America in the 1960s, and then popularised around the world in the 1970s and 1980s, today it is estimated that parents in Britain bin over eight million disposable nappies a day. As our environmental conscience grows ever larger, this is becoming a huge problem, as disposable nappies can remain in landfill sites for many years - some sources estimate this figure may be over 100 years. The devastating impact this has on our environment has increasingly been pushed into the public sphere, with a small war erupting between activist, green parents using "real nappies", i.e. cloth diapers, and other parents who insist that using disposables gives them more leisure time to spend with their children.
While it is indisputable that disposable nappies free up a large amount of time for parents, the detrimental effects of using them is becoming increasingly inescapable. Using cloth diapers have a variety of positive effects, both on babies and on the environment. It is estimated that cloth nappies only take around six months to degrade in landfill sites, and now that they can be bought with poppers and Velcro, parents don’t need to worry about using safety pins; increasingly, cloth diapers are being produced with waterproof exteriors as well. Also, it is sometimes alleged that babies who wear disposable nappies take longer to toilet train, as the material prevents them from realising when they are wet. Various studies have been conducted comparing the risks to the environment of cleaning cloth nappies with hot water and chemicals to disposable ones; one study in 2005 assessed that the environmental cost of washing cloth diapers equalled the cost of disposable nappies. Yet, the inconsistencies in this study have lead to it being widely debunked, with most scientists estimating that the cost of washing cloth nappies in 60 degree cycles is far more environmentally friendly.
Water Consumption
It will take around 6,000 diaper changes to potty train a child. This entails around 10,000 gallons of water, according to some estimates. To put it another way, each diaper change will needs roughly the equivalent of a toilet flush to get rid of the waste, or perhaps more to clean the cloth nappy.
Makers of disposables often point out the amount of water used to clean cloth nappies, but at this point they are not any different with cloth nappy companies when it comes to environmental impact. The reason is that manufacturing disposables also gobble up water, and disposable diaper makers also encourage proper sanitation through flushing all waste separately from the diaper headed for the trash.
In Terms of Resource Usage
Washing cloth diapers consumes plenty of energy to heat water and dry the cloth after the laundering. This implies the need for plenty of electricity, which further implies a big amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
Producing disposables also uses up energy and resources. A 1991 report from the Landbank Consultancy estimates that the typical disposable is the result of synthesizing 20 times more raw materials and three times more energy than cloth diapers.
In terms of pollution:
Cotton is a chemical-intensive crop, but the plant itself do not absorb the huge amounts of fertilizers and pesticides used. Instead, most of it drains into water supplies. Once the chemicals enter the water supply upon which farms and people tap into, this is where the problem starts.
Disposable diaper production has its own concerns too. Chlorine is used to bleach the wood pulp that will be turn into paper for the disposables, and the process produces the by-product dioxin, which happens to be very toxic.
After a single usage, a disposable nappy can end up in plastic garbage bags which are brought to landfills. Since landfills are definitely not composting facilities, disposables may occupy space in landfills for decades, its materials incapable of degrading.
At the end of it all
What can homes and parents do to bring down the environmental effect of their children’s diaper use? You may actually be surprised that - yes - there is a lot of options, and you do not have to be constrained by just one brand.
Both cloth diapers and disposable nappies have greener versions available. Both cloth and disposable diapers have greener versions available. You can now get an earth-friendly disposable nappy that you can be sure is free of chlorine-based bleaching methods, therefore incapable of irritating the skin. Some brands employ cellulose-based absorbent agents and use corn as main ingredient either for lining materials or the plastic, which otherwise is made from crude oil.
Organic cotton farming is a scheme that has natural pest control and fertilizers, therefore decreasing the risks of synthetic chemicals. The cloth that comes from this farming process are bleached using hydrogen peroxide or other processes that avoid chlorine.
Note also that a diaper service consumes less water and energy per diaper vis-à-vis home laundering.
Lastly, parents may want to get eco-friendly cloth diapers while at home and opt for the convenience of disposables when bringing along the baby while traveling or shopping.
The final Curious © phrase:
“Diaper backward spells repaid. Think about it”
( Marshall McLuhan)
