Cloth Diapers
The healthy and sustainable choice.
The cloth diapers of today are not like those of your parent's days. The variety is endless and all of them are easy to use and don't include any pins or fancy folding methods. Let us take a look at all the pros and cons of using cloth diapers:
Health
Plastic, or disposable diapers do not "breathe" to let out the ammonia formed in the bacterial breakdown of urine. Using cloth diapers made of bird's eye gauze allows the baby' skin to breathe and thus prevents diaper rash. When using a diaper service, you are provided with an average of 70 cotton diapers that are residue-free and pH balanced, which further prevents diaper rash.
Dioxin, which in various forms has been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, liver damage, and skin diseases, is a by-product of the paper-bleaching process used in manufacturing disposable diapers, and trace quantities may exist in the diapers themselves. (6)
And what about the material that makes "super absorbent" diapers so absorbent? If you've ever used disposable diapers, you've probably noticed beads of clear gel on your baby's genitals after a diaper change. Super absorbent diapers contain sodium polyacrylate, which absorbs up to 100 times its weight in liquid. Sodium polyacrylate is the same substance that was banned and eliminated from tampons in 1985 because of its link to toxic shock syndrome.(7) No studies have been done on the long-term effects of this chemical being in contact with a baby's reproductive organs 24 hours a day for upwards of two years.
Environment
18 billion disposable diapers are thrown in landfills each year, taking as many as 500 years to decompose. Disposable diapers make up the third largest source of solid waste in landfills, after newspapers and food and beverage containers--a significant fact, considering they are a single-use product, used by a limited portion of the population.(1) It takes upwards of 82,000 tons of plastic and 1.3 million tons of wood pulp, or a quarter-million trees, to manufacture the disposable diapers that cover the bottoms of 90 percent of the babies born in the US.(2)
Today, as a rule, diaper services use biodegradable detergents not harmful phosphates. The waste water produced from washing diapers is benign, while the waste water from the manufacture of the pulp, paper, and plastics used in disposable diapers contains dioxins, solvents, sludge, and heavy metals.(3) Chlorine bleach, whose manufacture is harmful to the atmosphere, is no longer used in whitening diaper service diapers, but rather most diaper services now use hydrogenised bleach which is basically Hydrogen Peroxide.(4)
Ultimately, instead of getting bogged down in each side's scientific data, the best approach is to use commonsense. Weigh the impact of manufacturing and disposing of 8,000 paper-and-plastic diapers over the average diapering period of a child versus that of a few dozen cotton diapers, and decide for yourself, which is better for the environment.
Convenience
It's true that the thought of rinsing, soaking, and laundering dozens of cloth diapers a week is overwhelming to most new parents. But if you're a parent, you're doing laundry around the clock anyway, and what's a few more loads a week? However, it's not for everyone--and that's where diaper services come in. Many parents don't realize that with a diaper service there's no rinsing or soaking involved. You don't even need to flush solids away--you simply throw the soiled diaper directly into a diaper pail lined with a re-usable bag. Once a week, you put the bag of soiled diapers out, and a bag of fresh, clean diapers is delivered to your door. Can that really be considered less convenient than throwing a disposable diaper in the trash and taking an extra garbage can out to the curb each week? In fact, with a diaper service there's the added convenience of not having to remember to buy diapers--you simply never run out.
Furthermore, a baby in cloth diapers becomes potty trained 6-12 months sooner than a baby in disposables. So the whole diapering process is cut down by about a year. The reason for this is that when the baby' bladder and abdominal muscles contract the baby immediately feels wet and thus understands why it is necessary to use a potty. A baby in disposable diapers never feels wet and so the potty concept is that much harder to explain.(5)
Cost
Although a diaper service seems like a luxury, in fact it can cost considerably less than using disposables--and home-laundered cloth diapers is, of course, the least expensive alternative of all.
NOTES
(1.) EPA, "Positive Steps towards Waste Reduction," June 1989.
(2.) Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation.
(3.) Cad Lehrburger with Rachel Snyder, `The Disposable Diaper Myth," Whole Earth Review (Fall 1988): 61.
(4.) See Note 3.
(5.) Nan Scott, "Nan Scott's Newsletter for Parents."
(6.) EPA, "Integrated Risk Assessment for Dioxins and Furans from Chlorine Bleaching in Pulp and Paper Mills."
(7.) Judy Braiman-Lipson, Empire State Consumer Association, Rochester, NY.
