A Bum Wrap: Cloth diapers vs. disposable diapers

A Bum Wrap
Study settles cloth vs. disposable diaper question

The debate over the relative environmental merits of cloth vs. disposable diapers, like the one over paper vs. plastic bags, arouses passions entirely out of proportion to its significance in the grand scheme of things. But still, the U.K. Environment Agency decided to settle the question once and for all: It sponsored a four-year study that analyzed three diaper types -- disposable, home-washed cloth, and professionally washed cloth -- from manufacture to disposal. The verdict? It doesn't matter. No, really, it doesn't. While disposables pile up in landfills, cloth diapers require energy to transport, wash, and dry. Both manufacturers and parents could do more to reduce their ecological impact, but the choice between cloth and disposable is one of personal preference and nothing more. Said Tracey Stewart of the Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacturers' Association (!), "No one any more can claim the moral high ground on nappies." The only real winners here are people (ahem, us) who like to say the word "nappies." Nappies, nappies, nappies.

straight to the source: The Times, Valerie Elliott, 19 May 2005

straight to the source: BBC News, 19 May 2005

see also, in Grist: Kid Commando -- Umbra on diaperless parenting

Written by hestiahomeschool Blog about this entry

This entry has 7 comments: (Add your own)

#7 Comment from fitzzer
5/25/05 9:22 AM | Permalink

I can see both sides, but still lean towards thinking cloth has to be better in the long run. ~ Lori
http://journals.aol.com/fitzzer/PurpleSnapdragons/
#6 Comment from juliapadg
5/24/05 11:46 PM | Permalink

I used cloth with both my kids. I would have done it anyway for the money saving aspects, but I am sad that I wasn't making a difference like I thought I was. I used chinese prefolds with prowraps covers. By the time my kids were done with them they were falling apart. We use them as old rags now. Like the other poster said, it seems hard to believe that washing them at home like I did would be that terrible to the environment. I didn't use bleach. If they needed bleaching I just hung them out in the sun.
#5 Comment from hestiahomeschoolEntry Author
5/24/05 9:19 PM | Permalink

If the cloth diapers are washed and dried at home, I suspect there is much less impact on the environment. I did it for years with Mandy. It requires washing them two or three times to get all the soap residue out and keep them clean. Sometimes you have to add vinegar to avoid diaper rashes, and it is a HUGE job.

With Tabby we used a diaper service.

Most people do not do their own cloth diapers, though, they use a diaper service which uses a truck to pick them up and take them back to a huge plant where they are cleaned and sterilized before being taken yet again to another house. That is where the negative impact on the environment comes in.

:-) Thanks for visiting me!
#4 Comment from ryanagi
5/24/05 9:15 PM | Permalink

Ah HA! It's as I always suspected. LOL Now I can tell my earthy-crunchy friends to lay off my case.
#3 Comment from hestiahomeschoolEntry Author
5/24/05 9:08 PM | Permalink

This is from Grist, an environmental publication. Apparently, there is real concern about the feces in the water it uses to wash the diapers, as well as all the transportation the trucks use, etc. Both have to be manufactored. We've always used cloth diapers in the past, but now the diaper services have gone out of business. :-(

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A Bum Wrap: Cloth diapers vs. disposable diapers