Environmental Impact of Disposable Diapers
Disposable Diaper Dilemma
The problem with disposable diapers, besides them being really expensive, is that they end up in landfills by the millions. These diapers take an estimated 500 years to decompose. Additionally, it takes up huge amounts of resources including wood pulp and plastic during their manufacturing.Fact: Americans throw away enough disposable diaper each year to stretch from the moon and back at least seven times. -Julia Butterfly Hill
Another point of note, is that only a small fraction of parents wash out disposable diapers before they throw them away. This is a huge problem because that means that millions of tons of potentially virus-infected diapers end up in our dump sites. This can result in the potential for hundreds of different viruses that are associated with the human feces can seep into our groundwater.Disposable Diaper Alternatives
The alternative to disposable diapers are using cloth diapers. They can be reused at least a hundred times and will decompose in a few months. If saving anywhere from $500-$2000 a year with each child from not using disposable diapers sounds like a good idea to you then please use cloth diapers instead.There is also a biodegradable diaper available if you like the convenience of disposable diapers. It is called the gDiaper, and they are actually flushable down the toilet, you can either flush them down the toilet putting the poop where it belongs, or if you do throw it away, the diaper will decompose because it is made from organic ingredients. You could even put the diapers in your compost pile to return nutrients to your soil.
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6 COMMENTS, ADD YOURS HERE:
Do you have kids? If so, have you washed diapers in your energy efficient front-load washer before? I suspect you haven't, but welcome a reply....
I think your virus seeping into groundwater is quite misleading. Viri exist in the natural world as well as in children's fecal matter. In fact, a major source of viri in groundwater is from agriculture and not diapers in landfills. In addition there are very stringent controls on landfill locations, and leachate control systems by the federal EPA and state environmental departments.
The cost of diapers is usually a great concern for most parents. Cost estimates show that disposable diapers will run approximately $50 to $80 per month, using a diaper services will cost approximately $50 to $80 per month and laundering your own cloth diapers will cost slightly less at approximately $25 to $60 per month (source: http://www.thenewparentsguide.com/diapers.htm)
Thanks
When I was a kid, I wore cloth diapers. I know this sounds hard to believe, but I can still remember seeing my dirty diapers in the toilet, where my mom would put them to soak for a while before she put them into the diaper pail. Anyways, I always had cute little plastic pants on the outside of my diaper, and I've never heard my mom complain about how they leaked or anything. I'm sure it was a pain for her, but my parents, as I'm slowly realizing, were sort of hippies back in the day, and they also didn't have much money, so it was probably really important to them that I wore cloth diapers. And I must say, I think it's really great that they were willing to make that kind of effort. My parents are cool!
Diaper services are actually more harmful to the environment than your post suggests. Cleaning services use gas for all their huge trucks and bleach for the cleaning, which is not done in energy efficient washers.
My children were in cloth diapers from 1979 to 1984 (three kids in four years). Yes, you wash them out in the toilet before putting them in a diaper pail, and launder frequently. I did this strictly for the monetary savings, which was substantial.
Periodically, I had enough money to purchase disposable diapers, and loved the convenience. Additionally, the babies were less likely to develop a rash with the disposables.
I did not use cloth diapers to save the environnment.
I am a grandmother now, and though my first was born into less than ideal financial circumstances, my son and daughter in law did not view cloth diapers as a viable option. I am afraid that the only way to change this pattern of thought would be to tax the diapers with a special disposal fee of twice the current cost of the diaper.
Cloth diapers will save you money if you launder them yourself. Thousands of dollars if you have more than one kid or a late toileting learner. Suggesting that it will cost $25-60 month to DIY cloth is addled. You can use an old T-shirt or dishtowel in a pinch or sew your own from old flannel sheets. You don't even need to soak them in the toilet first, modern washers are so good.
I put them right into a "dry bucket" with a sprinkle of baking soda (after I dropped the solid waste in the toilet, of course!) Your cat's litter box smells worse. And with the new wicking fleece liners and breathable covers (no more plastic pants), diaper rash troubles are a thing of the past.
When your clothes are dirty, do you throw them away or launder them? Which do you think is more environmentally friendly? Do you think human waste is most safely disposed of a) in a landfill with no treatment (in a container not designed for human waste disposal--it is actually a 'banned substance' in most landfills, it's just not enforced) or b) in a sewage system DESIGNED TO TREAT HUMAN WASTE? hmmm....
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