Environmental Impact of Disposable Diapers

Disposable Diaper DilemmaThe 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

John Tarantino

My name is John Tarantino … and no, I am not related to Quinton Tarantino the movie director. I love writing about the environment, traveling, and capturing the world with my Lens as an amateur photographer.

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