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(First published November 2006, updated March 2011)
Diapers, also known as nappies in many parts of the world, have been the
subject of great debate in relation to which is a more earth friendly option -
disposables or reusable cloth? Having used both, I would have immediately said
cloth diapers had less of an environmental impact, but that may not necessarily
be the case.
An apparently thorough updated study carried out by an advisory board to the
UK Environment Agency a couple of years ago drew this conclusion - cloth diapers
had a slightly bigger carbon dioxide impact than that of disposable nappies. I
was quite taken aback - how could this be?
When both types of diapers were studied, the *whole* lifecycle of the product
was scrutinized - materials, chemicals and energy consumed during production,
usage and disposal. The environmental impact categories the diapers were
assessed against were climate change, ozone depletion, human toxicity,
acidification, fresh-water aquatic toxicity, terrestrial toxicity, photochemical
oxidant formation and eutrophication. The resulting updated report can be viewed
here (PDF)
Disposable nappies are usually made from petroleum by-products and tree products such
as fluff pulp. Other chemicals may be added, such as fragrances. Cloth diapers are usually made from cotton - a pesticide,
herbicide, synthetic fertilizer and water intensive crop.
The updated study found the average 2006 disposable nappy would result in a global warming impact of
approximately 1,220 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents used over the two and a half years
a child is typically in nappies. For reusable nappies, it was approximately
1,256 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents.
However, the report notes for the home laundered nappy system, the main
source of environmental impact is electricity used in washing and drying the
nappies.
There are quite a few opportunities to lessen the impact of cloth nappies by:
offset your electricity use with green
tags, or switch your electricity supply to a green provider
reroute washing machine water runoff into your garden or install a
greywater recycling system
don't iron diapers
In fact, by washing nappies in a fuller load, outdoor line drying all of the time, and reusing nappies on a second
child, it would would lower the global warming impact by 40 per cent from the baseline
scenario.
The other point to note is the diapers in the study were made of cotton, and
I assume not organic cotton. The growing of cotton constitutes approximately 25%
of the world's insecticide and more than 10% of the pesticide usage. Cotton is
the fourth most heavily synthetically fertilized crop globally. The cotton
industry has also been responsible for massive environmental disasters such as
the destruction of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan and Kazahkstan.
There are alternatives to "normal" cotton - organic
cotton. Better still is hemp.
Hemp fabric is said to be three times stronger than cotton, more durable and has
a better ability to absorb moisture. I haven't seen 100% hemp diapers around,
but you can certainly buy organic cotton/hemp blends - usually around 45% hemp
and 55% organic cotton.
Another point often raised in this debate is water usage in washing cloth nappies. However, a great
deal of water goes into making disposables and if used as directed by the
manufacturer, solid wastes are meant to be flushed down the toilet; not thrown
in the bin. I'm still researching some fairly accurate figures on actual water use
involved with both.
If cloth nappies just aren't an option for you for whatever reason; or
if you're just wanting the convenience of disposables from time to time, I've also noticed increasing numbers of brands of disposables that are chlorine-free, fragrance free and even some made from bamboo. These options are well worth looking into.
Have some earth friendly diaper tips? Please feel free to add them below.
Although this article has been published for more than a year now, I wanted to know if you have research that also includes gdiapers? It is considered a hybrid diaper, where there is a cloth/washable part and a disposable/flushable part. I have been using these diapers for almost a year now, and felt better knowing the disposable part is biodegradable/compostable and the washable part only needs to be washed every week, or when it gets dirty, which has been seldom since these dipes offer great leak protection even overnight. Check it out at www.gdiapers.com.
Comment #2
(Posted by Michael - Green Living Tips)
Hi vickyma - thanks for the recommendation; I'll take a look at them!
Comment #3
(Posted by Jenny Gray)
Diapers can also be made at home out of many types of used fabrics...I've got a few flat folds that were made from hubby's old t-shirts and the soaker pads were made out of old pillow stuffing...if you google home made diapers you 'll get tons of free patterns and ideas!
Comment #4
(Posted by Vanessa)
It is also good to note that alot of modern cloth nappies are now made with hemp and bamboo, much more enviromentally friendly alternatives to cotton, and obviously disposable nappies. Modern cloth nappies are far more advanced that the old faithful terry flats covered in pvc pilchers. Most modern cloth mums use wool covers or flannel covers, and most of the nappies are made from hemp or bamboo.
Comment #5
(Posted by Melodie Stormann)
With cloth diapers, there is also the option to pass diapers on to other families. One cloth diaper could be used for 4 or five babies before it fianlly wears out. We found all of our diapers at a great bartering website for moms.
Comment #6
(Posted by Michael - Green Living Tips)
Thanks for the great tips Jenny, Vanessa and Melodie!
Comment #7
(Posted by Medora Jensen)
If you want to go really really green when it comes to baby poop disposable, there is another alternative.
Diaper Free Babies!
http://www.diaperfreebaby.org/
I have not tried it personally, but will attempt it when I have a baby.
Comment #8
(Posted by Dave Cronshaw)
Speaking as a chemist who works in manufacturing, responsible producers of daipers are constantly looking at ways of reducing the environmental impact of their products. This includes reducing energy and water consumption, waste, packaging, etc during production as well as other product stewardship issues eg biodegradability. Everthing we do has an impact on the environment and people, unfortunately, do not look at a whole of lifecycle impact and come up with skewed views as to what the real effects of their actions are. My tip for saving the planet - grow your own fruit and vegetables, then get on your bike and stop driving your car!
Comment #9
(Posted by Marlo)
It isn't always convenient to use cloth nappies, i.e when travelling, when my son had nappy rash or overnight as they usually don't absorb enough and wake baby up soaking wet during the night, so when I have to use disposables I use a brand of nappies called SAFETIES that are 100% biodegradable and made in Australia. Not sure of the energy consumption involved in making these nappies but surely if you have to use disposables these are a better choice.
Comment #10
(Posted by Amy Ringuette)
I am not sure your information is exactly correct. I too have read a few studies on this issue. Cloth diapers always come out on top. For one it takes water to produce every disposible made, the water is part of the manufacturing process and since you are constantly reusing a cloth diaper it ends up equaling about the same as far as water usage is concerned. Plus you don't have to deal with the environment impact of the water uasge of the factory workers too. Though I imagine the workers would be drinking water where ever they worked, it is no longer a part of this product, instead the environmental impact is placed on another product. And I imagine they wouldn't be drinking as much if they weren't in a factory anyway. Also the recources to make the cloth diaper are not always constantly being remined. Also baby's in cloth diapers aren't in them as long. It is obviously uncomfortable to be wet all the time where there are the many harsh and hazardous chemicals in disposibles enter into the body they are extremel absorbative and children seem okay to stay in them for years. (Also unless they have measured the toxicity level of grave soil because of the accumalative effect of combined toxins from birth to death (and its leaching into the table water in appropriate areas), your study has not covered it all. We are great vessels for toxins. It is estimated that 60% of what goes on our skin leaches in. Human breast milk, while still better for the baby than formula has the most toxins of any food. This is a conservative estimate others hold it higher.) My oldest child was potty trained at exactly 18 months, we started at 12 months and she did excellent but it took her till 18 months to be able to go without a trainer. She has never had an accident since. My youngest just turned 12 months but he is not at the point where he is ready as he is not walking everywhere yet. However he has already began trying to "hold it." So he too will be ready soon. There is a lady across the street with a five year old in disposibles. I have never come across this problem with those who use cloth diapers. It is just too much work to do that long. On trips we use gdiapers. I think they are easier than disposibles in a way since there are no bags with dirty disposibles to smell on your car trip. Everytime I traveled with disposibles there was always a grociery bag that "hid" when we stopped at a service station. This is not good for car sick people like me. Gdiapers are completely biodegradable, disposible and they are good for your septic! Diapers have changed alot lately and if G's weren't so expensive I would use them exclusively. Instead I use AIO diapers mostly. I wish I could remember where I read that study from. Either way most of the energy consumption that goes into cloth diapers is the laundry and the majority of power used during laundering a garment comes from the dryer. If you want better smelling diapers this is energy consumption does not occur, since the most effective way to get those stains out is to let the sun bleach them after they've been washed. Drying outside also helps with any smell that might survive the laundry.
Comment #11
(Posted by C V)
I agree with comment #9- nappies aren't always convenient. My son is soaked by the time he wakes up in the A.M.. Now I use disposables at night. I use eco-friendly Seventh Generation diapers. Again- not sure of all the environmental stressors but I believe they are biodegrabable, no chlorine and no leaks (yet).
Comment #12
(Posted by Sandra)
Use two cloth nappies overnight, one on top of the other. The topmost one needs to be folded into a basic triangle otherwise it won't go around the first one. Used this with all my babies!
Comment #13
(Posted by Mama Mendez)
I bought cloth diapers to use for my son (I never really got up the nerve to acutually use them unfortunately, but I will with my next one), and I found that the ones without the padded middle work great for cleaning. I've been using them instead of paper towels (I'm trying to wean myself off them) and I haven't had to buy anywhere near as many since I started using cloth nappies instead. And since I'm only using castile soap, vinegar, borax, and baking soda for cleaning, I'm willing to use them for my next baby's bum. Provided they aren't too stained. I think that if you were going to use used cloth nappies, a long soak in vinegar before you started to use them for cleaning would be a good idea.
Comment #14
(Posted by Jacque)
I know that one of the disposable diaper companies is using organic cotton, but it's still not biodegradeable. Are there any out there that are?
Comment #15
(Posted by Jen)
Drying outside is a great option... for folks who live in houses, not apartments. Unfortunately, the environmental impact of living in a large house, with a yard, etc, is much greater than that of living in a small apartment with only as much space as you need... So if I used my dryer to dry cloth diapers, but it's only because I live in an apartment and not a house, it probably kinda evens out (at least). It's easy to think about the impact of things like diapers and laundry and even dog poo bags, but I think it's just as important that folks consider the impact of their everyday standard of living. Large living spaces, private yards, and inefficient vehicles cause much more damage to the Earth over the course of a person's life.
Comment #16
(Posted by Charndra @ Part Time Diaper Free!)
Yes, we do what we can to reduce our environmental footprint as best we can within our unique circumstances - that is showing wonderful personal responsibility, and I applaud each of us for doing that!
I'd like to add a bit more about elimination communication to this discussion, after it was brought up earlier.
baby Pottying as I like to call it at the moment, is a practice that can REDUCE your use of any sort of diaper or nappy - gradually.
Meanwhile, your baby wears diapers until your cooperative skills increase.
Even thinking of this in terms of one less diaper at a time is a small goal for your green baby.
If you are intrigued at the idea, and want to discover how to ease into this eco-friendly practice part time, pop on over to my new site (I have a free guided tour and an online course):
http://www.PartTimeDiaperFree.com
Comment #17
(Posted by Rachel)
I got a lot of my cloth diapers second hand, and have passed around what I didn't end up using or what my kids outgrew. My newborn size covers have already been on five or six babies!
Even if you don't buy organic diapers, it helps to buy high quality cotton diapers, because they outlast the cheap ones. I've seen Gerber diapers disintegrate before one baby outgrows them, but the Chinese prefolds I bought over a year ago are still going strong and some even look brand new, and I use them on two babies! I bought 50 prefolds in two sizes, and a few dozen covers in all sizes and those should last my two kids who are using them all the way through potty training. I really think that beats several thousand disposables! And if we ever decided to have another kiddo, we'd already have all the diapers we need, and one of my friends who gets pregnant when I'm done with them is going get a full set of cloth diapers.
If you hang dry your diapers and they turn out stiff, you can fluff them in your dryer for about 10 minutes to soften them up. You could also turn off the heat and use the air-only setting.
Comment #18
(Posted by Tamara)
I wonder then, using this study's logic, would it be better for the environment for us to wear disposable clothes rather than cotton ones? We have to launder our clothes all the time, too...why not just wear plastic and paper-based, non biodegradable clothing and throw them out daily? I'm just not seeing how disposable diapers are equal in the very long run when you consider their propensity not to biodegrade for hundreds of years.
Comment #19
(Posted by Elena)
My daughter is in cloth nappies since birth, although we use biodegradable disposable nappies (Wiona - I like them, they come in strong carbord boxes, instead of the plastic bags, so you can reuse them too, and we haven't had any leaks) at night and when traveling as she's been a heavy wetter at night and cloth nappies just didn't do it. One tip. it's good to have a selection of both terry cloth nappies and muslin squares plus disposable liners. If you know you are going to be out for longer - use terrycloth, if you are at home and can change nappies frequently - use muslin squares or any cut outs from old cotton clothes (they dry quicker). We also started potty training early - at 6 months once she started sitting up by herself. It helped minimize soiling significantly (plus of course occasional pee in the potty is a bonus) and then it means that the wet cloth nappies only need rinsing in cold water, if you do it straight after changing them. Otherwise, leave them to soak in a bucket with cold water and a drop of tea tree oil to help curp the odour and desinfect. We live in an apartment and air-drying nappies has never been a problem, we have a foldable clothes rack, so can put it in any room that's not used at the moment.
Comment #20
(Posted by bek)
HI,
I was wandering if there is any research comparing the different types of cloth anppies - i.e looking at the Bamboo nappies and whether this is more environementally freindly then theh cotton ones - the other thing that they dont look at and nned to is that life of that nappy, and it will last longer then just 1 child. I use fitted reuseable nappies with my baby, and he is almost atoilet trained adn will save then to use on my next bubba. I think there is so much mixed messaging about which one is better, that green mothers are losing the battle in converting others to switch, and not enough real facts out there to support the switch.
Comment #21
(Posted by Shannon)
In response to comment 15:
Kudos for chosing a residence with a small footprint. An colapsible drying rack works great in small places. We use ours year round for drying our son's diapers.
Comment #22
(Posted by stephanie)
Well Bummis, sells a Super soft, waterproof and very breathable diaper made of recycled polyester! I think thats great! I believe anyway you look at it cloth diapers have to be better, disposables sit in a land fill where cloth when made from eco-friendly materials can be used over and over again for many different children. As well air drying the diapers, using cold water and eco-friendly detergents and only washing them when you have a full load, so you don't waste water!!
