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Wed, Apr. 22, 2009

Cloth Diapers v. Disposable Diapers

Posted by
jenastarks
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Wow, what a terrible and inaccurate article weighing the pros and cons. Whoever wrote this article is NOT an expert on this topic. First of all, disposables use A LOT more fossil fuels in manufacturing them. Chlorine bleach is NOT recommended in cleaning diapers. Even though cloth diapers use water, there are many ways to use less water around the house to save the water used in laundering them....not showering or bathing baby every day, flushing the toilet less often, not watering lawns, etc. With disposables, you have to factor energy to produce the diapers, packaging, the factory that operates the machinery, shipping the diapers, storing them in a store, the gas to get home, and it cannot be reused again.

I think it's ironic that this company is claiming disposables to be eco-friendly, when that is what they are selling...are they trying to make more money in this?

Jen Starks
Cloth Diaper Business Owner
Ecological Babies
www.ecologicalbabies.com

Comments (7)

Mon, Jul. 19, 2010 Posted by: mersadie94

I think that the fact that

I think that the fact that Seventh Generation is creating a diaper (even if it is disposable) that is free of chemicals that other brands are packed with is still a good thing. People have to realize that not every parent has the patience, desire or money to buy and use cloth diapers. Some may even find it difficult because you have to handle the mess a bit more than you do with disposables. I rather have there be at least some diapers that are more friendly toward children's health than none at all. I do agree, however; that cloth diapers are a lot better.

Wed, Jul. 22, 2009 Posted by: CPTDisgruntled

Agree that this is a short-sighted examination

I used cloth diapers on my daughter; she wore them for over two years. How many diapers/uses per diaper did this analysis ascribe to each child?
Out of environmental considerations, we limited our family size to one child, but those cotton diapers are now on their third family. I never used chlorine bleach on them, and whenever the weather allowed, they were line-dried in direct sunlight, which I believe also has antiseptic properties. This further diminished the amount of electricity used for them.

Sun, Jun. 28, 2009 Posted by: angibarnett

Barely touching the surface

This was a very short piece, and without all considerations, there certainly can be a tie, and one major determining factor is household income.

Some families can afford chlorine-free disposables and/or a diaper service for cloth - when those are the options, the level of green is influenced by the washing/drying efficiency & detergent & water (hot/cold) used by the diaper service. In that case, the chlorine-free disposables are probably greener. For tighter-budget homes, the choices become el-cheapo disposable vs. cloth laundered at home in cold water & line-dried & reused until they are absolutely falling apart. I use superconcentrated natural & vegetable based detergent & sometimes borax or peroxide for whitening in a front-loading washer & hang them on the line. With these being the options for lower-income/tighter-budget families - cloth is clearly greener.

An added bonus:
My son was almost exclusively cloth & my daughter (younger) has spent less time as an infant/toddler with family & more time in paid-care, and therefore ~75% disposable. My son was done with diapers on his 2nd bday & more or less fully potty trained at that time. His disposable-donning baby sister is 31 mo. old & hates the mention of the potty - wants nothing to do with it most days, and even lies about the condition of her wet/soiled diapers - claiming to be clean & dry when she's not.

I am a big fan of cloth! It doesn't fit my lifestyle as well with my daughter as it did when my son was younger, which is unfortunate. Please know that for either choice - cloth or disposable - we can choose how green to be.

In case anyone wondered, the polymer used in disposables is generally NOT a degradable OR natural polymer. sodium polyacrylate (derived from acrylonitrile, which I believe is derived from petroleum if anybody wondered - maybe we should ask science man).

Mon, Jun. 08, 2009 Posted by: Brian Lewis

So much for looking generations out!

I find it atrocious that a company with the mission statement you have would do such a fluff piece! There is loads of inaccurate information in this article, and that it is presented by a group thought to be environmental gives it a measure of weight undeserved. The truth about cloth may not be as simple as some would think, you cannot compare a cotton diaper laundered in a local facility and delivered on a local route to petroleum diaper shipped from overseas and trucked across continent.
Our diaper service uses locally recovered Veg Oil Biodiesel in our van. Our diapers are not sanitized with chlorine, as it is a toxic poison and is insufficient in sanitizing cloth (as determined by the EPA's DFE program). Instead we use Sodium Percarbonate and Hydrogen Peroxide. As for the water consumption, most services (including ours)use very efficient machines which tend to consume less than 3 cups of water per diaper (comparable to the water needed to produce disposable diaper pulp), and considering most urban areas are dealing with resource management issues, disposable diapers only export the problem to somewhere else. Water needs to be used wisely, but is a renewable resource, whereas petroleum is not. Although I would prefer to offer organic material to address the farm side pollution, it is a trade off to provide affordable service to those who might be convinced by your self serving study.
To top it all off, you present some person who openly admits to never considering cloth and just loves throwing things away, and hers is the only opinion you provide on the ease of modern cloth diapering? Also never mentioned were the health concerns or learning delays associated with plastic diapers.
Regrettably your hard work on this video will sway many concerned parents away from good choices, and away from your business and mine, as you have created a perception that it does not matter, correction, you told them it doesn't matter.
I was looking forward to adding your product to my delivery offerings, but this video has shown me that those of us who work hard to make a difference do not have a friend in Seventh Generation.

Sadly,
Brian Lewis
Diaper Duty
Plantation, Florida

Fri, Jun. 05, 2009 Posted by: RabbitRamblings

To be fair...

you have to include the cost to grow the cotton, manufacture the cloth diaper, etc. You need compare apples to apples.

Wed, Apr. 29, 2009 Posted by: avela8

"Big Green Lies"

Seriously? A disposable diaper company promoting the use of disposable diapers? *rolls eyes* Come on, Seventh Gen, I thought your company stood for more than this.

Tue, Apr. 28, 2009 Posted by: bitterroot30

Cloth diaper v. disposable diaper

I completely agree, whoever wrote this article is way off base. I have been using cloth diapers for the last seven years and am on baby number three. I have never used chlorine bleach on my diapers. I would never choose to use disposables and cringe at the thought of putting them on my babies. Not only do I choose cloth for our environment I choose it for the health of my children. I don't like the synthetic materials and chemicals next to their sensitive skin. I too find it ironic, rather disheartening, this company is claiming disposables are eco-friendly. That diapers take up 2% of the landfill is astonishing, and should not be considered an argument in favor of disposables. Nothing gets dumped when using cloth.

Liz McNair
CLOTH diaper using Mama

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