Why Cloth Diapers?

　Better for the Environment
This is a picture I took when I was nineteen studying on a college study abroad program in Pune, India. (ACM India Studies) It was a life changing experience. I hear that India has changed since I went there but this picture stuck with me. It is a woman salvaging through trash, looking for something of value. One small trash can served the whole apartment flat and I never remember a "trash day" when it was emptied and set out to be picked up. There was very little waste and ever since living there I have had a hard time throwing things out. When I had my daughter, I was naturally drawn to cloth diapers. The thought of a ton of diapers in a landfill was just too much for me to imagine.

trash_2

I was walking by a slum in India and this woman cheerfully had me snap a picture of her baby. She didn't have much but now I understand how proud she was of her little one.
Indiamom

   I was listening to NPR recently and they talked about a guy, Dave, who saved his trash for a year to analyze it. He didn't have a baby at the time, but it is interesting nonetheless. Check out his webpage "sustainabledave" and blog. He talks about how to reduce waste by avoiding disposables in general, such as plastic water bottles and plastic silverware. He challenges everyone to save their trash for a week to see what they throw out. People who use disposable diapers might not want to take this challenge! He focuses on small things we can do to reduce waste.

Update: Hey Sustainable Dave wrote me back! I feel special. He reports that he used Fuzzi Bunz with his daughters. He encourages us to take responsibility for our own lifestyle and what we can control. There's alot to be discouraged about, when it comes to environmental issues, but if we can change our thinking our actions will follow when the chance comes up. Thanks Dave! Do check out his website.

    Cloth diapers are Renewable. Reusable. Recyclable. If we take the time to recycle plastic bottles and newspaper, it makes sense to me that reusing cloth diapers many times would reduce your carbon footprint. We are going to run out of landfills. Hopefully we will discover more sustainable ways to make power such as solar and wind in order to run our washing machines. Visit the Real Diaper Association website below to learn more about the advantages of cloth diapering. You can also click on Carbon Footprint to calculate your personal carbon footprint.

         For those interested in trash, I recommend Rubbish, the Archaeology of Garbage by William Rathje and Cullen Murphy. They talk about landfills and how most of landfills are construction debris and paper. Since landfills don't have enough moisture or light deep inside, paper doesn't even biodegrade. There is a chapter on diapers and how it is so difficult to figure out the environmental costs of cloth verses paper due to all the factors and assumptions involved. Percentage wise cloth diapers don't make up a large part of landfills but 2% of millions of tons is still a lot of waste! It just seems logical to me that reusable cloth diapers are better for the environment.

Better on the Budget
      Cloth diapering will save you money over disposables. In this tight economy, cutting back on fixed expenses is key to living on a smaller budget. The amount of money saved depends on what type of cloth diaper you choose. While initial start up costs can be high, you can recoup some costs by reselling used diapers(conginment soon to come on this site) and will not have to spend the same costs for a second baby. Click here to figure out how much you'll save using cloth diapers with an on line calculator.
    I did some of my own research about buying disposable diapers online to see how long it would take to recoup the cost of cloth. I assumed that you need about 300 diaper changes a month (average of 10 a day and average of 30 days a month). I found prices of .24 cents a diaper ($72/month) on size 3 Pampers cruisers on Amazon and .26 cents a diaper ($78/month) at Target. Finally Kirkland diapers (Costco) are .16 cents a diaper ($48/month). I have some recommendations for how many cloth diapers you will need on the "Due Tomorrow" page. Option 1 is prefolds and pockets at night or on outings for $415 plus $173 for recommended accessories. The total of $588 does not include detergent (half the normal amount is recommended) or water for an extra load of laundry every 2-3 days. Anyway with these calculations, and the cheapest price for disposables, it would take one year to recoup costs for cloth or 8 months with the preferred Pampers brand.

Better for Baby
      PVC's have been banned in baby products in Europe but are still used in the US. Don't assume that products are safe ,just because they are on the market.(Think peanut butter, Chinese toys...) Disposable diapers include Super Absorbant Polymers(gels) and don't allow for much airflow. SAP's were banned from tampons due to toxic shock syndrome in the 80's. Studies have linked disposable diapers to increased asthma and to male infertility (due to high temperatures). Babies who wear cloth may potty train sooner because they feel wet. Ironically, I saw a disposable diaper (Huggies Pull -ups) being advertised that had some chemical reaction when the baby peed to make them feel wet and cool to make potty training easier! I believe that it is important to consider what material is next to your baby's most sensitive areas for several years.