What carbon footprint is saved when you use cloth instead of throw-away diapers?

Question

can you quote the actual energy savings by using cloth diapers instead of using disposables? what scientist(s) has analyzed this to determine the benefit to the planet?

if you can't quote a scientific consensus, please tell me why one should use cloth, not disposable, diapers and why.

considering that you'd have to carry dirty diapers with you to get back to your house after an outing with the kids, what would you do?

also consider who shall wash cloth diapers, how they are washed (hot water) and your TIME to wash diapers if not using a service (where are they now?). will you still use cloth opposed to disposables?

why would you change back to cloth diapers? why would you use disposable diapers instead of cloth diapers?

tell me the negative and positive impacts on your life as well as that of our Mother Earth, please. should parents be required to buy extra carbon credits because they use disposable, not cloth diapers? why?

Answer 1

I cannot quote sources so I wont even bother.. others have given you facts already so I wont do that either...

manufacturing of disposable is much harsher than of cloth..

you can practice more environmentally friendly methods of washing cloth diapers - (like using WARM water instead of HOT, and my hanging them OUTSIDE TO DRY (the sun kills alot of virus or bacteria that could be in them..)

time used to wash them is nothing..its equal to the time used to go to the store and purchase disposable over and over...

I personally used BOTH.  I used prefolded cloth in the day, and disposable at night or when we were away (so you didnt have to carry anything home)

I also did something most people dont think of doing - I had my tubes tied after 1 kid.. every kid is a burden to the planet, as are we all.. if we all have fewer kids we greatly reduce our damage as a species...

Answer 2

It takes one cup of crude oil to produce the plastic of one disposable nappy. Nappies are one of Britain's major waste problems , a baby will get through 5,480 disposable nappies during it's early years.  Each day 8,000,000 disposable nappies will be thrown away in UK, they account for 4% landfill waste and can take 500 years to decompose!

See the first link it will answer a lot of your questions:

http://www.spiritofnature.co.uk/acatalog...

http://www.thebabycatalogue.com/prodinfo...

The cost of disposable nappies for one year is estimated to be £1,200 but the cost of shaped cloth nappies is estimated to be £300 a year including washing.

http://www.wen.org.uk/nappies/index.htm

http://www.changenappy.co.uk/nappies.htm...

Answer 3

disposables are made of paper and plastics, so to produce them you need crude oil (to produce plastics) and wood from trees (for paper).

The energy to produce a disposable diaper is much more than the energy to wash it, which is the equivalent of disposal in cloth diapers.

Disposable diapers are a burden on the environment since they deteriorate very slowly in dumps.

But I doubt if I would trade the comfort of disposables for the old cloth diapers.

Answer 4

Check out this article, it gives both sides of the debate. You can quote one study or another, there are some out there that support disposables and some that support cloth diapers.

http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_ba...

At this point the consensus is that you should choose your diaper according to the environment issues in your area. If you have water shortages then you should use disposables. If you have landfill issues then use cloth.

Personally I use cloth diapers. I use them mainly because they work better for my baby. She has no leaks and no diaper rash when I use cloth diapers. I also like not having to throw out bags of diapers each week. It is nice to have a constant stock of diapers and not have to worry about running out. More diapers are just a wash cycle away! I love using the cloth diapers and will use them for any more children we have. I won't use another disposable diaper.

Have you done any research into gDiapers? I have used them on outings and for travelling and they work quite well. They are a cloth/disposable diaper hybrid. They are a cotton outer-pant and a snap-in liner (both washable) and a "disposable" pad that fits into the liner. The pad can be composted, flushed down the toilet or tossed. They break down in 50-150 days as opposed to the 500 years projected for a regular disposable diaper to break down.

http://www.gdiapers.com

Answer 5

it is break even on both.

butt (pun intended) if they collected them, removed the plastic and then composted the filler used in disposables and used it on farm land as a soil additive we would be far ahead with disposables.

as the filler is a water absorber and they would need less water for the farm land.

plus the p**p and urine would make a great fertiliser

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/WPIE/Healthcare/...