Why Choose Cloth Diapers?
Info from RealDiaperAssociation
Environmental Concerns
FACT - Disposable diapers generate sixty times more solid waste,
and use twenty times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp.
and use twenty times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp.
FACT - Over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds
of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby EACH YEAR.
of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby EACH YEAR.
FACT - In 1991, an attempt towards recycling disposable diapers was made in the city of
Seattle, involving 800 families, 30 day care centers, a hospital and a Seattle-based recycler for
a period of one year. The conclusion made by Procter & Gamble was that recycling disposable
diapers was not an economically feasible task on any scale.
Seattle, involving 800 families, 30 day care centers, a hospital and a Seattle-based recycler for
a period of one year. The conclusion made by Procter & Gamble was that recycling disposable
diapers was not an economically feasible task on any scale.
Cost
National Costs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were about 19 million children under four in 2000. We could probably assume that there are about 9.5 million children under two and therefore in diapers at any one time. Based on previous studies, we estimate that 5-10% of babies wear cloth diapers at least part time. We will average these figures to 7.5% of babies in cloth diapers and 92.5% in disposables.
This means that about 8.8 million babies in the U.S. are using 27.4 billion disposable diapers every year13.
Based on these calculations, if we multiply the 8.8 million babies in disposable diapers by an average cost of $800 a year, we find that Americans spend about 7 billion dollars on disposable diapers every year. If every one of those families switched to home-laundered cloth prefold diapers, they would save more than $6 billion14, enough to feed about 2.5 million American children for an entire year15. Coincidentally, the 2002 U.S. Census reveals that 2.3 million children under 6 live in poverty16.
Health ConcernsDisposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin, an extremely toxic by-product of the paper-bleaching process. It is a carcinogenic chemical, listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals. It is banned in most countries, but not the U.S.
Disposable diapers contain sodium polyacrylate, a type of super absorbent polymer (SAP), which becomes a gel-like substance when wet. A similar substance had been used in super-absorbency tampons until the early 1980s when it was revealed that the material increased the risk of toxic shock syndrome by increasing absorbency and improving the environment for the growth of toxin-producing bacteria.
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