Are Cloth Diapers Really Better for the Environment?

The first question you may have as you read this article is "do people even still use cloth diapers"? The answer is a large YES! Cloth diapers are not the diapers of yesterday, with diaper pins, folding cloth, and rubber covers. You may have even heard that cloth diapers are really making a comeback, both for monetary reasons (yes its much cheaper to buy diapers you reuse rather than buying them every week) and for environmental reasons. It seems obvious on the surface that a diaper that you can reuse and wash will be more environmentally safe than a diaper that is manufactured, uses chemicals and is thrown in a landfill to sit for 30+ years. But in the last few years, even cloth diapering has come under fire for its environmental claims. I'll spell out exactly how both diapers impact the environment and let you make your own decision

What is in a Disposable?
You may not be aware of what chemicals are present in a disposable diaper, but you'd have to imagine that the "gel" material that wisps away liquid is an amazing substance. Exactly what chemicals are found in disposable diapers? Tolune, xylene, ethylbenzene, styrene, and isopropylbenzene, and a host of others. Specifically the chemical no longer allowed to be used in tampons, Sodium Polycrylate, the chemical linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome, is the gel found in diapers that is so absorbent (hence why they were used in tampons in the past). The chemical is now banned for use in all products except diapers.
Tribulytin, or TBT, was heralded as one of the most harmful chemicals on earth, and dioxin, a carcinogenic substance that causes liver disease, immune system supression and genetic damage and is banned in almost all countries except the USA, is found in disposable diapers. Clearly the use of these chemicals on children, and then being dumped in landfills, has an incredible effect on the environment

Alarmingly, the chemicals have been associated with increased respiratory and asthmatic problems in infants and children, and are linked to a long host pof problems in children and adults (Anderson and Anderson, 1999)

What goes into the production of a Disposable and just why is it so environmentally harmful?
In addition to the harmful and dangerous chemicals, enormous tons of wood pulp are used each year in production of a disposable diaper (in making the outer and inner paper layers). 25,000 trees are used each year, as well as 3.4 billion gallons of oil used to make the plastic liners in the diapers. The use of environmental resources, as well as the production of that crude oil into a refined product to make plastic (Krushel, 1993).

What happens once they hit the landfill?
A typical child will use 6500 disposable diapers before they are potty trained. Of each diaper, 30% is non-biodegradable and never decomposes). What many people dont know is that parents or diaper changers are supposed to actually dump fecal matter into the toilet or dispose of the matter instead of leaving it in the disposable diaper. The fecal matter contains illnesses and viruses that pose a threat to the surroundings, including running into the water supply and entering the air supply. Each year over 5 million tons of untreated body excrement enters our landfills, whereas flushing the matter sends it to a treatment plant and away from our air and water supply

Sounds like Disposable have a much higher environmental impact that Cloth.. right? Well lets look at exactly why there is a debate over which one of these is more environmentally safe

What impact do cloth diapers have?
You may be wondering if there really is any debate here. I mean can cloth diapers really cause as much of an envionmental impact as all those chemicals, oils, use of trees and human waste?
When a family decides to use cloth diapers, they need to buy, on average, 3-6 dozen cloth diapers, ranging in sizes from newborn to age 2 or more. These diapers can also be used on multiple children, if the family decides to cloth diaper the next baby or maybe even a few more babies. To make all of these 3-6 dozen, it takes approximatly 30 pounds of cotton. Standard practices of growing cotton can use a number of pesticides and chemicals in the cotton fields, although parents can find "organic" or "green" cloth diapers, meaning no chemicals were used in the growing of the cotton. Bleaching the cotton for the diapers can also have a similar effect on the environment, but there are just as many non-bleached and eco friendly cloth diapers as there are bleached.
If you consider the growing of the cotton and manufacture of the diaper as an impact, even when using eco friendly or non bleached, you are only comparing 3-6 dozen diapers, that can be used for multiple children, as compared to roughly 7000 disposable diapers PER child.

Often parents sometimes choose a cloth diaper that needs a cover or a wrap (some cloth diapers dont need these and are considered an All-In-One). These can be made from Nylon, Vinly, Polyester, Fleece and Polyurethane. Most of these synthetics are made with a process that produces some type of chemical "leftovers" which can be harmful to the baby, similar to the chemicals in disposable diapers. Fleece is one of the most widely used options, both for is softness and ability to keep baby dry, and its eco friendly status. Fleece can be made from recycled plastic which of course is helping to use items that have been recycled and contributing to the lessening of environmental impact.

Now instead of throwing those diapers into a landfill like for disposable, one must weigh the environmental impact of washing and using energy in cleaning cloth diapers. A family can range from using 10,000 to 20,000 gallons of water for one child until potty training, based on how many times they prewash and rinse their diapers. Sounds like alot huh?
If you calculated your monthly or even yearly cost of gallons of water used, on a monthly basis you wouldnt even use more than 10% of your water usage towards diapers. It averages to roughly 500-700 gallons per month. Just in washing dishes per month alone, a family uses more gallons of water than in washing cloth diapers.

References
Anderson, Rosalind, and Julius Anderson. "Acute Respiratory Effects of Diaper Emissions," Archives of Environmental Health, 54, October 1999.

Krushel,S.E. "Management Land Requirements, Reusable Cotton vs. Paper Pulp for Absorbent Core of Addendum: Canadian Requirements.