Are cloth diapers actually better for the environment?
Typically, I see a 50/50 split between people who are cloth diapering to save money, and those who are cloth diapering to save the planet.
But that brings up the question ” Are cloth diapers really the better choice?”
Cloth diapers greatly reduce the amount of waste that comes with having a baby and they have significantly fewer chemicals, therefore they are better for both us humans and the planet we live on.
If you want to learn more about cloth diapers and their environmental impact, check out my article ” Are cloth diapers zero waste?”
Why are cloth diapers better for the environment?
I feel that there are 3 main reasons that cloth diapers are better for the environment.
- They produce far less waste.
- They contain way fewer chemicals (if any).
- They reduce the demand for fossil fuels.
Not to mention the fact that the making and use of disposable diapers uses 2.3 times the amount of water that cloth diapers do.
Do cloth diapers really produce less waste?
From birth to potty-training a baby will go through about 8,760 diapers, if you are using disposable diapers all 8,760 of those diapers are going straight to the landfill.
Which comes to around 2,000 pounds of disposable diaper waste.
Now with cloth diapers you are using the same 24-36 cloth diapers for the whole 3-ish years until your baby fully potty-trains.
The average cloth diaper weighs about 6-7ozs, so 7ozs x 36 cloth diapers = 252ozs or 15.75lbs (15lbs 12ozs).
Which means that cloth diapers produce 1,984.25lbs (1,984lbs 4ozs) less waste than disposable diapers.
While there are some disposable diapers that claim to be compostable, that only matters if they are actually composted, and landfills do not compost.
Composting requires light and air so that the composted materials can actually breakdown into compost as opposed to just becoming a rotting nasty sludge.
Over 800,000 tons (1 ton = 2,000lbs) of garbage goes into landfills every day in the US.
So, the “compostable” disposable diaper you throw away today is going to be completely buried by tomorrow, never to see the light of day again.
Therefore, it’s not going to compost, because the conditions needed to compost just aren’t there.
Cloth diapers contain little to no chemicals
The most “chemically” cloth diapering material is microfiber, simply because it is made-up of micro plastics.
So, it would take more chemicals to make, sheds micro plastics every time it’s washed and would also continue to shed after it’s thrown away.
Most cloth diaper brands however are starting to go the more natural fiber route.
Cloth-eez for example, doesn’t make any microfiber product at all.
The Cloth-eez brand is owed by Green Mountain Diapers an online cloth diaper store in Vermont, in there store they do carry some cloth diapers from other brands that do contain microfiber, but it is typically very minimal.
Thirsties, my #1 favorite cloth diaper brand, does have some microfiber all-in-ones and their stay-dry pocket diapers do have 1 small microfiber insert, but the vast majority of their products are natural fiber.
Now disposable diapers contain quite a few chemicals that are just not good for you or the planet.
- Phthalates
- Toluene
- Xylene
- Acrylamide
- Acrylic acid
- Dioxins
- Alkylphenol ethoxylates
- Alkylphenol derivatives
- Colophony
- Formaldehyde-resin
- Quaternary ammonium compounds
- Halogenated organic compounds
Many of these chemicals can damage reproductive health, some are known carcinogens, some are hazardous to aquatic life, others can cause asthma.
Also, because disposable baby diapers are not considered medical devices (adult diapers are considered a medical device), clothing or a food, disposable diaper manufacturers don’t have to tell you what’s in them.
Therefore, there is pretty much no way to know for sure what exactly is in your favorite brand of disposable diapers.
While cloth diapers are not chemical free, the chemicals in cloth diapers would only be the chemicals in the soaps/ detergents needed to wash the fibers before they are spun into thread and then woven into fabric.
Bamboo on the other hand, does require more chemicals than other “natural” fibers since it, ya know, starts out its journey looking like a tree (bamboo is actually a grass though).
There are however 2 different methods of turning bamboo into a fabric, one process reuses the chemicals several times before dumping them, and the other only uses the chemicals once.
The chemicals that are used to make bamboo fabrics like ” Rayon from bamboo” are known to be toxic to humans and the environment.
But there is a type of bamboo fabric called “Lyocell” that catches the chemicals in a closed-loop system, so they end up reusing 99% of the chemicals.
Now, if you really want to cut down on your chemicals, hemp and organic cotton are definitely the way to go.
Especially hemp, hemp is like magical.
If you want to learn more about the different cloth diapering materials check out my article ” Cloth diaper inserts: What are they & which are best?”
Cloth diapers require significantly fewer fossil fuels
When you buy your cloth diaper stash, you only have to buy them once, that means that only 24-36 cloth diapers needed to be produced and shipped once for your baby to be all set till potty-training.
Whereas with disposable diapers 8,760 disposable diapers need to be produced and shipped.
Also, these aren’t all being shipped at one time, there are semi-trucks running back and forth across the country 24/7 and 365 days a year.
Now, if cloth diapers were mainstream than they would also have plenty of their own semi-trucks, because those diapers have to get to the stores somehow.
But because disposable diapers are single use items, you are having to ship diapers for the same baby over and over again for years.
There is also the fact that there is about 1 cup of crude oil in each disposable diaper.
But even if you just solely focused on the lower shipping requirements for cloth diapers, it’s pretty easy to see that cloth diapers are the more environmentally friendly choice.
What is the most eco-friendly cloth diaper?
In my opinion the most eco-friendly cloth diaper would be a hemp/organic cotton flat with a wool cover.
Hemp is an amazing plant and fiber, hemp can grow in places that a lot of other plants can’t and takes very little water and is pest resistant, so it needs very little to no pesticides and herbicides.
Hemp fabric is very durable, and it is the most absorbent fabric for cloth diapering.
Wool cloth diaper covers are pretty much chemical free, especially since harsh chemicals will damage the wool.
Wool is also a natural fiber so it will completely breakdown on it’s own without leaching any toxins since (like most natural fiber cloth diapers) it just doesn’t have any.
Now the reason I went with flats specifically is because since flats are just 1 layer of fabric, they are easier to wash and dry.
This means that they take less detergent, the washing machine doesn’t have to work as hard to move the detergent through the flats, it takes less water to rinse that detergent out, and then it takes less time in the dryer to get them fully dry.
Another plus with using flats is that they will dry super-fast outside on the clothesline.
Are disposable diapers really that bad for the planet?
The biggest problem that I see with disposable diapers is that they just don’t really breakdown.
The first ever disposable diapers from the 1950s-1960s are out there chillin’ in a landfill somewhere.
Vanuatu, an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean is in the process of banning disposable diapers in an attempt to reduce the plastic pollution in their area and because they are literally running out of landfill space.
Disposable wet wipes are causing major problems in the Thames River in England for both people and aquatic life.
Disposable diapers have also been found floating around in oceans and rivers all around the world.
While most people seem to believe that a disposable diaper will breakdown after 500 years, the truth is that no one really knows.
Disposable diapers haven’t been around for 500 years, many of the things that disposable diapers are made of haven’t been around for 500 years.
So, I guess to be fair this means it could take only 200 years for disposable diapers to breakdown, but it could also mean that it could take 5,000 years, there really just isn’t a way to know for sure.
All over the world people are acknowledging the problem that chemicals and plastics are causing to the planet, they have even banned plastic drinking straws and plastic shopping bags in some places.
But when it is brought up that disposable diapers could be/are contributing to this problem people skip right over cloth diapers and say the only way to fix the problem would be to have less babies.
Which to be fair, that is technically true, however it’s not the only option.
I truly feel that at least some of the groups that are trying their best to make the planet a little better, could make a ton of progress by just passing out cloth diaper information.
Because some people just don’t even know that cloth diapering is an option anymore.
Resources
Article on that mentions the water usage difference between cloth and disposable diapers on sciencedirect.com
Article by EWG on the chemicals in disposable diapers ewg.com
Article by Good on you on bamboo fabrics goodonyou.com
Article on Vanuatu’s disposable diaper ban treehugger.com
Article on wet wipes in Thames River at thames21.uk.org
Link to Green Mountain Diaper and Cloth-eez at greenmountaindiapers.com
Link to Thirsties cloth diapers at greenmountaindiapers.com
Link to wool cloth diaper covers on greenmountaindiapers.com
