Are cloth diapers zero waste?
Cloth diapering is an awesome way to be more eco friendly, but like everything else in life, it isn’t perfect (except babies, babies are all perfect).
From my understanding of the zero waste philosophy, no, cloth diapers are not zero waste, but they are very low waste.
There are so many awesome things about cloth diapers, and even though they are not technically zero waste they are very environmentally friendly.
If you want to learn more about cloth diapering check out my article ” Should you choose cloth diapers? cost & environmental impact”
Do cloth diapers create less waste than disposables?
The average baby will go through 8,000 disposable diapers in 3 years, that’s over 2,000 pounds of not just poop and pee, but also harmful chemicals and plastics.
Cloth diapers on the other hand weigh about 6 ounces each, so
6 ounces per cloth diaper x 24 cloth diapers = 144 ounces.
Then take the 144 ounces and divide that by 16 ounces in a pound and you get a grand total of 9 pounds of cloth diapers.
So, 24 cloth diapers = 9 pounds of cloth diaper waste when you are done with them.
That’s 1,991 pounds less waste than disposable diapers.
With cloth diapers, the amount of waste saved will only go up with each baby, as opposed to disposables where the amount of waste can only multiply with each baby.
Which cloth diapers create the least waste?
This is a tricky one since there are a lot of factors that come into play here.
Wool cloth diaper covers
Wool cloth diaper covers would probably be the best option for zero/ low waste cloth diapering.
Wool cloth diaper covers will breakdown on their own and don’t have a lot (if any) chemicals in them, so you don’t have to worry about weird stuff leaching into the environment.
They also have no plastic or elastics, I have seen some that do have plastic snaps, but I have seen others with metal snaps and the vast majority of wool covers I see have no snaps at all.
Most wool covers that I see look like shorts, so you would just pull them up and down baby’s legs.
PUL/ TPU cloth diaper covers
Polyurethane laminate (PUL) and thermoplastic polyurethane laminate (TPU) are what the vast majority of cloth diaper covers are made of.
The main difference between the two is that PUL is created using chemicals, and TPU is created using heat.
Both fabrics usually start as just normal polyester fabric, and then through either a chemical process (to make PUL) or a heat process (to make TPU) they are laminated.
Being laminated means that one side of the fabric has a plastic coating, which is what makes PUL/TPU water resistant.
But that could present a problem for zero/ low waste families since even though it is very little plastic, it is still plastic.
Plus, polyester is a fabric made from plastic and a little bit of cotton, so technically, while it is a very small amount of plastic and is extremely breathable compared to disposables, it is once again still plastic.
Synthetic cloth diaper inserts
Many cloth diaper brands include microfiber inserts with their cloth diapers, microfiber is basically polyester.
Therefore, microfiber is basically plastic.
Microfiber also tends to loose absorbency overtime because every time they are washed they shed more and more of the microplastics they are made up of.
Microplastics are probably the biggest pollutant in our oceans and waterways.
So, if you are trying to be more environmentally conscience (while using microfiber is still better than disposables) it’s best to try and avoid it.
Natural fiber cloth diaper inserts
Natural fibers are great for more reasons than just being more environmentally friendly, they are also so much easier to clean and tend to be more absorbent.
Now not all natural fibers are created equal as far as their eco friendliness.
Cotton can use a ton of pesticides, unless it is organic cotton, but even then cotton is known to require a lot of water to grow.
Bamboo is an odd one, in my opinion I wouldn’t exactly call this a natural fiber.
I mean lets face it, bamboo starts it’s life as a freaking tree! (Technically a grass though) and it is turned in to either viscose or rayon depending on the technique used.
And both techniques require a lot of chemicals.
But bamboo is very soft, pliable and absorbent, and once again probably still a better option than disposables.
Now my personal favorite natural fiber is hemp, hemp is awesome, it is resistant to most pests, so it doesn’t need pesticides.
It grows where a lot of other things don’t like to grow so it doesn’t need herbicides, and it doesn’t need much water.
And while it can be a little rougher than bamboo, hemp is super absorbent and just once again awesome.
If you want to learn more about cloth diaper inserts check out my article ” Cloth diaper inserts: What are they & which are best?”
Are zero/ low waste detergents safe for cloth diapers?
While I personally have never used a zero/ low waste detergent, from the information on the manufacturer’s website and on their packaging, I think that most would be okay.
But here’s the thing, detergents are man-made while soaps are derived from natural sources.
Soaps are NOT cloth diaper safe, and are a bit more particular when it comes to how they are used.
Soap needs HOT, soft water to work properly and even working properly isn’t really good enough when it comes to soap and cloth diapers.
When you are washing cloth diapers, unless you are only using flats (basically a receiving blanket) and covers, soap isn’t going to work very well.
Soap is more of a surface cleaner, so if you want something that can penetrate several layers of fabric and pull the pee and stuff back out, you need a detergent.
But once again detergent is a 100% man-made product, so the odds of that truly being zero waste is pretty slim.
Unless you consider zero waste to only start applying after you get it, so once it gets to your door you use it up and then compost the package in the yard and boom! zero waste.
Now that right there opens up some possibilities.
I have totally seen pretty decent looking detergents that come in a relatively eco-friendly package that I’m sure would be compostable.
If you want to learn more about laundry detergent and cloth diapers check out my article ” Best detergent for cloth diapers”
Resources
Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) from qualifying purchases made through those links.
* Indicates an affiliate link
Link to an awesome article on the dangers of disposables on smallfootprintfamily.com
Link to wool cloth diaper covers on greenmountaindiapers.com
Link to my favorite TPU cloth diaper covers on clothdiaper.com *
Link to Cloth-eez organic cotton prefolds on greenmountaindiapers.com
