Surprise: Cloth Diapers Carry a Big Footprint
I’m sorry everyone, but this is going to be a difficult read for proponents of the cloth diaper. Apparently, they’re not as easy on the environment as we’d all wish (or assume) them to be. A study by the British government to find out the real carbon footprint of diapers found that washable diapers actually have more environmental impact than the disposable varieties. Unless, of course, parents wash them at medium temperature and always hang them out to dry. Using hot wash water and a machine dryer nearly doubles the carbon footprint.
Needless to say, British officials who have been touting the cloth diaper as a great way to help the environment were not happy to see the study’s results. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has actually instructed their workers not to let the word out. Well, it looks like the word is getting out anyway.
What do you think about this news? Are there any busy parents out there committed to line drying all the time?
Image: gabi menashe
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6 Comments
October 23rd, 2008 at 8:28 am
what if you wash it in cold water and dry it in the dryer? is that just as bad as hot water and dryer?
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:20 am
This study obviously didn’t take into account so many things, as there are other environmental impact effects to take into consideration other than our carbon footprint…what about the 400-500 years it takes for disposables to biodegrade in landfills and ALL the methane they prodcue, which is FAR worse than CO2! It also doesn’t seem to be take into consideration all the water, chemicals, etc. that the production of disposables requires! If you buy organic sustainable dipes/wipes and line-dry as much as possible, use them baby to baby and then pass them onto someone else (all of which most parents we know do) and keep THOUSANDS of nasty plastic disposables out of landfills and thus releasing all that methane, it’s pretty obvious which is the “greener” choice. Not to mention that most green families like us that CD not only do so for less environmental impact but also for the health of our babies – plastic disposables up next to the baby’s developing body is quite gross and can have detrimental effects. Plus, most green families try to live frugally, and obviously CD is the way to go for that as well.
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Hi Jesskat, good question. Well, anything that can be done to reduce energy usage — such as cold water — will help. Cold water washing and line drying as much as possible would be the best way. Or of course a diaper service too, where they wash huge amounts of diapers at one time, for efficiency.
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
My friend is pregnant and debating this very issue. She works full time, as does her husband, and she wants to be green but doesn’t know if she can pull this off.
At any rate, I was happy to post this story of Sarah’s, if only to feature the cutest baby feet EVER! I mean just look at them! Too cute!
October 24th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Ok, so maybe they aren’t as earth friendly as we all hoped but I chose to use cloth because 1) they were reuseable. We bought all of ours used and plan on using them for our next children and then giving them away. So that reduces the daipers in landfill. 2) Childrens bodies are so sensitive. I wouldn’t let someone smoke next to her why would I put a daiper full of chemicals next to her skin. 3) Less daiper rash and potty train a whole year earlier due to increased awareness of when they are wet. 4) Easy to do since there are some great daiper services out there. I hope more people choose to go cloth! It is healthier for everything in the long run.
January 10th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
My daughter is now 16 months old and she’s been in cloth diapers her whole life. I’ve always washed them in cold water (our washing machine isn’t even plugged into a source of hot water), and we don’t own a dryer, so they get hung up to dry. For anyone contemplating this, please let me assure you that it’s not as hard as you might think. My husband and I both work full time, but have found dealing with the washables much easier than any of our friends seemed to think we would. I put a day’s worth of diapers in to wash just before dinner, hang them up (inside, as we don’t have a yard) just after dinner, and they’re dry by the morning. For what it’s worth, we use Happy Heiny diapers, and have been very happy with them. Delighted both environmentally, and for the huge amount of money we’ve saved!
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