|
 Every nappy, 75% of which is faeces and urine and 25% plastic, paper and chemicals, takes 500 years to degrade in a landfill. As the rubbish rots; it produces methane gas, a powerful greenhouse gas much more potent than CO2 and a toxic liquid called leachate, among other chemicals, which can leach out of landfills and poison local rivers.
Disposables consume 90 times more renewable raw materials, create 60 times more solid waste and require up to 30 times more land.
A parent's view + reference source of why they chose Cloth over disposable nappies ....
Because it is no longer about hard to fold tough terry towelling nappies. Cloth nappies have come into the 21st Century.
Cloth Nappies: Why?
There are many reasons why I decided to put my son Louis in cloth nappies and to tell you the truth the environment was at the bottom of the list. Health, comfort and reliability were my first concerns.
● Health
There is evidence that cotton nappies are better for your baby than disposables and there are a number of reasons for this. Disposable diapers are so wonderfully absorbent because they contain tiny beads of a gel substance called sodium polyacrylate. Sodium polyacrylate can absorb 100 times its weight in water. Tampon manufacturers also loved sodium polyacrylate, until 1985 when it was removed from tampons because women who left their tampons in too long contracted “toxic shock syndrome” – suffering from fevers, rashes, and even death. No studies have been conducted on the long term effects of sodium polyacrylate on the health of small children, yet it stands to reason that the 2 1/2 years of exposure to this substance – often for long periods of time in the same diaper – may cause some serious troubles for our little ones. Another chemical trybutil tin has been shown to cause shellfish to change sex.
More alarmingly disposables cause the testicles to become overheated in disposables. For testicles to develop normally they need to be cooler than the average body temperature that is why they hang between the legs. A team from the pediatric department of the University of Kiel in Germany measured the temperature of the scrotum of 48 healthy boys aged between zero and 55 months. They found that when the children wore plastic nappies, the temperature was consistently higher than when they wore cloth nappies. ‘The physiological testicular cooling mechanism is blunted and often completely abolished during plastic nappy use,’ they conclude. Although more research is needed the initial results are alarming.
In October, 1999 the Archives of Environmental Health reported a study in which laboratory mice were exposed to various brands of disposable and cotton diapers. Diapers were opened right from their packages and exposed to mice. The mice exposed to disposables suffered bronchoconstriction similar to that of an asthma attack. These mice also experienced eye, nose, and throat irritation. In both small containment spaces and a large room, the emissions from one disposable were enough to elicit an asthma-like response in the mice.
One of the best ways of knowing if your baby is getting enough breast milk is to count the number of wet nappies. This is very reassuring when you first start breastfeeding. This is difficult to do with disposable nappies because they are so absorbent. Furthermore cloth nappies are unscented and are less likely to cause irritation in babies with sensitive skin.
Cloth is better for rashes because cotton is naturally breathable. Furthermore, with cloth diapers it is easier to tell when they are wet, so you are apt to change your baby more frequently and keep rashes at bay.
● Comfort
Of course this is difficult to judge because unfortunately our babies can’t tell us. But it just felt right to put Louis in cotton instead of disposables because I knew that I would rather wear cloth underwear . Cloth is reassuring and comforting much as comfort foods are. Cloth diapers are natural, soft and lovely against the skin and cute to boot.
Cloth diapered babies tend to potty train earlier too. Cloth diapered children average 24-30 months in diapers, while children in disposables average 36-42 months. Children in cloth know they are wet and therefore are generally more motivated to be potty trained. Disposable diapers keep babies and toddlers feeling so “dry” that they often don’t mind being in diapers.
● Reliability
There is a common belief that cloth diapers leak while disposables don’t, but I have found the opposite to be true especially at night. Certainly, if left too long on a child, cloth diapers will wet through, but rarely do they leak. I have often found Louis lying on wet sheets because his pee has shot strait out of the disposable nappy. I found disposables downright ineffective at containing the blow out newborn poo that seemed to explode out of disposables and run up Louis’ back. A good cloth nappy will prevent leaks and stop poo from running up your baby’s back. And cloth nappies are harder to pull off than disposables once your toddler has figured out to pull his nappy.
● Finance
Most mothers who use cloth nappies dump their baby’s poo in the toilet and dry pail their nappies until wash nappies 2 to 3 times a week.
Washing cloth nappies does not faze you but the extra costs of washing does? Would you be surprised to find out that disposables cost a lot more then cloth nappies even when washing is taken into account? The following calculations were done using the Australian Consumers’ Association Choice (www.choice.com.au) nappy calculator.
Buying a pack of 40, Dry Bubs Premium and using 10 disposable nappies a day costs:
20.91$ per week
544.00$ for 6 months.
However, washing with a top lauder and warm water, with Omo High Performance Concentrate costs :
8.81$ per week/ Line drying 9.46$ per week/ Using a drier
230.00$for 6 months/Line drying 246.00$ for 6 months/Using a drier
Using No Frills Concentrate Laundry Powder in a top lauder costs:
5.73$ per week/ Line drying 6.38$ per week/ Using a drier
149.00$ for 6 months/Line drying 166.00$ for 6 months/Using a drier
● Environment
Last but not least, using cloth nappies is not only better for your baby, your wallet but also the environment
Every baby creates 845 kg of nappy waste before being toilet trained said Environment Minister John Twaites (Melissa Fyfe; Environment reporter; September ¼) About 91 % of Australian parents choose disposable over cloth nappies, resulting in 800 million nappies taking up 145, 000 cubic meters of landfills each year. (Melissa Fyfe; Environment reporter; September 01/04).
Are you thinking there is not much of a choice between landfills and using water? Especially now, when we are in a drought…
In reality...
Disposables use 3.5 times more energy, 2.3 times more water and 8.3 times as many irreplaceable raw materials as reusable nappies.
Every nappy, 75% of which is faeces and urine and 25% plastic, paper and chemicals, takes 500 years to degrade in a landfill. As the rubbish rots; it produces methane gas, a powerful greenhouse gas much more potent than CO2 and a toxic liquid called leachate, among other chemicals, which can leach out of landfills and poison local rivers.
Disposables consume 90 times more renewable raw materials, create 60 times more solid waste and require up to 30 times more land.
References:
Rob Edwards. The Ecologist; Rethinking Basic Assumptions (22/03/01).
www.theecologist.org
The Australian Consumers’ Association
www.choice.com.au
Melissa Fyfe. Hot Topics. (09/01/04).
www.melmidwifery.com.au
Lehrburger, Mullen, Jones. Diapers: Environmental Impacts and Lifecycle Analysis. January 1991.
Brideau, Lungard, Seaton. Alternatives in Diapering. 1995.
S.E. Krushel, "Management Land Requirements, Reusable Cotton vs. Paper Pulp for Absorbent Core of Diapers," Report to the Product Environmental Assessment Consultation of the Niagara Institute, January 1993. Addendum: Canadian Requirements.
Proctor & Gamble, Inc. maintains that the trees for PAMPERS come from tree farms in the U.S., not from clear-cutting natural boreal forests. However, if these existing tree farms were not n eeded for diapers, they could be used to meet other needs, and some natural lands, slated for slated for clear-cutting, could possibly be spared. (The trees used for diapers are also suitable for making paper and lumber products) (source: see footnote 2)
Carl Lehrburger with Rachel Snyder, "The Disposable Diaper Myth," Whole Earth Review. Fall 1988:61.
"The Joy of Cloth Diapers" by Jane McConnell, Mothering, May-June 1998.
Farrisi, T.R. "Diaper Changes: The Complete Diapering and Resource Guide", Richland, Homekeepers Publishing, 1997.
Lehrburger, Mullen, Jones study, commissioned by the National Association of Diaper Services.
"Energy and Environmental Profile Analysis of Children's Disposable and Cloth Diapers," Franklin Associates Ltd. (1990)
"Both Sides Now" - Doug Smitheman & K. Amies, Alberta Parent, March/April 1991.
"Canadian Consumer", April 1986, pg. 25
These improvements took place before the lifecycle inventory studies were conducted, and were taken into account.
] U.S. EPA, "The Solid Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for Action," Municipal Solid Waste Task Force, 1989 EPA/530-SW-89-019.
Rahje, William L., "Rubbish!" , The Atlantic Monthly, December 1989.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). "Integrated Risk Assessment for Dioxins and Furans from Chlorine Bleaching in Pulp and Paper Mills.
"Disposable Diapers Linked to Asthma," Mothering Magazine. Issue 98, January/February 2000
Anderson, Rosalind, and Julius Anderson. “Acute Respiratory Effects of Diaper Emissions,” Archives of Environmental Health, 54, October 1999
http://littlekoala.com.au/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=Nappies
www.littlekoala.com.au |
Natural Parenting 
