W3 Spin|Internet news blog

One of the reasons parents are switching from disposable diapers to cloth diapers is because of the environment.  Disposable diapers are not biodegradable and stay in the landfills for hundreds of years whereas cloth diapers can be used for generations because they are typically made with 100% cotton or a cotton-poly blend which stands the test of time.

There is still much debate over the cloth diaper versus disposable diaper issue.  Disposable diaper advocates say that the extra water used to wash out the cloth diapers and a diaper covers is just as much an abuse of the environment as the production and disposal of the disposable diapers.

Roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces plastic and paper are added to the landfills yearly.

It takes over 200,000 trees and approximately 80,000 pounds of plastic a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for America’s babies.  Some disposable diapers are said to be biodegradable but in order for these disposable diapers to decompose they must be exposed to oxygen and the sun.  Since this is highly unlikely when they are mixed in with everything else in a landfill, it can take several hundreds of years for the decomposition of a disposable diaper to take place.  Plus, untreated waste that ends up in landfills from dirty diapers pose a possible danger to contaminate groundwater.  Rinsing out a soiled cloth diaper in the toilet and then washing it in the washing machine with soap and water has everything going into the sewer system where the water is properly treated at wastewater treatment plants.

People buy cloth diapers in order to save money and the environment, in addition to warding off diaper rash and other chemical reactions that sometimes could be caused by disposable diapers.  Of course people want the convenience of disposable diapers; however they do not think it through and if they want to save the planet for their baby, they will be more environmentally conscious and purchase cloth diapers, even the newer ones with Velcro fasteners and stylish prints many would say are better than the traditional plain white cloth disposable diapers.