Of course there is the obvious, cloth diapers are reusable and don't end up in our landfills. If we estimated that we change 8 diapers per day for 2 years of a child's life, that is 5,840 diapers for ONE child that will end up in our landfills. That is A LOT. And if we estimated how many children are in the US consuming diapers, we can safely assume that 27. 4 billion diapers are ending up in our landfills each year. This is huge...and embarrassing that I've taken a part in such.
Of course, people will argue the hassle of cleaning cloth diapers. It would be a bit more time consuming and a bit messier short term. But does this outweigh the long term affects of disposables to humans and the earth? No. Then one can argue the cost in water used in washing the diapers as well as the electricity used to wash them in the washing machine. But is this enough of an argument either? With it being so minimal, I don't think so.
Another factor of disposable diaper's long term affects to our earth is the human waste factor. When one uses a cloth diaper, the instructions state to discard the waste directly into the toilet so, along with other human waste, it goes into the sewage system which is then treated and etc etc. However, it's estimated that less than .5% of disposable diaper waste goes into the sewage system with the rest going into our landfills.
One more factor is cost. The cost of cloth diapering is about 1/10th the cost of disposable diapering. WOW!
There is also the concerns of how safe disposable diapers are to babies' sensitive skin and health. Disposable diapers often times contain harmful dyes, dioxin, and other bleaching agents that we would not want near our babies bums. And yet we do and wonder why they get diaper rash! Of course, with cloth diapers you need to attend to a dirty diaper immediately otherwise a diaper rash can occur too.
Is it convincing to you yet?
If you aren't already using cloth diapers for your diapered babies, here are some great brands that I found to get you started:
http://www.babysorganicnursery.com/home/dp1/smartlist_59/cloth_diaper_products.html
http://www.bumgenius.com/
http://fuzzibunz.com/
http://www.clothdiaper.com
http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com
http://www.heavenlyorganic.com
www.tinytush.com
(there are SO many!)
All I can tell you is I'm sold...and not sure why it has taken me this long. I think I will order some cloth diapers today! Can anyone recommend their favorite cloth diapers so I know which ones to purchase? Your recommendations mean the world to me:) Thank you.
Mommy Bridget
Bum Genius, one size fits all, with Tiny Tush liners. Hands down
ReplyDeleteI looked at the Tiny Tush web site and am not sure what liners you are talking about. I don't even know what to look for:)
ReplyDeleteThey are a disposable liner, kind of remind me a dryer sheet. They come in rolls of 100, I think. You put one between the cloth diaper and the baby's bum, so that when they poop, you just pick up the corners of the liner and flush it. You don't have to try to scrap the poop off of the diaper. Here's the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tinytush.com/Disposable-Diaper-Liners_p_572.html
Those liners ARE great but are not washable with Bum Genius as they stick to the Velcro and ball/wad up and are unusable twice! BUT...I love my Bum Genius and my Fuzzi Bunz. All I can say is: What took ya so long!? Just kidding and glad you're here! It is also interesting that in the 50's (all cloth diapered bubbas) potty trained around 18 months. Now the average is somewhere around three. I think (MY theory only) is that it's because disposables make a babe feel dry. Now, cloth has come a LONG way since then and can still FEEL dry. BUT I know people who use the good ol' prefolds that FEEL wet (and a cover) and their little ones are leaps and bounds ahead of the game when it comes to potty training. Found that interesting! XO
ReplyDeleteI used Tiny Tush liners with my Bum Genuis diapers and washed them together and yes, they stuck to the velcro a bit, but they still came out Ok enough to use a second time. (Note, we are talking about washing the liners that are WET only, not poopy. Poopy ones you flush or throw away.) I was able to use the liners twice each, if they only got wet the first time. After one washing, they are much softer, but after 2 washings, they are starting to fall apart. My 2 cents for ya. I love my Bum Genius one size diapers. I have used them on newborns up to almost 3 years old. My toddler boy potty trained 4 months after I bought cloth diapers, then I started using them on my new baby girl. We are still using them, and she is 21 months old now. Also worth mentioning, is that my toddler boy called them "Soft Diapers." Isn't that telling?
ReplyDeletemy favs are Kissaluvs
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kissaluvs.com
awesome fitted diapers + covers and AIO's.
I just did a series of guest posts on Go Green Street about why we chose cloth - you hit on a lot of our reasons!
ReplyDeleteWe prefer Fuzzi Bunz b/c we like snaps instead of velcro. I used to use Tiny Tush liners, but they've changed them and they are no longer washable/resusable.
Instead, we now use Kushies liners - you can wash and reuse them a couple of times.
I'd suggest finding a natural parenting store in your area and going in to see some of the different brands/styles before buying. And remember - diaperswappers.com is much more affordable than buying them new if budget is a concern.
Oh-- maybe the reason the Tiny Tush liners work for me and not for others is that I am using ones I bought 2 years ago when I began using cloth diapers. I ordered 1200 liners at once and still have a couple packages left. So probably have the "old" reusable ones, not the newer, non-reusable ones. Aha. Ya learn something new every day!
ReplyDeleteI would never like to take a compromise for my child.And I feel expensive option diapers is much more healthy and hygienic.It is good to use cloth also if you have the time to clean it well and many times a day.
ReplyDelete