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As a father and pediatrician, I’ve changed many diapers—enough to teach
me that diapers are a daily reminder that as humans we deplete resources as we
consume, and we make messes with our waste.
Those landfill diapers that are so easily tossed into the trash are
clearly a major ecological issue. But what about the energy, water, and often
chlorine involved in laundering cloth diapers? Comparing the environmental
impact of different types of diapers has been the subject of a number of
studies—with differing results often linked to the vested interests of those
behind the study.
The largest and most objective study to date was carried out by the Environment Agency, the public body responsible for protecting the environment
in England and Wales.19 The panel compared disposable diapers to
home-laundered cloth diapers and commercially laundered cotton diapers in terms
of global warming, ozone depletion, smog formation, depletion of nonrenewable
resources, water pollution, acidification, human toxicity, and land pollution.
The study did not include what I call hybrid diapers—the reusable diapers
equipped with flushable, biodegradable liners. This study found that overall environmental impact is about the same
for all three options they did consider; the biggest impact is on global
warming, resource depletion, and acidification. For disposable diapers, the
most significant impact comes during manufacture; for home-laundered diapers,
the primary impact comes from the electricity used in washing and drying; for
commercially laundered diapers, the biggest impact comes from use of fuels and
electricity.
Thus, according to the Environment Agency, if you choose cloth diapers,
the first focus should be on reducing the energy used during washing and drying
and reducing fuels and emissions during transportation (see Chapter Seven for
more information about laundry). If you choose disposable diapers, focus first
on greener manufacturing, such as used by the Eco-Diapers mentioned previously.
Although the Environment Agency report is more thorough than other
analyses to date, it is still quite incomplete. For instance, it looked only at
the major brands used—not the greener alternatives. It didn’t look at making
choices back at the very beginning of the manufacturing process: at the oil
rigs where the plastic liners of landfill diapers begin, at the forests where
the wood pulp starts as trees, and in the cotton fields long before cotton is a
cloth. There is a big difference between cotton grown drenched in toxic
chemicals and cotton organically grown, between sustainable forestry and
irresponsible logging, between dioxin-producing chlorine gas in pulp mills and
bleach-free diapers.
Whatever we choose for diapers, we have an unavoidable
impact on the environment. But whatever we choose, we can make those diapers a
little greener.
Dr. Alan Greene, author of Raising
Baby Greene, is a graduate of Princeton
University and the University of California
San Francisco. In addition to being the founder
of www.DrGreene.com,
he is the Chief Medical Officer of A.D.A.M., and the Pediatric Expert for
WebMD. He is the Chair Elect of The Organic Center and on the Advisory Board of
Healthy Child Healthy World. Dr. Greene
appears frequently on TV, radio, websites, and in print including appearances
on The Today Show, Fox and Friends, The Wall Street Journal, Parents Magazine,
and US Weekly. Dr. Greene is a practicing pediatrician at Stanford University's
Packard Children's Hospital.
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