Health & the Environment

Your Health

 
Disposables
Diaper rash is a result of ammonia (a by-product of the breakdown of urine) burning your baby’s bum. Many children today have sensitive skin and leaving them in ‘feel dry’ (NOT really dry) disposables is just a recipe for disaster.

A child should be changed every 2-3 hours due to the build up of urine and fecal by-products that burn your baby’s bottom. Contrary to popular belief, just because a disposable has a ‘stay dry’ liner it does not mean the baby is clean.

Diaper Service
Cloth diapers are made of cotton and cotton breathes unlike a disposable. The breathability of cotton allows the evaporation of urine and keeps ammonia from building up and burning the baby’s bottom.

A service can provide usual and customary clean, fresh cloth diapers typically surpassing standards of cleanliness used by hospitals and nursing homes. The laundry facility sets water temperatures to at least 155 degrees to kill off any unhealthy viruses or bacteria that could make people sick. Also the commercial laundry service uses many rinsing cycles to completely rinse out all the detergents and bleaches used in the washing process.

Home Laundry
This is a good option used by many Moms (and Dads) these days as many diaper services have been ‘pushed out’ by large corporation disposable diaper companies. Although this is a better option than disposables, many home washers/ dryers do not get to the high temperatures that the commercial facilities can. Many children can still get rashes and have sensitivities due to residual detergents and bleaches left in the diaper after the laundry process is complete.

The Environment

Disposables
The list of reasons to use cloth over disposables is endless. Disposable diapers are the third largest item found in landfills after newspaper and food containers. (EPA, “Positive Steps towards Waste Reduction”, June 1989)

Disposable single-use diapers are manufactured using a bleaching process that creates dioxins-one of the planet’s most hazardous poisons. It is banned in most countries, but not the U.S. (EPA, “Integrated Risk Assessment for Dioxins and Furans from Chlorine Bleaching in Pulp and Paper Mills”).

These are also great websites for additional information about the subject of cloth vs. disposables:
http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php
http://www.mothering.com

A little more easy reading the report written by Carl Lehrburger, Jocelyn Mullen and C.V. Jones, “Diapers: Environmental Impacts and Lifecycle Analysis”, January 1991.

Not only are the disposable diapers filling our precious earth but take a look at the side of the disposable packaging, it tells you to place any solids into the toilet BEFORE disposing. Do any of us do that? Think about all the human solid waste going in to the landfill creating toxic runoff into our waterways, raw sewage in our groundwater…ewww! This is not only gross but really toxic and unsafe.

Diaper Service
Cloth diapers are a reusable product. Instead of throwing them away they can be used for subsequent children which results in less garbage. Cloth diapers don’t normally enter the landfill because as they start to deteriorate they are used as rags until they disintegrate.

Home Laundry
Although home laundry is not as efficient as commercial simply due to load size and efficiency of the washers/dryers in the process, this option does share many environmental and health benefits with the diaper service option.