The Diaper Debate – Cloth vs. Disposable

Since the dawn of disposable diapers there has been an ecological debate about which are better cloth or disposable diapers. Even today when disposable diapers are considered common practice the diaper debate still rages on.

When disposable diapers first hit the baby scene they were seen as a convenience for the occasional use such as a day away from home or during travel. But since then they have become a way of diapering babies. And just incase the novelty should start to wear off disposable diaper makers like Pampers and Huggies are continuously adding new attractive diaper lines.

Today we can not only diaper our newborn infant, we have a wide selection of training diapers available too. In fact diaper companies are encouraging parents not to potty train too early because it could be detrimental to the toddler’s psychology but one really has to question whether the detriment might actually be to the profit margins of the diaper manufacturers.

For several generations now the majority of babies have been completely diapered in disposable diapers, although a small percentage of parents still prefer to use cloth diapers. As disposable diapers became mainstream fewer and fewer people questioned the environmental issues relating to their use.

However, today with environmental issues front and center the debate over disposable vs. cloth diapers has once again surfaced. Today we recycle more items than in any other time in history. We teach our children to recycle and we make conscious decisions when we make purchases to buy to do our part for the environment.

So why as we buy less and less throw away products are more and more diapers reaching the landfills? There are tons of disposable diapers at our landfills and since it takes 500 years for a diaper to breakdown the tonnage will only continue to grow.

Besides the detrimental effects relating to the length of time the actual diaper takes to break down there are also concerns about virus and bacterial issues because of the disposal of untreated human waste.

Human waste contains more than a 100 bacteria and viruses such as polio and hepatitis to name just a couple, and although polio is very uncommon in North America there are concerns that it could once again spread because of the untreated human waste. In fact every child that is vaccinated for polio sheds the polio virus in their waste. What will happen when these viruses seep into our underground water supply?

The pro cloth crowd points to the number of trees and plastics that are used to create the disposable diapers while the pro disposable crowd claims the pollution comes from the harvesting and transportation of cotton used to make cloth diapers. But the pro cloth counters that the making of disposable diapers also creates pollution from plants and transportation.

The pro disposable diaper crowd claims water is wasted with the washing of diapers but the pro cloth crowd claims it takes no more water to wash a load of diapers than it does to flush the toilet. And it goes on and on but you do get the picture and you must admit both sides may have valid points.

The cost of disposable diapers can run quite high and can be an added burden to many parents with the costs for 3 years worth of diapers averaging around $2500. There’s no question that cloth would cost considerably less even with laundering but then there is the added convenience factor which disposable allows for.

Recently the FDA has had reports of dyes in some disposable diapers causing nervous system damage as well as kidney and liver damage. There have also been reports that fragrances are causing headaches and dizziness. While the Consumer Protection Agency has dealt with cases relating to chemical burns, plastic melting on the skin, insecticide odors, and dyes staining the skin.

So which is best? For baby and for the environment? That’s still not a question that can be answered easily. With so many choices in both disposable diapers and cloth diapers it can be hard to decide. And the environmental debate is certain to continue for years to come and who’s right? That depends on who you listen to.

Since the diaper debate – cloth vs. disposable – is most likely to carry on for many more years, the right decision is the one you feel most comfortable with. Heck your children will be adults and the debate will continue and they too will need to make a choice.


Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.