She's cute, but what about all those diapers? (Photo by Mark Brush)
There’s a reason more than 90% of American parents choose disposable
diapers over cloth. Nothing beats the convenience of disposable
diapers. But what about their effect on the environment? Reporter
Mark Brush has two little ones at home and decided to take a closer
look at the question:
Transcript
There’s a reason more than 90% of American parents choose disposable
diapers over cloth. Nothing beats the convenience of disposable
diapers. But what about their effect on the environment? Reporter
Mark Brush has two little ones at home and decided to take a closer
look at the question:
My wife and I didn’t hesitate in our decision about diapers. We went
with disposables from the start.
(Sound of baby crying)
Raising kids can be hard work. The convenience of disposable diapers
was just too much to pass up. But what does that decision mean for the
environment? I mean, if I do the math, we’ve got a three-year-old who’s
out of diapers. And a one-year-old who’s going through three or four a day now. Over
the years, we’ve dumped about 5,480 diapers into a nearby landfill.
Five thousand four hundred eighty. Going with disposables can’t be
good, can it?
Well, as it turns out, the answer is pretty darned complicated. There
have been several studies done on diapers and the problems they create.
Most recently, a study was done on diapers by the Environment Agency in
Great Britain.
It compared disposable diapers with cloth diapers washed at home, and
cloth diapers from a diaper service. In the end, they said, there were no clear
winners. So disposables aren’t so bad, right?
Well, not so fast, says Greg Keoleian. He’s the co-director of the
Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan. Keoleian
says it all depends on where you live:
“In evaluating life cycle results you should look at local conditions.
For example if you’re in an area where water is scarce, like let’s say
Arizona, then you want to weigh that factor more heavily in your
decision.”
Keoleian says since I live in an area where landfill space is short,
and where water is plentiful… I might want to consider cloth diapers,
so, I bring the idea home to my family:
(Mark:) “What do you think, Andrea? Do you think we should try cloth
diapers?”
(Andrea:) “No.”
(Mark:) “Why?”
(Andrea:) “‘Cause you might have to send me to the Looney bin.”
(Eli:) “Well, Mom, then you don’t have to through them away.”
(Andrea:) “That’s true, you’ve got a good point.”
(Eli:) “You only have to wash them.”
(Andrea:) “Yep, that’s true. And you know what, my Mom and Dad always
washed all of our diapers. She was a better woman than I am…
(laughing)”
(Sound of baby crying)
But today, the choices are different than they were for our parents. It’s not just about cloth vs. disposable anymore. There are tons of different choices. For instance, I went down the street to our friend
Melissa’s house.
She and her husband have a two-year-old. They’ve tried out a bunch of
different diapers including one you can flush down the toilet. The
point of the G-diaper, Melissa says, is to treat the waste – rather than simply throwing
it in your garbage can:
“So then when you go to change him… you take it out… and then you put it
in the toilet and they give you a swish stick. And then you swish it
as it’s flushing – therefore you won’t clog up your toilets. Now, I did
notice that when I used these in public restrooms and I didn’t have my
swish stick I would kind of clog up the toilet sometimes… it all
depended on the toilet. So for going out, the G-diapers for me didn’t seem
to be such a good idea because I hated clogging up the toilets (laughs).”
Melissa says after problems like this, she eventually switched to a kind of disposable diaper
that’s supposed to be better for the environment.
Now, if you really want to think outside the box, there’s another choice that might come in handy. It’s a practice called Diaper Free: No diapers. Parents help their infants go to the toilet when nature calls. Erin LaFreniere is a sort of local expert on the Diaper Free method:
“Diaper Free is a little bit misleading because people think you’re not
wearing a diaper, oh that must be horrible, how can you deal with the mess, that’s not sanitary. And really, diaper
free really means not being stuck with diapers all the time.”
LaFreniere says parents still use diapers, just not as often. They
learn how to pick up on their infant’s cues, and when it’s time they
take them to the bathroom. She says cutting back on diapers is a side
benefit. For her, learning how to communicate with her baby was more
important.
But, I don’t know. I can’t imagine the diaper free idea going over well at home. I mean, our lives are really busy and it’s hard enough for us to keep up. Disposable
diapers are just too convenient.
I guess it’s like a lot of decisions people make in their lives:
convenience will often trump a slight benefit to the environment.
And experts I talked to said if we take a look at all the impacts we have on the
environment, diapering is pretty low on the list. So, my wife and I can do right by the environment somewhere else in our lives.
For the Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.