Disposables or reusable?

Question

I have always used disposables - not because I don't care for environment but because the rubbish is incinerated and produces energy for central heating in houses near by. I am quite glad as I don't think, on top of everything else I could find time for all the extra washing and drying - and no, I don't live within a collection scheme area.

However, apart from landfill - are they really less environmentally friendly? You still need detergent,electricity etc to wash re usables. And if they are collected - how is that done? By a fuel filled car or a person on a bike? so is that more EF?

I am not trying to say one or the other is right. I am open minded on the subject and just want other's points of view.

Answer 1

No definite answer. You are correct regarding water use and energy and detergent when referring to re-usable diapers. You are also correct regarding energy and time to pick up disposables as well as other trash/rubbish. The energy is going to be expended to pick up something anyway though. As far as landfill goes, that is an ongoing technology. Landfills today are managed better and are environmentally sound if laws and regulations regarding them are followed. There is plenty of unoccupied space on the Earth. There are several landfills that have been covered up and are not places where people can build and live. It is kind of like the ancients did. They would simply build on top of the old. The thing that bugs me very much is that we make things that are biodegradable upon exposure to sunlight. Then we bury them where they cannot readily degrade.

Answer 2

Aside from the enviromental issues there is also the cost of disposables. Why do people want to throw all that money away? I bought an initial stock of cloth nappies, 2 buckets, pins and plastic pants which all came to about 50 pounds, I now spend about 4 pounds a month on biodegradable liners and nappy soak. Not only are cloth nappies cheaper but babies who wear them tend to be potty trained a year or more earlier than ones who wear disposables. I wash 2 loads of nappies per week, you can't tell me that that is as damaging to the environment as all the chemicals used to make disposables and the fact that there are millions of them in landfill sites which will take more than 100 years to break down. I'd rather spend the extra money on my daughter and leave her a healthier earth to live on.

Answer 3

I've only ever used disposable, but my mother used cloth (reusable) diapers when she had me (almost 29 years ago.) Then when she had my brother she used disposable. She said she HATED the cloth diapers, and if she had had more kids would never have gone back to using cloth.
I use disposable for pretty much the same reason as you do. I figure neither of them can be very good for the environment, so why not go with convenience?

Answer 4

Disposables clog up landfills.

But other than that there is no difference. The production, washing and drying orf collecting of re-usables doesn't make them better for the enviroment,

Those that advoacte their use will beg to differ but thats becauset hey read all the leaflets from the re-uasable companies!

Answer 5

Disposables: So convenient for the mother and always uniformly clean for the baby. I always used them outside the home (whenever we would go for a walk or some place in the car).

Cloth diapers: If there is a diaper service and you can afford it, go for it because it is a welcome luxury.

If you do them yourselves, it is a lot of WORK and I remember cold chapped hands. You need to store dirty diapers in a plastic bucket with lid (eeeeeuuuuu! the ammonia) until laundry day. You would need to rinse fecal matter out into the toilet before putting it in your plastic bucket. If you wash the diapers, they will need to be very clean -- with no harsh soap residue or trace bacteria. I used Ivory soap when the kids were babies even though I disliked the smell of Ivory soap. Before I washed a load of dirty diapers, I would rinse them in a solution of water & bleach, rinse and wring them out (wear rubber gloves) before tossing them in the washing machine for the Ivory soap wash. Whenever I didn't run it through bleach solution, I noticed a tendency for my babies to develop diaper rash.

I didn't know they still sell cloth diapers. I vote for disposables. Don't worry, in a little while, you will be toilet training the child.

Answer 6

Most of the anti-disposables lobby are both concerned with Land-fill (rather than incineration like you and I) and most either do not have young children, or had them before disposables.

Of course disposables are bad (especially if going to land-fill), but ALL nappies are equally as bad in one form or another, with-out considering convenience, so chill.

Answer 7

I watched a program a few years ago where scientists done studies & the conclusion was that the old traditional style reusable nappies done as much harm to the environment as disposable nappies, so i would rather use disposable as they are much less hassle

Answer 8

We used cloth diapers simply because of the health-associated benefits. No chemicals always sitting next to the nether regions. We had a niece who always had diaper rash and bladder infections, because of disposable diapers. With cloth, there's no hassle, you use liners to handle the "bigger" jobs, and it's not that much of extra laundry. My child never had diaper rash, and once summer came, a bit of zinc ointment cleared up a little heat rash. Chacun a son gout!

Answer 9

I've always used disposables! A lot less hassle! Some friends of mine use reusable ones but they are always washing them, or using disposable liners, which completely goes against the whole point!! xxx

Answer 10

I am all for convenience. Hello? Mothers have enough to do without worrying about poo diapers smelling up the house.