When you have kids, one of the many Great Debates (along with organic food and breastfeeding) is cloth diapers versus disposables. A diaper company (I think it was Pampers) did a study that showed that the extra toilet flushes and the laundry that comes with cloth diapers is enough to cancel out the environmental benefits, not to mention the extra carbon you release if you use a service that has to drive the diapers to and from your house.
Dubious as a study from a disposable diaper company might be, it was recently backed up by a study from the British government, who were actually in the midst of a cloth nappie campaign at the time. Oops.
Do I use cloth? No. I feel that they stink, they are three times as much work (at least!) and they seem to be more prone to both leaks and rashes. I worked in a daycare, so I got LOTS of first hand experience changing both kinds.
Should you? Honestly, that is entirely up to you. The environmental impact is much the same, the cost is higher at first, but they may pay for themselves if you wash them at home. The choice seems to have become entirely personal.
~Dionne
1 comment:
We've used cloth diapers with 2/3 of our kids, and I have to say our experience has been that cloth leak much less than disposable.
I can't tell you how much better they've been for us, but I can tell you that for two kids in diapers, we've spent a total of around 1000. Divide that by five years-- that's 200 a year on diapers.
We didn't pay for water, so I can't calculate that into cost. And I'll be honest, I have no idea to calculate they dryer costs.
It's not for everyone, just saying that it was right for us.
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