greenliving What’s Best by Barb Amrhein
for Baby’s Bottom CLOTH MAKES A COMEBACK
mate green choice because they help reduce pesticide use, are also more expensive than conventional cotton diapers, which is why budget-minded parents often elect to buy gently used diapers. Conventional cotton is consid- ered an environmentally wasteful crop to grow (though its effluents are far less hazardous than those from the plastic, pulp and paper industries), so green diapers are frequently made of hemp or bamboo, natural fabrics that feel soft against baby’s skin.
Best for Mother Earth and Baby
illions of new parents in the 1960s thought they had found the answer to their prayers in the mess-free convenience of dispos- able diapers. Sales of Pampers, Hug- gies and other brands continued to soar during the following decades. Sadly, so did a host of related problems: tons of soiled plastic diapers that could poten- tially contaminate groundwater packed the nation’s landfills; infant health concerns surfaced, including rashes, allergies and new respiratory and immune system worries; and delayed toilet training became an issue. In more recent years, a growing number of parents have determined that the greenest, healthiest and most economical way to cover baby’s bot- tom is with cloth, and new products are truly innovative.
M Not Your Nana’s Nappies
Today’s “smart cloth” reusable diapers sport snaps, buttons and Velcro, rather
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than pins, and include a naturally absor- bent liner (often made of organic cotton or hemp fleece) under the cover. Much preferred over the rubber overpants of older products, these leaner, greener nappies use water-resistant covers of merino wool, nylon or polyurethane laminate that don’t leak, sag or smell (admittedly, even the use of smaller amounts of manufactured fabrics still isn’t perfect). Some diapers combine the liner and cover into one washable unit. Cloth diapers cost more upfront than disposables—they range from $6 to $18 each—but offer long-term savings. According to the Sierra Club, most parents who opt for home laun- dering will spend a total of between $400 and $1,700 for diapers, laundry supplies, water and electricity to get baby from birth through toilet training; disposables can run up to $2,500. (Click on the Cloth Diaper Resources link at
DiaperDecisions.com for a helpful cost comparison guide.) Organic cotton diapers, the ulti-
Saving dollars is a key concern for most families, but caring parents’ need to both protect baby’s health and pre- serve the quality of the planet for their children are of equal importance. Yet, according to the National Geographic Society’s Green Guide, 95 percent of U.S. families still use disposables, which get sent to municipal landfills in the amount of 3.5 million tons per year. Along with the diapers goes the untreated sewage, creating potential health risks. In addition, dioxin, a toxic byproduct of pulp and paper bleaching used in making most disposables, is a concern. More, disposables consume virgin pulp from an estimated 250,000 trees every year—also going straight from babies’ bottoms into landfills. The toxic stew smoldering under- ground isn’t the only uncomfortable problem—the Green Guide notes that aboveground, animal studies have linked emissions from disposable dia- pers’ fragrances and plastics with infant respiratory problems and symptoms of asthma. The biocide tributyltin, which can be absorbed through the skin and lead to immune system damage and disrupted hormone function, has been detected in disposables, and diapers are not routinely tested for the sub- stance.
Most disposable diapers also con- tain polyacrylate crystals, or super ab- sorbent polymers (SAP), that absorb up to 800 times their weight in liquid, turn- ing into gel when wet and keeping baby dry and protected from diaper rash. If
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