The great diaper debate
Filed Under Going Green, Stuff | August 14, 2007
The debate between which type of diaper causes less ecological impact – cloth or disposable – rages on. And while cloth seems to be edging out disposables, we’re too far into our disposable diapering career to make switching to cloth viable either financially or ecologically, so we decided to test some greener disposable diaper options.
To make our test slightly scientific, we recruited both an 18-month-old girl and boy to make sure we had everything covered. We then conducted a (relatively) blind test of two different “green” brands of diapers – Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Diapers and Tushies Diapers.
Seventh Generation diapers look and feel similar to regular disposables, except they’re beige, undecorated, and unscented. Choosing chlorine free diapers helps reduce dioxin pollution, and dioxins are a known cancer risk. While Seventh Generation does use gel to keep bottoms dry and avoid diaper rash, their gel is non-toxic, chemically inert, not carcinogenic and non-irritating.
Tushies rely on a natural blend cotton padding to keep your baby dry, and that makes them much thicker than your average disposable. They also use Chlorine-Free Woodpulp. Tushies are equally proud of what their diapers don’t contain – no latex, no perfume, no dye, no TBT, no GMO, no gel, and no recycled materials.
While our testers loved that both types of diaper were unscented, the Seventh Generation were the hands down favourite for their fit and their thinness. They also out-absorbed any other disposable we’ve tried. The Tushies were bulky, seemed to get more solid as they got wet, and made our toddler testers waddle.
We’re definitely going to offset our disposable use (at least a little) by switching to Seventh Generation. We’d also be willing to recycle our diapers if that option was available to us here as it is in Toronto – hint, hint. . .although at this point we’d just settle for having our garbage and recycling picked up.
Both brands of diapers cost a little more than your average disposable (we like to think of it as our offsetting cost) and can be found in most natural food stores.
New today on our list of things to do around town that aren’t affected by the strike:
Capers on Cambie is offering a seminar on feeding babies tomorrow, August 15th, from 10 am – 11 am. Capers’ Nutritionist (who’s also a mother), Victoria Pawlowski, will discuss how and what to feed babies to optimize their health and raise a “good” eater. It’s free but you need to preregister by email: vpawlowski@capersmarkets.com
Make your own bubble blow and bubble wand. Mix a batch of homemade blow by putting a teaspoon or so of dish soap into a cup and then adding about three teaspoons of water, stir and test. Unbend a large paper clip and fold in into a triangle with small handle and pour the bubble blow onto a small plate for easier access. Experiment with different shaped wands and see what they do for bubbles.
17 Responses to “The great diaper debate”
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During this time of no garbage pick-up I am very happy with my choice to use cloth diapers. For those of you “too far into your disposable diapering careers” maybe a diaper service would be interesting to try at the moment? I used Diapers Naturally for the first 8 weeks of my cloth diapering career and found them easy and I believe the cost is comparible to disposables.
I used Diapers Naturally, too, at the beginning of my cloth diapering career.
Also, prefold diapers cost about $30 a dozen, and you need about two dozen. Add another $40-$50 for covers, and you are looking at about $100 investment. That’s the cost of four bags of diapers. Not exactly cost-prohibitive.
There’s most expensive diapers, but prefolds actually work really well.
I think there is no real debate over what is more environmentally friendly concerning diapers. How anyone can seriously argue that there is an environmental saw-off is beyond me.
Yes the initial set up cost of cloth diapers can seem daunting but as Jewel points out it doesn’t have to be. I am using my Motherease diapers again for my second child – the cost of cloth diapers just halved! I do however use Seventh Generation when on holiday and occasionally when the cloth diapers aren’t dry yet. I buy mine from what is now called “KG Kids” (formally Discount Diapers) [4330 West 10th Avenue] where all sizes are $16.99 every day. I think this price is considerably less than the health food stores. KG Kids is very helpful for all your diapering needs and they have lots of great kids clothes/toys/supplies, maternity wear etc.
Ladies, Ladies I have the solution: They are called G Diapers. Cloth covers and get this compostable, flushable liners. At the moment they are only available in the US (Whole Foods) but they rock, we picked some up and LOVE them. The pee ones we usually compost and the poopy ones go in the toilet where poop belongs anyhow. Amazing take a look
http://gdiapers.com/
As if they needed more praise, the covers come in super cute colors and prints. I usually don’t even put shorts on my son cause his g diaper covers are so cute.
PS – there’s a really nice girl who works at KG Kids on Saturdays…*grin*
I’ve always wondered about the cloth vs. disposable thing, and from an intuitive standpoint, I always assumed cloth would be the obvious winner from an environmental standpoint. But I was surprised to read on Grist (my favourite source of environmental news & opinion) that studies have shown they have equal environmental impacts. I’m still kind of skeptical, to be honest, but I have a lot of faith in Grist and the study seems legit. Here’s the link to the story, which includes links for further reading if anyone’s interested: http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2005/05/20/5/index.html
It’s a couple of years old, so it’s possible the info is out of date, or that the study didn’t include some of the above-mentioned solutions. Those g diapers sound awesome!
Click on the following link to an MSDS (material safety and data sheet) for sodium polyacrylate: http://www.sciencestuff.com/msds/C2688.html
This is the material used as the absorbent gel in the Seventh Generation diapers. It is listed as a skin irritant. For “some” reason Seventh Generation does not include an MSDS for their diapers although they do for most other products. I have posted a question to the website to ask them to address this point.
I have tried all of the above mentioned brands and services.
I have found that seventh generation does irritate my daughters skin as well the diaper service uses very harsh chemicals to sterilize their diapers and this also caused a non stop diaper rash in my daughter.
we do use motherease most of the time, they are made in Canada, have snaps to close (not Velcro to ruin your diapers in the wash)
I have also found that wool or fleece are the best covers and allow air flow that plastic or pul do not.
the debate as to which is the best for the environment is debatable, but what about “Elimination Communication” this is what is practiced around the world where there is not the luxury of all the other choices we have. this is the most natural way to deal with your childs elimination needs, I suggest you Google this term and look into it!
Peace
Where do I buy prefold diaper for $30 per dozen?
Prefolds are $26.99 per dozen (for small up to 22 lbs) at KG Kids (previously Discount Diapers). They also have the Motherease diapers that a few commenters have said they use with success. You can also get your covers and other diapering accessories there.
I’ll say this: Seventh Generation does use a gel core. This is not biodegradable, and does diffuse chemicals into baby’s skin. If you want a disposable that is completely chemical-free and biodegradable, you have Tushies as the only choice (in Canada – I know G Diapers are biodegradable but not available here yet). Tushies need to be changed often, just like cloth diapers. So for people looking for more absorbency than cloth, they are not the answer. For people used to disposables trying out an environmental diaper, they are even less the answer. They are a fantastic diaper, I don’t mean to paint them negatively, but the user needs to understand that the diaper is not capable of being as absorbent as a diaper with gel. You need to be prepared to change often or you will be dis-satisfied.
What Seventh Generation does have going for it, as opposed to traditional disposables, is that they use recycled fibres, and don’t bleach. So, they are a nice middle of the road for people who want to reduce their impact and still have the convenience of disposables. Many people don’t realize that the gel core is loaded with chemicals, and are surprised when they learn this truth.
It’s a trade off: more natural (cloth, Tushies) means shorter term absorbency. Which, ultimately, means more time and energy put into changing diapers, and laundry. Sure, the earth would benefit if every family used cloth, and I’d love to see more people use cloth. However, I also know that every family needs to have the space to make their own decisions based on their own unique circumstances.
I have barely and never used cloth diapers to give away, enough to get anyone interested in using cloth diapers started. I received the kit as a gift and then decided to use a diaper service, as I am lazy to the bone. I’d love to give them away, if you’re interested email me with your phone number traceybrown@yahoo.com.
Europe puts Canada to shame. They have diapers that are 70% biodegradable and also (cheap) degradable wipes. I am sure there is a market for these here and have emailed the company, Nature Boy & Girl, to find out. But if anyone does know where to get them here I’d love to find out!
A thought that occured to me in the great cloth v disposable debate and that I have never seen addressed in a study or argument is that each and every disposable diaper you use has to be manufactured and transported (= fuel, greenhouse gases etc.) but cloth diapers are only manufactured and transported once. It’s a tipping point for me!
Oh, and I used both Tushies and Seventh Gen for my first (when I wasn’t using cloth). Tushies fit my girl better and Seventh Gen did sometimes leak the gel onto her skin. OVerall I preferred the Tushies for her (again, whenever I took a short break from using cloth).
I have 3 kids and have recently switched to a combo of cloth (motherease) and gdiaper. I love my motherease – have had one leak in 2 months as compared to constant leaks, and outfit changes, in disposable. The Gdiaper is totally fabulous and as completely free of guilt as a diaper can get. They are now available at London Drugs. G has only 2 drawbacks : price, which I am hoping will go down somewhat as they gain popularity, and it does dry my son’s skin quite a bit – I reccommend using a diaper cream when putting on a G!
We have been using Diapers Naturally since our daughter was about 2 months old. She is 14 months now and we will continue with the service until she is trained. I am very happy with the service. Our daughter has never had a rash from these diapers. The only time she gets a rash is when we use disposables when we are away from home or on vacation. I tried the G diapers and could never get into them, they alway seemed to leak and were finicky (in my opinion). I will definately stick to cloth diapering. It only costs me about 60 dollars for 4 weeks.
Just wanted to answer the post by Sarah and tell her that G diapers are available in Canada. I work for well.ca which is an online health and beauty store in Canada. We sell them and even ship them free in Canada.
http://well.ca/searchresult.html?x=0&y=0&keyword=g+diapers
Looking at the date of the posts, it is probably too late for your children from 2007 (I totally remember how awful that garbage strike was). But maybe for your next one!
Cheers
Paige