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Why Use Cloth?
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| Listening
to Grandma’s story of washing her old-fashioned cloth diapers in the
bathtub by stomping on them did not exactly convince me to choose cloth.
In fact, upon learning of our decision to hop on board the ‘cloth
diaper wagon’ we received a ‘fair warning’ from Grandma against
the tribulations we were about to encounter.
But back in Grandma’s child-bearing years, hand-washing of flat
diapers, cumbersome pins, and the inhumanely non-breathable rubber pants
were the only option. It’s
no wonder the movement towards disposable diapers caught on so quickly
after its introduction in the 1960s.
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good news is that the cloth diaper has been completely revolutionized
over the past 20 years! The
cloth diapers of today are dramatically different than the cloth diapers
of even your parent’s generation. Fitted diapers featuring
elastic, built-in fasteners, and waterproof (yet breathable) exteriors
have transformed cloth diapering into a convenient option for today’s
busy mom. Even so, the
question remains: Why would you even consider a washable diaper when you
could use a disposable? A few good reasons to consider cloth
diapers follow below:
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Monetary Savings
Your baby
will go through about 8 -12 diapers a day ~ or about 9000 diaper changes
by the time he/she is potty trained. At $0.24 a diaper, that
adds up to about $2,160! Disposable wipes will
cost at least another $600-800. In contrast, purchasing your own cloth
diapers and cloth wipes to wash them at home will cost somewhere between
$250 and $750. Considering
your laundering costs (about $.50 a load or $120 over the course of 30
months) you will still save about $2,000 - $2,500 over an average
2.5 year
period! And if you
reuse your diapers over multiple babies, you can multiply this savings!
Take the kids to Disneyland (or yourself to Bali!) on the savings! Translated into an hourly
wage, you will earn over $20 an hour with the additional time cloth
diaper laundering will take. I can't argue with a wage
like that!
The Often Overlooked Health
Reason
Most people
underestimate the ability of the skin to absorb all with which it comes
in contact. There is a
reason pharmacologists created a birth control patch that adheres to
your skin and releases chemicals that alter the hormonal functions of
your internal system: Your
skin is like a sponge. Consider
what you will be putting against your baby's vulnerable skin for the next
2 - 3 years, 24 hours a day.
With the
exception of the pricy natural disposables available at your local
health food store, disposable diapers contain sodium polyacrylate which
absorbs liquid and turns it into gel. Many parents who use
disposable diapers will recognize the polymer as the shiny gel-like
crystals that often make their way onto your baby’s bum.
Sodium polyacrylate works well to absorb and contain baby messes
but is commonly linked to allergic reactions, skin irritations, and
possible reproductive organ dysfunction.
It was banned from use in tampons in 1985 after it was linked to
toxic shock syndrome and caused hemorrhage, cardiovascular failure and
death in rats who were injected with the gel.
Ingested, sodium polyacrylate is deadly to children in amounts as
little as 5 grams. Cloth
diapers are inexpensive and gel free!
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In addition,
the dangerous chemical dioxin is reported by the EPA as the most toxic
of all cancer-linked chemicals, and is a byproduct of the paper
bleaching that is used in disposable diapers.
Whitening through the use of dioxin has been banned in most
countries…but not in the U.S.
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With the
toxic chemical exposure of disposable diapers, it is no shock that a
study by a major disposable diaper manufacturer shows that the incidence
of diaper rash rose from 7.1% to 61% between 1970 & 1995, coinciding
with the increase in disposable diaper use.
Have you ever read the following warning on a package
of disposable diapers? IMPORTANT: When
disposing of soiled diaper, empty contents into toilet. I
did not realize myself that disposable diapers should be emptied into
the toilet before being discarded…but as inconvenient as it may seem
it does makes sense. The
diapers end up at the landfill, containing
viruses from human feces (including live vaccines from routine childhood
immunizations) that can leak into the Earth and pollute underground
water supplies. In addition
to the potential of groundwater contamination, air-borne viruses carried
by flies and other insects contribute to an unhealthy and unsanitary
situation. One way or
another, the waste caught by cloth diapers is likely to enter our sewer
systems and is properly treated before re-entering our water.
The solution saturated by most disposable wipes is
also toxic. In contrast,
reusable cloth wipes can be used and laundered alongside cloth diapers
and are a great alternative to disposable wipes.
Cloth wipes allow the flexibility for you to use plain water to
cleanse your baby’s bum or for you to mix up your own chemical-free
brew.
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Ah yes…The Environment
As mentioned before, a single baby goes through about
6,000 diaper changes before they are potty trained. That adds
up to about 2 tons of used, non-biodegradable waste per baby when
disposable diapers are used! In addition, estimates suggest
that 82,000 tons of plastic and 1.8 million tons of wood pulp (1/4
million trees) are consumed each year in the production of disposable
diapers. In contrast, you
will only need about 50-60 cloth diapers for the entire diapering
period! What a difference!
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In
Sum…
The
truth of the value of cloth diapers is self-evident upon inspection of
the facts. Your child’s
health is so important to you; so too is the health of the planet upon
which he or she will depend; and hopefully generations will carry on
this Earth with the respect, economy, and healthfulness of your choice
of cloth diapers today. |
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