Does CD waste more water than it saves landfill space?

[vegasgrl]

Someone tossed that argument out to me yesterday and I had no answer.

I'm completely not flaming CD'ers, not one iota.

Thoughts?

[mystic~mama]

I've heard the idea that it wastes a lot of water which is one of our precious and dwindling resources...a couple I know uses G Diapers and buries them since the are compostable.

[ShwarmaQueen]

: I've wondered the same. Natural gas/electrictity resources too.

[NorthernPixie]

I think when this argument is made the water used to create the disposable diaper (or g-diaper insert) is often forgotten about. Never mind the chemicals, etc. involved in the production. It might get tricky when talking about say, organic cotton flats versus AIOs with a PUL outer and polyester inner with micro-fibre in the soaker. There must be something, somewhere that calculates all of that.

I have seen this calculator, but it's not a side-by-side comparison from 'dust to dust' as they say of cloth vs disposable.

Anyone got something better? It must be out there.

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by NorthernPixie

I think when this argument is made the water used to create the disposable diaper (or g-diaper insert) is often forgotten about. Never mind the chemicals, etc. involved in the production.

Exactly. Also I've read that the amount of water used to wash cloth diapers is about equivalent to how much would be used flushing the toilet by a potty-trained person.

[phrogger]

Originally Posted by Ola_

Exactly. Also I've read that the amount of water used to wash cloth diapers is about equivalent to how much would be used flushing the toilet by a potty-trained person.

Probably even less for people who use HE washers. My washer uses hardly any water at all. I probably waste more giving the baby shower with me.

[vegasgrl]

That calculator is super cool.

And I totally didn't think about the water neede to make the diapers, much less all the other stuff. I was only thinking about throwing them out vs. washing, you know? REALLY good point - the production process generates a LOT of waste on its own.

This would be a good project for a process engineering class I think.

[poppan]

That's such a hard comparison to make, because the truth is that it's two different types of impact, and how do you judge one against the other?

If we took it to the extreme -- we should all wear diapers because washing a bunch of dipes together definitely uses less water-per-pee than flushing.

To me water is a relatively renewable resource, and there are many other ways to save it (planting with native/local vegetation instead of lawns would be a big one, collecting/reusing gray water, and at some point taking a long hard look at agriculture and other water-intensive industries). Whereas, a disposable diaper may take a hundred years to decompose. (I've heard figures of 7-8 years, but that assumed the dipe would be left in open air, not buried in a landfill.) And as PPs mentioned, are they taking into account how much water it takes to manufacture a sposie?

[Mulvah]

I read a bit about this because I wanted to make the best decision. I do believe CDing has less (not zero) negative impact on the environment based upon the reading I have done on both sides. Also, it is cheaper to CD, so that helped make the decision.

Below are a few sites that discuss the water usage aspect. There is an obvious slant on a site like "All About Cloth Diapers", but I still think there are valid points to consider. I am not interested in debating the topic with others, but I did read up on it and made the best decision for our family.

Cloth Diapering & Water Usage

Disposables vs. Cloth Diapers

Top Five Reasons to Use Cloth Diapers

Cloth vs. Disposable

[SeekingJoy]

Here are some links:
http://www.clothdiaperblog.com/the-c...ilemma-really/
http://www.thenewparentsguide.com/diapers.htm
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/gree...debate/?page=1
http://www.wen.org.uk/general_pages/...LCA19.5.05.htm

[mamadelbosque]

I remmember reading about this when my first DS was born 2.5 years ago. Theres a handful of 'studies' out there (funded by pampers & huggies & such), that say that disposables are more 'green' because of all the water needed to wash diapers... but, as others have pointed out they did *NOT* take into account the manufacturing process, packaging, shipping, etc required of disposables.

Of course, that process takes place for cloth too at some point, but it only occurs ONCE vs over and over and over again. Also, while water is a scarce resource in some places (california, colorado, etc) in other places it is not a major issue - we have plenty of ground water around here with aquifers that are not in horrible decline. Not to say at some point they coudln't get depleted, but I just don't see it happpening anytime soon. So, personally, I'm not overly worried about water usage.

[Sleepyheaded_Mama]

"If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down" rofl - that's more or less the motto in our house. We try to save water where we can, I never run half loads or wash dishes unless I have a good sinkful. I don't water my lawn, run water while brushing teeth, I have a big cooler of water in the fridge so no one is tempted to run tap water until it gets cold for a drink, etc. It's something we're very mindful of and something I definitely took into consideration when I decided to CD this LO. In the end, felt better about washing CDs than adding another 6,000 dipes to our local landfill.

[Ifluffedthree]

Originally Posted by poppan

That's such a hard comparison to make, because the truth is that it's two different types of impact, and how do you judge one against the other?

If we took it to the extreme -- we should all wear diapers because washing a bunch of dipes together definitely uses less water-per-pee than flushing.

To me water is a relatively renewable resource, and there are many other ways to save it (planting with native/local vegetation instead of lawns would be a big one, collecting/reusing gray water, and at some point taking a long hard look at agriculture and other water-intensive industries). Whereas, a disposable diaper may take a hundred years to decompose. (I've heard figures of 7-8 years, but that assumed the dipe would be left in open air, not buried in a landfill.) And as PPs mentioned, are they taking into account how much water it takes to manufacture a sposie?

As I currently understand it, it takes 1 gallon of fresh water resources to manufacture one sposie diaper.

Fresh Water is not a renewable resource and our planet only has 2% of fresh water resources. It can be reclaimed for other purposes but once taken -- it is not renewable. Thus the reasons for the huge campaigns happening all over the world to reclaim salt water and removing the salt to try and get an alternative to fresh resouce.



I began my cloth diapering experience in 1989 during the whole "don't dump in the landfills era". Noting that I have used both disposable and cloth at times. Back then there could have been an argument about cloth vs. disposable water debate.

Not now ------------------------------- not even a comparison. Shame on 7th Generation and other companies for fueling this misguided train to hold onto their slice of the pie.

[DevaMajka]

Originally Posted by NorthernPixie

I think when this argument is made the water used to create the disposable diaper (or g-diaper insert) is often forgotten about.

That's my thought.

Plus, if sposies are better for the environment than cloth, then shouldn't we look into disposable clothes for everyone?

[Carlyle]

None of the "life cycle analysis" studies that dh has seen (taking into account the environmental impact of the entire "life" of the product, from manufacture to disposal--he studied this in college) took account of the fact that *on average* kids who are raised in cd potty train a heck of a lot earlier than kids in sposies. And they didn't show either was better--cloth or sposies. So if they were about equal WITHOUT this fact (even funded by pampers and the like)...boy howdy, cloth will be better once you take into account the age of potty training! This is what "tipped the scale" for me, 'cause that's a BIG difference.

If you want to make a BIGGER difference, look into doing elimination communication (see here: http://www.tribalbaby.org/ECindex.html) and just use your organic cloth diapers as backup and let your baby use the potty...

AND when you're washing cloth diapers, you can wash your "pee" loads on cold water...that will make cloth diapers pull way ahead too...

AND the studies weren't done with high efficiency washers, only "average" ones...so if you have a HE washer, cloth is the way to go.

[poppan]

Originally Posted by Ifluffedthree

Fresh Water is not a renewable resource and our planet only has 2% of fresh water resources. It can be reclaimed for other purposes but once taken -- it is not renewable.

That's not really true right? Where I am the fresh water comes from reservoirs, which comes from snowpack and (to a smaller extent) rain, which is renewable, right? I don't remember the 5th grade science lesson but something about moisture in the air gathering up and forming clouds...

[nursingmom]

Water gets recycled naturally. We are not wasting water and throwing the water away. Whereas, for sposies, we harvest wood, use water + chemcial to manufacturer, and fill up the landfill.... over and over again.

[flower01]

I'm no scientist...but all of my research has made me feel pretty confident that Cding is the more environmentally responsible choice.

I think we should all think about how we make an impact. When I did a carbon footprint analysis of my family's lifestyle, we scored way lower (meaning less impact) than the average family of our same demographic. So people can argue all day long about which uses up more water...in the grand scheme of things, my family is making better choices than our peer families (including most of my friends)...and i'm pretty sure most people who CD think about other "green" things moreso than non-cding families.

[funkymamajoy]

Waste water is reclaimed faster then landfill space. And since cloth diapers are reusable, you're also saving the manufacturing and transporting impact.

[PikkuMyy]

Originally Posted by poppan

That's not really true right? Where I am the fresh water comes from reservoirs, which comes from snowpack and (to a smaller extent) rain, which is renewable, right? I don't remember the 5th grade science lesson but something about moisture in the air gathering up and forming clouds...

Yes. Once the waste water is treated, it is put back into the environment and turns into rain again.