Cloth Diaper Environmental Impact Calculator
I designed this simple cloth diaper environmental impact calculator as a five question quiz. The results will help you understand and evaluate the way you use cloth diapers and their effect on the environment.
How much landfill waste do cloth diapers prevent?
The average baby in the US generates 683 pounds of disposable diaper waste that’s put into landfills every year!
=Related post: How do disposable diapers impact landfills? =
By contrast, let’s say the average baby wearing cloth diapers uses 20 diaper covers and 20 prefold cloth diapers per year
How much do cloth diapers impact global warming?
The Environmental Agency in the UK performed a study in 2008 (available here) that shows on average, in the 2.5 years a child uses diapers, cloth diapers are not as environmentally friendly as disposable diapers when you look at them from their total product life cycle.
Cotton takes lots of water, pesticides, and energy to turn it into a cloth diaper. Then, parents need even more water and electricity to wash and dry cloth diapers. Once you add all those resources up, cloth diapers can be worse for the environment than disposable diapers!
What has changed since this study was done in 2008?
Fortunately, both cloth and disposable diapers are always becoming more sustainable. Unfortunately, no comprehensive studies have been done to show the changes that have occurred since 2008.
Manufacturers make disposable diapers efficiently and lower weight than ever before. This means they use less raw materials to make each diaper. Which equates to less waste in landfills and less energy to manufacture them!
Now, cloth diapers tend to be made of bamboo instead of cotton. Some say that bamboo is less resource intensive to grow and process, compared to cotton. It is true that bamboo requires fewer pesticides and will grow in many types of soil without fertilizer. But much of the world’s bamboo is grown and processed in China. There’s very little actual data to prove that it has less of an impact on the environment than cotton.
How can I use cloth diapers more sustainably?
Most of the tips to make your cloth diapers even more environmentally friendly involve your washer and dryer, since they are the largest drain on water and electricity.
Use high efficiency appliances
Using a high efficiency washer and dryer reduces the energy needed to launder cloth diapers
Fully load the washer and dryer
Running full loads in the washer and dryer makes laundering more efficient. Whether you completely fill it with diapers, or add other items to the wash, you’ll save water and electricity.
Wash with cold water
Use cold water in your washer uses less energy than hot water
Line dry cloth diapers whenever possible
If you’re able, dry your diapers on a clothesline. This is the area where you can reduce energy usage the most! If you live somewhere where the weather makes this difficult, consider hanging a clothesline in your basement, laundry room, or bathroom.
Reuse cloth diapers on a second child
You have several options here! Buy diapers second hand Or use cloth diapers on more than one of your own children. Or, finally, pass them on to someone else when you’re done with them.