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Ok, I'm not trying to start any nuclear wars here, but I'm curious...my son was almost 20 and I used a diaper service when he was little because I didn't like the idea of his diapers spending decades in a landfill. I know the diaper services use a lot of water and produce a lot of sewage, so they aren't exactly ultra environmentally-friendly, either, yet paper manufacturing ALSO uses a lot of water, as well as some nasty chemicals like dioxin.
So my question is, why are my super-environmentalist friends using disposable diapers with their new baby? These are people who have a 15-year-old car with only 50K miles on it because they walk and ride their bikes everywhere so as not to pollute, use oil, or produce CO2. They eat all organic produce, and buy only "green" cleaning products. They are both scientists and one has a PhD in biology, and they research everything to the Nth degree. I've had exhausting conversations with them about nutrition, GMFs, etc. (I'm also a biologist, so the conversations get very technical and cite lots of journal articles, etc.)
Honestly, the reason I didn't ask them when I visited them recently was because I was pretty certain I was going to get some kind of lecture about how bad cloth diapers are for the environment from them, and I didn't feel like defending my choice or being made to feel guilty, when in fact I *thought* I was doing the right thing at the time. I also didn't want to sound like I was criticizing THEIR choice...and I'm not - it's a free country, but...I'm just curious how they justify it.
Are they just lazy hypocrites, or is there really a good environmental reason to use major-brand disposable diapers?
Are you sure that they are not using more eco-friendly diapers like Nature Babycare or 7th Generation with Elimination Communication? I have heard some people refer to this as a great alternative to cloth.
Maybe to them the pros outweighed the cons. Have you compared what they are doing to what you are doing? Is there a significant difference. I wanted to use cloth but my SO was not buying into the idea, so I went with Nature Babycare (with intermittent use of cloth). . .with the hopes that I would lessen my carbon footprint.
I think I read an article (UK) where some researchers determined that reusable diapers caused more damage to the environment than disposable. So maybe they bought into this stance? You should probably enter a neutral conversation with them about it. . .maybe both parties can learn something new.
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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Originally Posted by angelbug
Ok, I'm not trying to start any nuclear wars here, but I'm curious...my son was almost 20 and I used a diaper service when he was little because I didn't like the idea of his diapers spending decades in a landfill. I know the diaper services use a lot of water and produce a lot of sewage, so they aren't exactly ultra environmentally-friendly, either, yet paper manufacturing ALSO uses a lot of water, as well as some nasty chemicals like dioxin.
So my question is, why are my super-environmentalist friends using disposable diapers with their new baby? These are people who have a 15-year-old car with only 50K miles on it because they walk and ride their bikes everywhere so as not to pollute, use oil, or produce CO2. They eat all organic produce, and buy only "green" cleaning products. They are both scientists and one has a PhD in biology, and they research everything to the Nth degree. I've had exhausting conversations with them about nutrition, GMFs, etc. (I'm also a biologist, so the conversations get very technical and cite lots of journal articles, etc.)
Honestly, the reason I didn't ask them when I visited them recently was because I was pretty certain I was going to get some kind of lecture about how bad cloth diapers are for the environment from them, and I didn't feel like defending my choice or being made to feel guilty, when in fact I *thought* I was doing the right thing at the time. I also didn't want to sound like I was criticizing THEIR choice...and I'm not - it's a free country, but...I'm just curious how they justify it.
Are they just lazy hypocrites, or is there really a good environmental reason to use major-brand disposable diapers?
Three things come to mind...
First, there have been a number of high profile articles in recent memory (I will not speculate as to the veracity of the claims or the thoroughness of the research) that indicate higher energy and water consumption as well as a much higher volume of gray water production is associated with cloth diapers
Second, having utilized both with my own children and analyzed expenses - we were actually spending considerably more on cloth diapers. It would be great if you could buy diapers that would fit the same kid from birth to potty age but I'm apparently not that lucky.
Third, having utilized both with my own children and analyzed effectiveness - modern disposable diapers simply work better. The performance discrepancy is not minor, either. It is very considerable. Less baby laundry to do (diapers themselves, soiled clothes and soiled bedding), less diaper rash, less fussing from an uncomfortable baby.
I would never judge any parent on their diaper selection. Keeping your kids alive and healthy while maintaining some semblence of sanity is a big job and people who do it well sacrifice a lot. I'm not about to point fingers at diaper selection and neither should anyone else.
I agree with JustJulia that the convenience probably outweighed the potential environmental benefits of cloth. It is also possible that they researched and didn't see a significant environmental difference between disposable and cloth. It is debatable.
Personally, I think that cloth is better for the environment but I used disposables out of convenience. Parenting can be exhausting. I could barely find time to cook, clean, shower or even grab a bite to eat in those early months. The thought of adding in additional loads of laundry just wasn't worth my sanity.
I've read that cloth diapers are no better than disposables for the environment (with some variations, of course). That said, I think diaper services are environmentally better than doing it on your own, due in large part because the diaper services can wash large batches of diapers all at once, while most people washing at home are doing smaller loads and therefore using more water, etc.
It could be that they're just hypocrites, or it could be that they've been able to justify that their decision is the "best" one. There seems to be enough recent studies to support either decision, and I'm sure they can selectively pick and choose to support whatever it is they want to believe.
I would never judge any parent on their diaper selection. Keeping your kids alive and healthy while maintaining some semblence of sanity is a big job and people who do it well sacrifice a lot. I'm not about to point fingers at diaper selection and neither should anyone else.
Me neither, which is why I asked in a safe, neutral place. I didn't want to seem accusatory or critical by even asking them.
It's possible they're using one of these newer, greener disposables that a previous poster mentioned. Those weren't available when my son was a baby, and as I said, I think many people don't realize how much water is used in paper production, nor have I ever seen that factored into the equation.
Things change a lot in 20 years, too. When my son was a baby, it was substantially cheaper to use the diaper service than to buy disposables, and he never had any trouble with diaper rash. I did use disposables when traveling, of course, and I really appreciated the convenience. I just didn't feel the need to use them all the time.
Thanks for the up-to-date comments. Within 10 years I'm likely to be a grandmother, and it's never too soon to get up to speed with modern baby rearing information!
Will your friends be using a daycare for their kids? I actually wanted to use cloth diapers, but no daycare in my state is allowed to use them. Glad to hear there are alternatives though, will have to research.
Ya know, for the average american it is about small choices and I wouldn't judge someone that makes a different choice from me especially when it sounds like they are already doing quite a lot to help the environment. We all try to do what we can individually to help the environment but just because someone makes a choice to use something that might not be as environmentally as another does not mean they are hypocrites. If they are doing all the things you mentioned but still using disposables, they probably still individually do less damage to the environment than most. There are a zillion reasons why they might not be able to use disposables. Perhaps their children were getting too many diaper rashes, perhaps they can't find childcare that will let them use cloth, perhaps they only use disposables sometimes for convenience.
We all drive cars, we all buy things that are produced using electricity which causes more damage to the environment than anything. If we want to live in modern day society today, we will be faced with contributing somehow to environmental problems so we each just need to decide what we can do individually that will help the environment and keeps our lives SANE at the same time. Sounds like it is just one compromise that they had to make, as we ALL make. Your compromises just happen to be different.
I hope that makes sense.
Last edited by DressageGirl; 10-30-2009 at 06:40 AM..
Reason: Hope that makes sense!
Another thought is that it's a trade off to them. They focus on other environmentally positive things in order to be able to let this particular one slide. Somewhat like the way we tend to handle eating. Sure I'll eat that dessert and I'll just exercise for an additional 20 minutes to counter it. Or spending money....I really want that toy for my child, so I'll spend less at the grocery store. All trade offs.
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I didn't want to seem accusatory or critical by even asking them.
