Tamara Harbar
Going Green
Ever wonder what makes humans so different from other species? Is it our use of tools? Our ability to create art or to experience a spiritual life? I suspect it’s none of those things – it’s diapering.
That was my thought after attending a recent cloth diapering workshop at Marley and Me.
Think about it. No other species diapers its young or invests so much ingenuity into designing diapering systems.
I sat in on the workshop because my new year’s green theme is all about waste reduction. So are cloth diapers. There are no diapers in my future, but environmentally-speaking, diapers are part of everybody’s future, especially our planet’s. Canadians trash at least four million disposable diapers every day or 1.5 billion diapers a year, according to Environment Canada.
Disposables deplete resources, then get shoved underground where they leach chemicals and toxins.
Five of us sat around a table covered with cozy-looking diapers sporting bright, cheery patterns in baby-shaped organic cotton, organic hemp and organic bamboo. All had easy grow-with-you snaps or Velcro fasteners. We quickly forgot images of parents bumbling with huge fabric triangles as if they’re folding origami, enduring safety pin stabbings, then discovering the finished diaper still runneth over. These nappies were convenient, leak-proof and cute as a button.
Owner and mom Holly Mortimer expertly explained prefolds, flushable liners, pocket-style All-in-Ones, swimmies, and wool covers that keep baby dry overnight. She offered tips on softness and absorption (organic bamboo is unbeatable), storage (dry pail, not wet), laundering (add vinegar to rinse water) and preferred detergents (Nature Clean).
Here’s the bottom line.
Benefits for Babies
• Fewer rashes – plastics and/or chemicals in disposables can trigger allergies. Switching to organic bamboo diapers cleared up rashes for Holly’s allergic daughter.
• Less chemical exposure – namely, sodium polyacrylate, the gel-like absorbent filler in disposables which can irritate skin, and dioxin, a known carcinogen produced through chlorine-bleaching.
• Faster potty-training – toddlers feel the moisture, which helps them learn faster.
Perks for Parents
• Less expensive – disposables total $1,500-$2,000 per child, according to Consumer Reports.
But cloth diaper kits, from birth to potty-training, cost between $300 and $700. No need spending thousands for the next baby, either. Cost it out at www.parentingbynature.com/calc.php.
• High re-sale value – cloth diapers keep 50-75 per cent of their original value. They’re that durable—and non-staining.
• Cloth diapers are day-care and swimming pool friendly.
Extras for the Environment
• Human waste goes where it’s meant to, into wastewater treatment plants, not landfills.
• Cloth diapers spare trees and reduce the amount of solvents, sludge, heavy metals, dioxins and furans produced from manufacturing disposables.
• Organic diapers reduce pesticide use.
• Washing cloth diapers takes no more water than five to six toilet flushes daily, the same amount a child uses once toilet-trained.
• Comparing toxicity, resource depletion and life cycle, the “bads” of cloth diapers (extra water and energy) aren’t nearly as harmful as the “bads” of disposables.
• So-called green disposable diapers use recycled materials, less plastic and chemicals, but those benefits are a drop in the diaper pail compared to cloth options.
• Diaper services offer convenience, while still saving money and the environment. Bear Bottoms Diapers Service at www.bearbottoms.ca or 519-634-8600 serves this area.
• Using a mix of cloth and disposable diapers also reduces environmental problems.
Web Peek of the Week
www.diaperjungle.com
