Gross Facts About Disposable Diapers

I don't mean to preach. I totally understand that some people have personal reasons that mean cloth isn't an option. Some people also rent and do not have their own washer and dryer. The reasons i don't understand are; it is too much work or that it is gross (At some point babies get poop on everything, and parenting IS a lot of work!) There are a lot of reasons that cloth diapering is a great alternative. I thought i would show some facts about disposable diapers, for those of you who are considering cloth. I'm always interested in others opinions. If you do choose to use disposable diapers there are more eco friendly options, like Seventh Generation Disposable Diapers, which are not bleached in chlorine, or Nature Boy & Girl, which are made with cornstarch. However no diaper, even an eco friendly one can break down well in a landfill. Since having a child, i've become a lot more concerned with being eco friendly, he's got to live in this world after all. I hope it is still a beautiful place for my great-grand children!

Here we go:

Disposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin, an extremely toxic by-product of the     paper-bleaching process.  It is a carcinogenic chemical, listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals.   

Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin (TBT) - a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.

Disposable diapers contain sodium polyacrylate, a type of super absorbent polymer (SAP), which becomes a gel-like substance when wet. A similar substance had been used in super-absorbency tampons until the early 1980s when it was revealed that the material increased the risk of toxic shock syndrome by increasing absorbency and improving the environment for the growth of toxin-producing bacteria.

In May 2000, the Archives of Disease in Childhood published research showing that scrotal temperature is increased in boys wearing disposable diapers, and that prolonged use of disposable diapers will blunt or completely abolish the physiological testicular cooling mechanism important for normal spermatogenesis.

Based on  estimates 27.4 billion disposable diapers are consumed every year in the U.S.

The instructions on a disposable diaper package advise that all fecal matter should be deposited in the toilet before discarding, yet less than one half of one percent of all waste from single-use diapers goes into the sewage system.

Over 92% of all single-use diapers end up in a landfill.

In 1988, nearly $300 million dollars were spent annually just to discard disposable diapers, whereas cotton diapers are reused 50 to 200 times before being turned into rags.

Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste.  In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of household waste.

Disposable diapers generate sixty times more solid waste and use twenty times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp.

The manufacture and use of disposable diapers amounts to 2.3 times more water wasted than cloth.

Over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby EACH YEAR.

No one knows exactly how long disposable diapers sit in a landfill before they decompose, but it is estimated to be 250-500 years!

*Information drom www.realdiaperassociation.org