The Sustainable Baby, Diapers II
Filed Under: Baby, Susatainable Living on January 22, 2010
In the last segment of this series, I talked about diapers and specifically compared disposables to cloth and how they measure up for health, ecological, and pocket book comparisons. One thing that can’t be ignored, however, is the ergonomics and convenience factor. Many parents are time-strapped and would rather not spend a large chunk of their spare time washing diapers and cleaning up baby’s messes.
For those parents, economics and environmental reasons may seem like they’re going to have to take a back seat to efficiency of time. This, of course, is the very thing that the disposable diaper market thrives on. Diapering is the least-favorite thing for 99.9% of parents (my guess), so it’s the easiest to make money from if you can just, well, make it easier.
Well, how about this? Instead of giving up on being eco-friendly, why not compromise instead? It’s better than giving up.
The great thing about free markets is that they create an infinite variety of things catering to the needs of individual or small groups of consumers. So the “one size fits all” of socialist markets and the “take it or leave it” style of corporate conglomerates is pushed aside by small entrepreneurs willing to provide what is needed to fill a niche. One of those niches are what I’ve just described: parents who want to be eco-friendly, but can’t afford the time for cloth diapering.
Enter the “green disposable diaper.” Sounds like an oxymoron, and it kind of is, but these types of diapers are halfway between the disposable landfill-hog diaper and the more or less eco-friendly cloth diaper. Remember all the chemicals I told you about that reside in now-traditional disposables?
Well, you can avoid those plus the landfill-hogging attributes of the standard disposable by choosing a green, natural one instead. These are diapers made from natural products (usually paper-derived) that are disposable, but biodegrade relatively quickly (usually within 10 years).
There are several brands of these diapers, but don’t be fooled by the labeling. Major brands that say “eco-friendly” or “green” on them aren’t necessarily toxin-free. Read the fine print and you’ll find that one leading brand’s “natural” diaper takes 30 years to degrade in “open air refuse.” This means that if they bury it inside that thirty years (which is likely), it won’t degrade.
Some brands, though, are made from recycled wood and paper pulp. Look for the ones that are non-bleached (or at least aren’t bleached with chlorine, but vinegar or peroxide instead). Make sure there aren’t any chemicals in them either, as the gel absorbers are common (and very bad).
Another style of disposable is actually made from cotton cloth. They’re a lot more expensive than their counterparts, but are probably the most baby and eco-friendly. They are also usually the most absorbent without resorting to chemicals.
Sadly, some of the best available are in Sweden, not the U.S., and are not just organic, but are GMO-free. They state that because they are literally made of corn starch, which breaks down relatively quickly (within a couple of years) in most landfill types. Awesome.
So shop around, folks, if you must use disposables. You probably won’t find most of these alternative brands at the local big box store, but you will find them in many smaller outlets or you can special order from the Internet. I recommend the Tushies and Seventh Generation brands.
Related posts:
- The Sustainable Baby, Diapers
- The Sustainable Baby, Introduction
- Urban Garden as Sustainable Business in New Orleans
