There are many reasons for choosing to use cloth diapers. They include: the health of your baby, saving money, the cute factor and, of course, the environment. This last consideration is becoming important to more and more young Canadian families.
Dr. David Suzuki, renowned Canadian broadcaster and environmental activist said: “the D-word is the most obscene [word]. I'm referring to disposable.”
In fact, the word disposable is a misnomer. We may “throw it away” but whatever is chucked out does not magically get disposed of. It sits in our tidy bins, finds its way to the larger garbage containers that some hardworking person, usually a man, has the good fortune to dump into a huge super-compacting truck where said item journeys to a HUMUNGOUS landfill to sit for anywhere from a few years to, much more commonly, a few centuries2.
In Canada alone we throw away 4 million diapers per day and in the USA it is a whopping 49 MILLION that get tossed daily. Forty-nine million “disposable” diapers find their way into the landfills each and every day, day after day, all year round. That is nearly 18 billion cute little Pooh Bear single-use diapers each year, year after year. You get the idea; it is a lot of diapers.
The point is, though, that these diapers are NOT disposable because they do not, in fact, get disposed of. They remain on our Earth, thanks to diaper disposal systems which tightly encapsulate and immortalize in plastic single-use diapers (yes, even MORE plastic than is already contained in the diaper itself) in little sausage-like formations, for centuries and therefore generations.
Even so-called “environmentally-friendly” throwaway diapers, once wrapped up in plastic and thrown away (feces included – come on, you know you don’t remove your baby’s poop like you are supposed to) won't do anything more than contribute to the steadily growing problem. So don't deceive yourself.
In contrast, cloth diapers can be used, washed and reused time and time again, even hundreds of times. Most cloth diapers, when they have worn out, can be used as rags for cleaning around the house, then eventually composted, after which said compost can be added to your veggie patch in the Spring. At AppleCheeks we think this is just dandy and delightful – two d-words we can live with, and so can generations to come.
More from our great resources;
David Suzuki's take on diapers
More on how long it takes diapers to decompose
The number of diaper thrown away each year
No human waste should be thrown away with diapers as it can contaminate ground water and release viruses and bacteria. However, it is estimated that only 4% of throw-away diaper users properly dispose of the poop before chucking the diaper in the bin.
Submitted by Amy from AppleCheeks Cloth Diapers. We manufacture beautiful, Canadian-made cloth diapers for the discerning parent.
