Cloth diapers surface again as BEST diaper choice

In a fast-paced, overly efficient society, diapers have become as much about speed and convenience as they have about quality and fit. Check the clock, then the diaper, grab the diaper bag, clean up the baby, wrap 'em up, strap 'em up, and move on. It’s the baby pit stop, and it is an essential reality of parenthood that occurs just about bi-hourly. Thankfully, parents are beginning to slow down enough to weigh out which diaper to use for those all too common pit stops, and for those claiming to live “green,” it is all about alternative options to the wasteful disposable diaper.

In the past, options were limited in the way of diapers. A dirty diaper meant a dirty cloth that had to be scraped, washed and dried. Then, when disposables came around, the amount of time to clean diapers dropped drastically as diapers went straight into the trash and with the trade-off for more time came more cost and more waste in the landfills (about 3.4 billion tons of diapers). The green movement, however, has inspired some alternative options, some retro and some pioneering, but it seems the most green options are rooted in the past with cloth diapers.

Biodegradable, disposable green diapers seem like the best of both worlds: convenient yet eco-friendly. Take a dirty diaper, throw it in the toilet or a compost pile and let it slowly transform into nature’s essential minerals and fertilizers. Designed with biodegradable materials, disposable green diapers have greatly decreased the environmental impact present with ordinary disposable diapers, but there are still a few lingering question marks.

As posted earlier on Tainted Green, when the flushable diaper first came about, studies surfaced revealing that the flushable diapers in the sewage system decreased the ability of disinfectants to work in the water because of the cellulose from the diaper, and the extra diapers in the sewage increased the amount of energy necessary to convert biomass waste into combustible gas, thus, more carbon emissions. In addition, although minute, the weight of the wood pulp in the compostable diapers results in more trucks and more carbon emissions. Plus, the cost of the diapers is also slightly higher though that has little to do with the environment.

Overall, the green biodegradable, disposable diaper is clearly a strong option for those green enthusiast still longing for convenience. For green purists, though, the cloth diaper is and continues to be the most eco-friendly choice, if done right. This is what is meant by right: develop a big enough stash of diapers, wash with full loads, use biodegradable detergent, and air dry the diapers once washed.

If those steps are taken, it is hard to argue about the effectiveness of the cloth diaper as the environmental and cost effective choice.  For those going that route, there are a multitude of options in both diapers and detergents, but here are the best options on the market today.

For detergent, Clean B and Rockin Green seem to be the best in quality and performance. Rockin Green offers an extensive line of detergents targeted towards the Rockin Green products while Clean B offers a more limited, scented line targeted at all cloth diapers.

As for the cloth diapers, it is all a matter of preference. One of the more well rounded products on the market is the Flip cloth diaper that is very affordable, but yet well designed to be both trim and absorbent. Not every diaper is perfectly designed for every baby so it may take some experimentation to find the right diaper.

Ultimately, by the time you are experimenting with cloth diapers, the most important decision has hopefully already been made: cloth over disposable.