this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023
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Cloth nappies/diapers. Cleaning them is a black hole for personal time.
The manufacture of 2.5 years of disposable diapers has a lower carbon footprint than the energy usage to launder cloth diapers over the same time period.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/291130/scho0808boir-e-e.pdf
So it's still a win if the energy source is renewable itself.
What about the difference in waste as well? Talk about cherry-picking outcomes to make your product/position look good. It's like soft drinks advertising that they're fat-free or chips/crisps saying they're sugar-free
The linked study includes disposal in their calculations. Disposables still come out ahead.
Thanks for clarifying. I don't have time to dig into it now. The data's from 2006. I think it's fair to say that improvements in energy efficient laundry machines (and detergent) in the last 17 years have been significant - and at a glance laundry-related energy costs represent the lion's share of reusables' footprint per this study. I'd love to see more up-to-date data and see if disposables still come out ahead, which would surprise me
I'll see if I can find some better ones. This was just the first one I plucked out of a random citation, because I knew I would get eviscerated without one. But I've been seeing the advice about disposables as far back as I can remember. It was even a trick question in an eco quiz when I was a child back in the 90s (i.e. "Which of these things are better ecological choices?").
Interestingly the 2006 study itself is an updated version. Disposables did even better in the 2006 study than in the older one: Due to advances in manufacturing and in materials science, they were able to start producing them using less material (which decreases the carbon footprint during manufacturing, shipping, and disposal).
If you're interested, here's a 2009 Australian environmental study in which reusable diapers come out on top: https://www.parliament.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/2096268/08.1-Attachment-Life-Cycle-Assessment-Reusable-and-Disposable-Nappies.pdf
I feel compelled to point out this important bit of context for anyone who doesn't read the paper:
The UK study similarly found that colder water and line-drying would sufficiently reduce the carbon footprint to a lower level than disposables.
But seriously? Who does that?
For regular clothing, where you can use a more powerful detergent? Sure.
But for something that goes directly against your child's most sensitive skin, which will need to be laundered with gentle detergent?
Maybe we can find a paper on how to do all that without heat but with proper sanitation? Remember, laundry detergent is designed to clean, but not necessarily to sanitize.
That study was disproven when using them for multiple children. That's the key to climate friendly diapers—using them across all your kids.
I personally don't mind much using cloth diapers.
We quickly rince them after use so it does not smell unlike dirty diapers in the bin that start smelling after a day (we live in a hot country)
My experience with disposables is that they don't smell if allowed to dry out, but also I live in an area that is only hot for about 4 months out of the year so I can see where that can change the calculous
I don't think anyone is using cloth diapers for frugal reasons, but rather for waste and environmental reasons that disposable diapers create (It takes hundreds of years for each disposable diaper to decompose, and they are made with plastic and carcinogens). I've looked into the topic, and although it might discount the cost of constant purchase of disposables, the high cost of the cloth ones themselves as well as the cost of running the washing loads mean the reason to switch wouldn't be for frugal reasons but to stop the influx of disposable diapers into landfills and comfort of the baby wearing it.
Do you have to do more than toss them in the washer?
(I know nothing about the topic, lol.)
You need to de-shit them (it can be quite runny).
You don't want to wash them with anything else. But you need enough to justify the run.
You need to store them till they can be washed (smelling the whole time).
Babies need a lot of nappies.
All of this is at the most exhausting time in the parents lives!
And there's a chance that no matter how hard you work, your newborn winds up with diaper rash.
Not really, no. That’s one that’s definitely worth it.