Which Diaper is Sustainable without Draining Your Wallet

Our family has struggled over the years to determine which diaper is the most sustainable without being an excess financial burden. Fortunately there are many options which exist today, none of which is the perfect answer, but there are a few which are worth consideration.

Some interesting facts

50 million disposable diapers enter the landfill every day, where they sit for up to 500 years.
Cloth diaper-wearing children go through about 6,000 diaper changes.
If thrown into a landfill, cotton diapers decompose within six months.
An estimated 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used each year in the US, resulting in a possible 3.4 million tons of used diapers adding to landfills each year

Friends who use cloth diapers tell stories of a lot of work and cost with using diaper services for their clean up and other friends who use the bio-friendly brands have added up the cost over a year and are in shock when they see the numbers. The easy out is what most parents do and just use the big box disposables which are inexpensive, but ultimately in a landfill and not going away any time soon.

Considerations for Cloth Diapers
There are definitely pro's and con's to consider for cloth diapers.

Let's begin with options. With a cloth diaper you can use organic cotton cloth which is a truly sustainable material. It's not going to have dyes, gels, chlorine, latex or any of the myriad of chemicals and materials which manufacturers will fill a disposable with.

On the care front, cloth diapers are only as difficult as the process or system that you put in place. If your considering cloth, you should ask yourself if you're the kind of person who is good at creating processes which make things efficient and manageable. if you're overwhelmed by cooking mac and cheese in the kitchen, then maybe cloth diapers are not right for you.

Cloth diapers are 'local' since you can purchase your supplies and have a local diaper service for your cleaning. The carbon supply chain is greatly diminished.

Cloth diapers actually save energy, because they don't require the carbon & energy supply chain of production which disposables use. Cloth diapers can be washed in a bundle in your energy star washer and dryer, so won't necessarily have a high energy or water impact and can be dried on a clothes line or wooden clothes drying rack .

Cloth is clean if you have the proper method for cleaning and sterilizing your diaper cloths. You can even use a wooden clothes drying rack for energy free drying and sun sterilization.

The conclusion of this editor is that cloth diapers are the more sustainable choice, but may not be right for everyone. If you can't deal with cloth and need a more practical solution (disposable), then at least consider the more environmentally friendly options.

Considerations for Bio Diapers

Fortunately, there are a lot of options, each with it's own pluses or minuses. We haven't included the European brands due to their lack of U.S. availability. Many of these brands focus on their lack of chlorine, fragrance, latex. Some emphasize the packaging as recyclable and only one is a flushable. There is debate about the environmental and toxic potential of the diaper gels, which is inconclusive.

Seventh Generation - (Example Pricing: $51.89/pack of 88)

Claims: Chlorine-free, fragrance-free, latex-free

The big claim here is Chlorine free, but it's still a disposable

Nature Boy & Girl (Example Pricing: $15.99/pack of 48) - MOST AFFORDABLE

Claims: Uses corn-based material, uses less superabsorbent gel

Definitely more sustainable than typical disposable, but still a land-fill target. Doesn't have the best reputation for "retention"

Earth's Best / TenderCare (Example Pricing: $41.04/pack of 88)

Claims: Chlorine-free, latex-free, dye-free, perfume-free

Made by the Manufacturer of 'Tushies', so this is their 'green' alternative. Doesn't have a great 'retention' reputation.

Whole Foods 365 (Example Pricing: $9.99/30) GOOD VALUE

Claims: Chlorine-free, fragrance-free, latex-free, dye-free; wood pulp harvested from family-owned, responsibly managed forests Whole Foods has their own brand of diaper. Many environmentally friendly attributes, but pricey. Has a better 'retention' reputation than most.

Tushies (Example Pricing: $68.04/pack of 88)

Claims: Gel Free, Certified non-chlorine bleached wood pulp from Scandinavian sustainable, renewable, family-owned forests; no animal testing, ingredients, or byproducts; gel-free, latex-free, dye-free, perfume-free, TBT-free, GMO-free

This one is completely free of gel, but does not have a great 'retention' reputation.

gDiapers (Example Pricing $14.59/pack of 32) - THIS IS OUR EDITOR FAVORITE Claims: Consist of a washable, cotton outer 'little g' pant and a plastic-free flushable diaper refill. They are made of breathable material just like sports clothing. So, babies stay dry and happy and are far less likely to get diaper rash. You have to like these diapers for sustainability. They are made of bio-degradable materials which will breakdown in 50-150 days.