Cloth Vs. Disposable: An Organic Green Mommy's Dilemma

(This was my second article with OrganicGreenMommy.com)

There are some major decisions in life that take so much of your time and energy that you’re left drained and wilted once the decision is finally made. For those of us trying to be environmentally friendly while preparing for the imminent birth of our child, nothing seems as vitally important as the decision on which diapers to use.

I’d like to say that the decision has been an easy one. As easy, say, as deciding to breastfeed or make our own baby food when the time comes. But in all honesty, it’s been one that has weighed very heavily on me for the past nine months and has made me feel hypocritical and selfish. Being that disposable diapers haven’t been around for very long, it seems that while the question of what to do with baby poo has been around since the dawn of time, the dilemma between cloth and disposable has only been weighing on environmentalists for a few decades. As a tree hugger, I shudder at the thought of a mountain of soiled, plastic diapers clogging up the mouth of Ol’ Faithful, resulting in a steaming mess of stinky landfill. My husband and I do all we can on a daily basis to ensure that the planet stays green for our children, so cloth diapers seemed like the most obvious choice, right?

Cloth diapers have been around for centuries and have a huge, cult-like following. I might joke about staunch environmentalists, but there is no one on this beautiful Earth who can be as rigid as a cloth diaper devotee. With cloth diapers, the benefits to the planet (and my baby’s tushie) are relatively obvious. No mountain of poopy plastic, no harsh chemicals against delicate baby skin. While it might seem like a no-brainer, there’s a part of me that can’t get past the idea of my delicate panties being washed in the same washing machine that only hours ago held 45 pounds of poopy cotton.

The anal retentive (no pun intended, I promise) side of me, the one that folds towels a very particular way, puts them into the closet according to color and than rotates stock so none of the uniformly folded towels feel left out, just doesn’t want to put poopy panties on my hoo-hoo.My other concern, and one that weighed more heavily than poopy delicates, if you can believe it, was the time and cost necessary to clean soiled cloth diapers. In my area of Florida, there aren’t a lot of choices when it comes to a diaper service. I could get a mail order pick-up (yeah, the UPS carrier would love that), but there than arises the use of oil for transport to and from my house to add to the environmental equation. Cloth diaper services wash en masse, which saves on water usage, but one of the companies I found in my area uses so much bleach to clean the diapers that they suggest you wash the diapers again when you get them home to soften them for your baby’s booty. Huh? If I have to wash them at home, why send them out?

If I can get over the idea of poop particles floating in my washing machine just waiting to attach themselves to my delicate underthings and decide to take care of the cloth diapers at home, what are my options? Talking to cloth diaper aficionados, I’ve found there are two schools of thinking. Step one is to take the soiled cloth diapers and do what’s basically a dip rinse in the toilet to … uh … rid the diaper of most of the offensive mess. Group number one has a bucket of water (with some vinegar maybe mixed in) that they then toss the diapers into until they’re ready to do laundry. The second group bypasses the bucket and simply tosses the soiled diapers into a filled washer, wait until there’s a full load (it’s actually hard to avoid the puns) and wash away.

Washing poses another series of variations, but basically, you’d run the diapers through a cold cycle and then a hot cycle, although some people claim that three washes is the best way and some claim that one good wash in hot water is enough. Average it out, let’s just say it’s two cycles of wash, using both electricity and water. And let’s not forget that baby clothes need to be washed separately to begin with, but no one washes diapers with clothes, so we’re adding more loads.

Now, I know that some of you are going to get upset with me, but please understand that I’m just trying to work through a decision that I think most newbie/wanna-be/trying to be environmentalists are thinking. I’m expressing my honest opinion and yes, playing devil’s advocate, but I’d say that there are a few issues with cloth diapers. First off, there’s buckets of stagnant water filled with excrement that is not only an issue with scent, but also drowning hazard for a little one crawling around. Then there are at least two extra loads of laundry, using water and electricity that could be saved. Because I don’t have a diaper service in my local area, that option was out immediately for me just based on the transport factor.

Selfishly, and I totally admit it, there’s also the factor of time that weighs in on my decision. I work 40 hours a week, I commute 10 hours a week and I’m about to have a baby that will become my entire life. The way I feel, I will be gone from my baby’s life enough as it is, if I can save even ½ an hour not doing laundry I don’t need to do, I’m going to take it. That’s more time with my child. I know, I know, it’s selfish, but I’m being brutally honest with you all.

So where does that leave the average Joe Green? I guess in pretty much the same spot my husband, Paul, and I are standing. We’re trying desperately to weigh the monetary and environmental costs of our decision making. Nicely enough, there’s a new diaper hybrid on the market that’s gaining attention. Earth friendly and disposable diapers! (Insert the angel choir here). They’re chlorine free (Seventh Generation), biodegradable (Nature Boy and Girl), and even have a cotton blend (Tushies). There’s also a totally flushable and compostable (do not get me started on the idea of human fecal matter in my compost pile) G-diapers, which are a protective exterior with an insert, kinda like a sanitary napkin for your baby. The green diapers are typically a little more expensive than regular disposable diapers, but for those of us stuck between a poopy washing machine and a stinky landfill, this might be best choice.

With only two weeks until my due date, this is a decision we’re going to be forced to make pretty quickly. After baby showers, we’ve been gifted with a variety of disposable diapers, and in this economy, we can’t afford to turn them down. But we’ve decided that we’re going to test drive the eco-friendly diapers out there and attempt to cross the bridge between disposable and Earth friendly. Stay tuned, and I’ll let you know how they work out. Like most things with a new baby and a first time mom, this is going to be an on-going learning process.