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Cloth diapers anyone?

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by lucullan, Jul 26, 2008.

  1. lucullan

    lucullan New IL'ite

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    I decided to use cloth diapers with my new baby. Main reason is that i am moving to India and it's really hot there :) and i think cloth diapers are much more common then over here, am I right? I did some research about pros and cons and here are the findings that convinced me most taken from a wonderful website, http://www.realdiaperassociation.org that certainly summs it up!
    1. Health
    Disposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin, an extremely toxic by-product of the paper-bleaching process. It is a carcinogenic chemical, listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals. It is banned in most countries, but not the U.S..(1)
    Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin (TBT) - a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.(2)
    Disposable diapers contain sodium polyacrylate, a type of super absorbent polymer (SAP), which becomes a gel-like substance when wet. A similar substance had been used in super-absorbancy tampons until the early 1980s when it was revealed that the material increased the risk of toxic shock syndrome.(3)
    In May 2000, the Archives of Disease in Childhood published research showing that scrotal temperature is increased in boys wearing disposable diapers, and that prolonged use of disposable diapers will blunt or completely abolish the physiological testicular cooling mechanism important for normal spermatogenesis.(7)​

    2. Enviroment

    The instructions on a disposable diaper package advice that all fecal matter should be deposited in the toilet before discarding, yet less than one half of one percent of all waste from single-use diapers goes into the sewage system.(4)
    Over 92% of all single-use diapers end up in a landfill.(4)
    No one knows how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose, but it is estimated to be about 250-500 years, long after your children, grandchildren and great, great, great grandchildren will be gone.(5)
    Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste. In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of household waste.(5)
    Disposable diapers generate sixty times more solid waste and use twenty times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp.(3)
    The manufacture and use of disposable diapers amounts to 2.3 times more water wasted than cloth.(3)
    Over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby EACH YEAR.(6) :shock:

    Sources
    (1) Allsopp, Michelle. Achieving Zero Dioxin: An emergency strategy for dioxin elimination. September 1994. Greenpeace. http://archive.greenpeace.org/toxics/reports/azd/azd.html
    (2) Greenpeace. New Tests Confirm TBT Poison in Procter & Gamble's Pampers: Greenpeace Demands World-Wide Ban of Organotins in All Products. 15 May 2000.
    http://archive.greenpeace.org/pressreleases/toxics/2000may152.html
    (3) Armstrong, Liz and Adrienne Scott Whitewash: Exposing the Health and Environmental Dangers of Women's Sanitary Products and Disposable Diapers, What You Can Do About It. 1993. HarperCollins.
    (4) Lehrburger, Carl. 1988. Diapers in the Waste Stream: A review of waste management and public policy issues. 1988. Sheffield, MA: self-published.
    (5) Link, Ann. Disposable nappies: a case study in waste prevention. April 2003. Women's Environmental Network.
    (6) Lehrburger, C., J. Mullen and C.V. Jones. 1991. Diapers: Environmental Impacts and Lifecycle Analysis. Philadelphia, PA: Report to The National Association of Diaper Services (NADS).
    (7) C-J Partsch, M Aukamp, W G Sippell Scrotal temperature is increased in disposable plastic lined nappies. Division of Paediatric Endocrinology, Department of Paediatrics, Christian-Albrechts- University of Kiel, Schwanenweg 20, D-24105 Kiel, Germany. Arch Dis Child 2000;83:364-368.



    Any first hand experience :?:
     
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