Health Reasons...
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.18
Environment
In
1988, over 18 billion diapers were sold and consumed in the United States that
year.4 Based on our calculations (listed below
under "Cost: National Costs"), we estimate that 27.4 billion
disposable diapers are consumed every year in the U.S.13
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
In
1988, nearly $300 million dollars were spent annually just to discard
disposable diapers, whereas cotton diapers are reused 50 to 200 times before
being turned into rags.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
In 1991, an attempt towards recycling disposable diapers
was made in the city of Seattle, involving 800 families, 30 day care centers, a
hospital and a Seattle-based recycler for a period of one year. The conclusion
made by Procter & Gamble was that recycling disposable diapers was not
an economically feasible task on any scale.17
Savings
Based on these calculations, if we multiply the 8.8
million babies in disposable diapers by an average cost of $800 a year, we find
that Americans spend about 7 billion dollars on disposable diapers every year.
If every one of those families switched to home-laundered cloth prefold
diapers, they would save more than $6 billion14, enough to feed about 2.5
million American children for an entire year15. Coincidentally, the 2002 U.S.
Census reveals that 2.3 million children under 6 live in poverty16.
Information coming from information listed above..
