Many parents initially look at cloth diapering for environmental reasons -- and with good cause! The Women's Environmental Network in Europe has done some great work in furthering the use of cloth diapers in Europe through educating the public about the amount of waste generated by disposables. Based on a report from the Women's Environmental Network, The Real Diaper Association reports:
- Disposable diapers are the third most common consumer product in landfills today.
- A disposable diaper may take up to 500 years to decompose.
- One baby in disposable diapers will contribute at least 1 ton of waste to your local landfill.
Landfill issues are very important. This is a very interesting dilemma facing in Hawaii right now as many of their landfills are either closing or set to close very soon. This article is one of many that discusses this issue. Honolulu has one landfill remaining. Kauai’s only landfill will reach capacity in 2009. Hawaii is running out of places to put its trash and many parents there are turning to cloth diapers in an effort to reduce waste.
Looking at waste on the mainland, I found a report published by the Environmental Protection Agency. This report shows the Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States and gives an interesting view of the waste situation in the United States ten years ago. It says, "An estimated 3.1 million tons of disposable diapers were generated in 1997, or 1.4 percent of total MSW generation. (This tonnage includes an adjustment for the urine and feces contained within the discarded diapers.) The materials portion of the diapers includes wood pulp, plastics (including the super-absorbent materials now present in most diapers), and tissue paper. No significant recycling or composting of disposable diapers was identified in 1997."
The same report, published in 2005 (Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2005 Facts and Figures) showed that disposable diapers accounted for 3.6 million tons of waste and 1.5% of the total waste generation for that year. Once again, the report specifically mentioned that no significant recyling or composting of disposable diapers was identified in 2006.
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