Dirty Little Secret

How eco-friendly are Eco-Friendly disposable diapers?

About a month ago, I broke down and bought a package of disposable diapers. The first package in 16 months (Oliver hasn't worn a disposable since he was 3 months old).

But in the last couple of months he has been waking up soaked in the mornings and obviously our cloth diapers weren't working for us as well as they once did.

So I bought a pack of Seventh Generation chlorine free diapers to use only at night.

They worked well, no leaks but after further research I discovered that they are still made from plastic, contain SAP and are not biodegradable (and I know that they dye their diapers which is kind of ridiculous). The cost per package is 14.99 for 30 diapers (size 4), the smaller the size the more diapers per package or visa versa the larger the size lesser qty per pack.

 I searched online and found good reviews for Nature Babycare Diapers.

(I was a little hesistant since I did NOT care for their biodegradable baby wipes at all!). But they are readily available at my local grocery store and are about the same price as Seventh Generation, so I bought a pack and have been pretty happy with them. We still have had a few leaks in the morning.... Oliver can be a very heavy wetter, he's a stomach sleeper and he thrashes about in his bed like a mad man! As per their website and packaging, these diapers are:

• 100% chlorine free
• Based on biodegradable materials
• Biodegradable back sheet film based on corn
• 100% GM free  
• 100% biodegradable high loft

All of which sounded terrific. These diapers still do contain SAP but less than most disposable diapers, they are soft and have stretchy tabs. The cost is $13.99 per package (size 4 contains 27 pcs).

I definitely don't want Oliver to be sitting in a plastic toxic diaper all day and night nor do I want to contribute a heap of diapers to the landfill that will never decompose.

My thinking was that if I am going to use a disposable diapers part time, I was happy to spend a little extra (average of $0.50/diaper compared to $0.30 for "leading brands") to get one that is biodegradable .... or so I thought! While the diaper itself is designed to biodegrade, a typical landfill environment does not support this function and the diaper companies do not recommend home composting for possible feces contamination with ground water. So in reality this eco-friendly, biodegradable diaper is not any of those things.

For more eye-opening information, click here!

I was pretty bummed out by this discovery. While I continue to use, support and promote cloth diapering (probably even more so now!) I was enjoying the notion that if I used disposables from time to time I could still use something less harmful to Oliver and the environment. So while I can take comfort in knowing that the disoposables I have chosen are made with eco-friendly, less toxic materials- they aren't decomposing they way I thought they were.

Next on my list to try  is a fitted cloth diaper (with a insert) with one of the FLIP covers to see if that works. Right now we use the FLIP system with the stay-dry insert which wasn't working for overnight use. But I am hoping that a fitted with an insert strategically placed for extra absorption will be our solution.

I purchase a package of the Kushies (baby basic) for $40/pk of 8 fitted cloth diapers. I already have the covers and inserts so hopefully this will work and instead of paying at least $40 a month in disposables it will be a one time fee!