🚀 go-pugleaf

Dear Tod,

A recent issue of _Consumer Reports_ had a sidebar on disposables vs.
cloth diapers. Their conclusion - - and I've always found their science
to be reliable and their advice sensible - - is that, in areas where the
major immediate environmental problem is diminishing landfill space,
cloth diapers are better. In areas where water supply is more of a problem
(i.e. much of California) disposables probably have less total environ-
mental impact.

This assumes, however, that you are only considering total environmental
impact and energy use and don't include other factors. Such as: are the
disposables going to be disposed of properly, i.e. be rinsed in a toilet
so any fecal matter that could transmit disease doesn't wind up in the 
landfill? Does the mere thought of using a plastic product, which will
be around for thousands of years, for such a temporary need make you
uncomfortable? (This is the deciding factor for me.) Is your particular
child's skin sensitive to any of the substances in the disposable diaper,
or for that matter, to the detergent you use to wash cloth diapers? (This
you can only find out by experiment.) Can you rig cloth diapers so that
leakage is minimal, or when a few leaks occur and stain clothing, can you
cope with that without minding too much? (Incidentally, many of the moms
I know find that, in practice, milk stains on their own clothing are more
of a problem because they occur in such an obvious location. And they can
ruin a favorite dress in a hurry. At the food co-op where I work, we had
a nursing mom who happened to be the dairy dept. manager at the time, and
she found she had to be careful about saying the word "milk" as it some-
times triggered her own milk to let down!)

Hope this helps. Read the _Consumer Reports_ article. I'd be interested to
hear others' responses to this. We get this question a lot at the
food co-op.

(Ms) Chris Laning (claning)