Environmental Issues Related to Diapers, Bottles, Food Containers, Child Seats, Clothing and the Development of Public Policy

Environmental Issues Related to Diapers, Bottles, Food Containers, Child Seats, Clothing and the Development of Public Policy

The impact of choosing disposable versus reusable diapers on the environment has in recent years largely been overlooked. An unreviewed study published in 1978 indicated that while disposable diapers generate more solid waste, they also consume less water than their reusable counterparts. This was a flawed conclusion based largely on demonstrable clerical and mathematical errors, but few have so noted and many still accept its original conclusions as factual. The situation has been exacerbated by a preponderance of tactical studies funded by disposable diaper companies and a simultaneous dearth of independent studies and studies funded by reusable diaper companies. This paper will survey existing research not just on diapers themselves but also on a other topics like pediatric care, groundwater pollution, and landfill construction, and view the diaper situation from an environmental standpoint. Ultimately it will show how diapering choice can affect the environment by looking at the different key areas that diapers affect.

Quite possibly solid waste is the one thing people think about most when one discusses the impact of diapers on the environment. The amount of solid waste generated by disposable diapers is legendary, and in many people's minds somewhat exaggerated. The fact that many believe it to be larger than it really is does not make it insignificant, however. Disposable diapers are still the third largest individual constituent of municipal solid waste accounting for probably somewhere between 1.5% and 4% of the total6. Even if one decides to ignore such studies, it is still fairly straightforward to obtain a rough estimate of the mass of solid waste generated by alternative means. By using census data to calculate the approximate number of children using diapers within a given population. This can be generally done by summing all of the children who are less than the age of three, 40% of the children who are between the ages of three and four, and 2% of the children aged four. This will always produce an underestimate, as it makes no attempt to count adult diaper users (which includes approximately half of all nursing home patients) and it is assuming that all feces in disposable diapers is being properly flushed. While it has been estimated that an individual child using disposable diapers was responsible for approximately a ton of solid waste over the course of a year, it is fairly easy to get another independent estimate of the post consumer solid waste portion based upon the amount of urine children produce over time taken in conjunction with the average weight of a disposable diaper (with associated packaging) and the number of diaper changes pediatricians recommend per day, and it comes out to be (on the low side) about a quarter of a ton per year. No matter how one approaches the problem, it adds up to a significant quantity of ...