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diaper question....
We have a choice of compostable diapers or washable, but I am stuck making the decision.
We have city-wide composting and some brands have been verified and approved by our bio-dudes as ok for our piles (of course would use those brands only). Because washable aren't all that popular here, I would have to either import them or import the materials to make them myself. This will be our last child and everyone we know who is planning on having more kids think washable are a waste of time. So they can't be passed on.
Couple side notes: We aren't using day care so we aren't including the "disposable only" rule most have into our evaluation. Our washers are significantly smaller (about half or 1/3 of American washers) so it would mean my number of laundry loads would be doubled. CC&R's also forbid laundry lines so a dryer would have to be used all the time.
In essence, the overall enviro-impact seems to be neck and neck. Cost-wise, the favor is resting on the compostable. Is there any reason why washable diapers would be favored over compostable? In my case, would compostable be the right way to go forward?
Re: diaper question....
No diapers in my life, just yet, but i'm thinking that a small washer is actually preferable, as you don't have to have so many diapers on hand. Instead of 30 (or however many) dirty diapers to make a load, you have 10, so you don't have to buy as many to make an efficient washer load.
That's all i've got
Best sound ever: baby's heartbeat! (Heard @ 10w1d)
So they have ok'd composting of human waste? That's interesting!
I don't know enough about the compostibles to give an opinion. I think, for me, it would come down to which works better for us. I might start out with the compostibles and see if they work well, as in, do they keep in all the necessary stuff? That's one of the big selling points of cloth for me (besides the aspect of less chemicals against baby's tush and the waste/trash).
On the flip side, I've lived in Europe and I know the teeny tiny washers you are talking about. They were the bane of my existence because I was so used to doing huge loads in our American washers. I joke that those machines only fit one t-shirt and a pair of socks at a time!!
Personally, if those diapers actually did compost/degrade like they claim and your town allows them, I'd probably start out using the compostibles to see how I liked them. That way I always have a fall back in the cloth but didn't invest in the cloth up front. Maybe you'll find that a combination of the two will work best for you?
Thanks for the advice!
They allow pet and human waste (from children, obviously not from whole families) to go into the compost piles. Since we have tons of regular kitchen waste as garbage disposals aren't allowed, maybe it's the ratio of human waste to other waste that makes it ok? I find it very odd and kind of freaky myself. Sometimes I just don't understand the Dutch!
I also like the fact that chemicals aren't touching my baby's bottom when you have the cloth. That, and the wet feeling helps babies understand their bladder/bowels and makes for a more natural transition into poddy training (eventually, of course). But those two factors just weren't enough to push the husband over the ick factor of having to "flip it out and flush" diaper contents.
I think I will take your advice and do a combo. Since I am a stay home mom, I can be comfy in using the cloth during the day but switch to compostable the change before he gets home from work (then it's his turn for diaper duty!). Perhaps when he sees it isn't as bad as he imagines, he will be fine with washable for day to day and save compostable for those moments when the baby is really sick and spouting unnatural evilness out if its backside.
And ArmyQM, your comment: I joke that those machines only fit one t-shirt and a pair of socks at a time!! Had me cracking up. I keep threatening to have my mom ship some over some real sized appliances, hang the expense and the complete need to re-wire. Don't even get me started on the size of my oven!!!!
I suggest "elimination communication" instead of diapers (or with a small supply of cloth diapers). I'll let you Google it, since it's almost bedtime here. We don't have kids yet, but this is what we plan to do. I do not find any kind of diapers appealing...
With all the factors you listed I would go with the disposable. I honestly think the environmental impact would be less than having to import CD's, wash them etc etc.
We use Nature Babycare diapers and really love them. They are a European company so hopefully they are approved for you to use.
Oh I know the oven size too but I never could get the hang of converting all my normal recipes to Centigrade so I gave up on baking anything! And then there's the refrigerator....although that one isn't so bad since most Europeans do shopping near daily and don't need such large fridges or freezers.
Ahh Europe, so many great things but so many things different too!
I never understand the argument that cloth diapers (or cloth napkins or cloth towels) are "less eco-friendly because you have to wash them." If I washed all my cloth towels and napkins at once, each one is about the size of a diaper I would guess if not larger, collectively they are about the size of 1 or 2 of DH's t-shirts. Am I forced to do extra loads of laundry to wash an extra shirt or two's worth of material? No. Am I using up a ton more water, more than is used manufacturing the disposable version of this product? No.
And think of all the resources that went into making the disposable diapers (plastic, paper, packaging) and the shipping that went into cutting the trees, shipping the trees to the factory, shipping the pulp to the diaper manufacturing facility, and shipping the finished diaper to you. Plus the fuel for the trucks to pick up the poopy diaper from you and make it into compost. I think that reusable products win the eco-friendly battle over disposable products every time. The mantra is reduce, reuse, then recycle (or compost in this case). You're reducing packing waste and reusing cloth diapers. Cloth diapers are what everyone used until some corporation though up disposables. We're going to be saying the same thing in 10 years about hand towels thanks to Kleenex.
There is scientific research that shows that they overall impact of CD's vs disposables is the same.
In OP situation she would have to do more laundry because it is not like you have 1 or 2 diapers to wash...babies are going to need a lot of CD's to make it so you aren't doing laundry a million times a day. It isn't just the diaper either, there are inserts and covers. Or if you do an AIO they are pretty bulky. With appliances being smaller in Europe this will also limit the size of loads she can do. Plus you don't just throw CD's into the regular wash..there is more to it than those. Ladies on the EFF board post about how they wash theirs and most involve 3 or 4 steps in the washing machine plus rinsing before hand. It is not like you just take the diaper off, scoop the poop out and toss it in the washing machine for one go through.
Add to that the fact that she said that CD's are not readily available and she is going to have to ship them to her from who knows where.
And yes while there are a ton of resources going into make dispsoables (and some brands require more resources) the same can be said for CD's. That material has to be grown, picked, shipped, processed, made, shipped again etc etc. Same process for the covers if you are using a type that needs covers.
Just popping in to say that I have read all the comments and thanks for your input!
Realistically, I am looking at 2-3 extra loads per week just for diapers. And cloth isn't a one time investment for the life of the child. I would have to order/make a new batch every time the baby grows a new size and/or the diapers get worn out from use. Plus there is still the outer cover for water proofing which I can get bio-degradable, but let's face it: it won't degrade buried in landfill anytime soon.
In the end, there is way more manufacture of the compostable ones going on than cloth. But the compostable ones get composted (obviously) while the cloth ones end up in landfill. So it's a tough call. It basically comes down to: pollution up front or pollution on the back end.
Babies are not carbon neutral. Grumble grumble grumble.
Gdiapers would probably be a no go with european toilets...unless you ca compost them? But they are very expensive.
You can buy cloth online, and if you buy onesize, then they could last throughout the child's life and you can resell them after (yes, there is a market for it, I was shocked). Are you sure you can't buy online from somewhere not too far from you? A lot of people do 2-3 loads a week anyway, because it starts getting smelly after a while, so I don't think the size of your washer is an issue.
I would try compostable for NB, and then order a few bumgenius one size and see if you like them. They will last from about 10-35 lbs.
I actually think with the size of your washer if you were to do full time cloth then you'd end up doing more than just 2-3 loads. I currently wash every 2nd day with a full size FL washer and I know the size of the washers you speak of. You'd be maxing out your washer at 2 days, especially with a newborn.
Great. Laundry sucks up 2 days a week as it is. I am shuddering to think about doing diaper loads every other day on top of that. Which could be why I am having great difficulty finding cloth, but I can easily find compostable. Who has time to do several loads every single day?