this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023
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The manufacture of 2.5 years of disposable diapers has a lower carbon footprint than the energy usage to launder cloth diapers over the same time period.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/291130/scho0808boir-e-e.pdf
So it's still a win if the energy source is renewable itself.
What about the difference in waste as well? Talk about cherry-picking outcomes to make your product/position look good. It's like soft drinks advertising that they're fat-free or chips/crisps saying they're sugar-free
The linked study includes disposal in their calculations. Disposables still come out ahead.
Thanks for clarifying. I don't have time to dig into it now. The data's from 2006. I think it's fair to say that improvements in energy efficient laundry machines (and detergent) in the last 17 years have been significant - and at a glance laundry-related energy costs represent the lion's share of reusables' footprint per this study. I'd love to see more up-to-date data and see if disposables still come out ahead, which would surprise me
I'll see if I can find some better ones. This was just the first one I plucked out of a random citation, because I knew I would get eviscerated without one. But I've been seeing the advice about disposables as far back as I can remember. It was even a trick question in an eco quiz when I was a child back in the 90s (i.e. "Which of these things are better ecological choices?").
Interestingly the 2006 study itself is an updated version. Disposables did even better in the 2006 study than in the older one: Due to advances in manufacturing and in materials science, they were able to start producing them using less material (which decreases the carbon footprint during manufacturing, shipping, and disposal).
If you're interested, here's a 2009 Australian environmental study in which reusable diapers come out on top: https://www.parliament.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/2096268/08.1-Attachment-Life-Cycle-Assessment-Reusable-and-Disposable-Nappies.pdf
I feel compelled to point out this important bit of context for anyone who doesn't read the paper:
The UK study similarly found that colder water and line-drying would sufficiently reduce the carbon footprint to a lower level than disposables.
But seriously? Who does that?
For regular clothing, where you can use a more powerful detergent? Sure.
But for something that goes directly against your child's most sensitive skin, which will need to be laundered with gentle detergent?
Maybe we can find a paper on how to do all that without heat but with proper sanitation? Remember, laundry detergent is designed to clean, but not necessarily to sanitize.
That study was disproven when using them for multiple children. That's the key to climate friendly diapers—using them across all your kids.