Pop Quiz: What's Filling Your Landfill?

"The two best options seems to be compostable and flushable diapers, or disposable diapers from companies such as Seventh Generation that are at least chlorine free."

Those may be the two best options for those who have chosen to reproduce, but a better option than either is to not reproduce at all. We just don't need more people right now. Let's give it a rest.

It is not only the babes of the world who use disposable diapers these days. Have you been to a home for seniors lately? Hospital and extended care facilities (in N.Am. anyways) use up large amounts of disposable products as well so the blame cannot all be put onto the shoulders (or behinds) of the children and those who choose to procreate (hopefully responsibly.)

And sorry to burst your bubble Atoms, but unless you off yourself early, saving the world the troubles of your less than perfectly functioning elderly bowels, you will also be a part of the problem. Be thankful you likely will not remember reading any of this by that stage in life.

there would be no need for any landfills if all material was sorted so that all metals could be recycled & everything else could be put through the anything into oil process - more usable land and fuel to use

"The two best options seems to be compostable and flushable diapers, or disposable diapers from companies such as Seventh Generation that are at least chlorine free."

By whose standards? Has anyone done an in depth life cycle analysis of cloth vs. compostable/disposable, including manufacturing, mileage, and materials? If you plan correctly, have enough diapers, and use energy efficient washer/drier or hand wash/ hang dry, cloth has got to be the better option. Let's be real, chlorine free just doesn't cut it. G diapers only work if you have the right septic/waste system and, as far as I know, the "compostable" diapers still take upwards of 50 years. Cloth is not as difficult as people think it is. The real achilles heel is the covers depending on the material (synthetic v. natural). But quality covers can be used for so long.

The real problem with disposables, besides the obscene amount that clog the landfill, is the amount of people that just leave the waste in them. Yes, much to peoples chagrin, disposables are supposed to emptied before they go in the trash. No one does that.

Great topic!! Neutron, you're absolutely correct. I'm a health care provider and am constantly amazed at the trash produced. To beat the sacred cow; I'd like to see more articles on how having children creates further burden on the Earth. I have two grown children and would have done things much greener had I known. I pretty much feel having children today is similar to building. The greenest house you'll ever build is the one you don't.

I've been told that cloth diapers don't use more water/energy than disposables because disposables use so much in the manufacturing process. Whereas cloth are not only reused for one babe, but can be handed down to siblings or sold online (there's actually quite a market for used diapers).

If all the people who have the genetic predisposition to care about the planet choose not to breed it will only make matters worse. Ever heard the saying: "your ideas will die along with your kind" ?

no nuetron, i agree with atoms. how long would a senior be in a diaper? for a new born its the first 3 years of his/her life. and if anyone saw that show on National Geographic Channel, The Human Footprint, it showed that each of us goes through some 3500 diapers in the first years of our life. thats pathetic even with no alternitive the disposable diapers

"Those may be the two best options for those who have chosen to reproduce, but a better option than either is to not reproduce at all. We just don't need more people right now. Let's give it a rest."

I think this was the stupidest comment Ever. Lets stop procreating as a species for the time being because we need to stop using disposables diapers. Why not offer a more practical solution. extermination?

all the energy used in keeping washables clean can be recycled (water, electricity, windpower) etc

"eco-disposibles" are not the best option, as they still require lots of energy/materials in production for one poop!

To those like atoms and others whose knee-jerk reaction to questions like this is to suggest that we stop making more people, I wonder whether you are disappointed that your own parents didn't choose this option.

I wish I had been better educated on environmental issues when my kids were in diapers. It sickens and saddens me to know that I negatively impacted the earth in such a way.

Now, I am teaching my 4 kids to be good stewards of this earth. We reduce, reuse and recycle. We take bags with us to the beach and pick up trash. When we're out somewhere, my rule is if they touch litter (why do they find it so irresistible??) they now have the responsibility to properly dispose of it. If they leave it, then they are the ones who littered. . . and that's just not acceptable!

Sometimes they even surprise me with their own ideas on ways to help the earth.

Most studies on cloth vs. disposable don't take into consideration that the cloth diapers can be used on multiple children AND there are organic cotton diapers available. Our diapers are on their third child (our first kid--we got them used) and are already being passed along for a fourth round. Yes, I realize that I'm using water and detergent, but I'm not using any petroleum by products and I'm line-drying them.

From thenewparentsguide.com:
It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.

The untreated waste placed in landfills by dirty disposable diapers is also a possible danger to contaminating ground water. Pro-disposable advocates say that cleaning cloth diapers uses more energy and contributes to the load on sanitary sewer systems and potential water pollution. This view really makes no sense if you think about it. The amount of water used per week to wash cloth diapers at home is about the same amount consumed by an adult flushing the toilet four or five times daily for a week. Also, the greater amount of water and energy being used by diaper service companies to wash large amounts of cloth diapers multiple times; the per diaper impact on energy and water supplies is actually less than home washing.