User:SueCarter/Eco Friendly Cloth Diapers

Eco Friendly Cloth Diapers is about cloth diapers and cloth diaper wet bags and how they can be beneficial to the environment.

Eco friendly cloth diapers and cloth diaper wet bags are becoming very important to parents today who are becoming more aware of how we are destroying our environment with everyday items, such as disposable diapers. An average parent will use thousands of diapers on their child during their infancy and toddler, so they realize that we are creating landfills full of plastic waste that may take over 500 years to decompose.

Parents and child care givers are faced with a tough decision when it comes to deciding which type of diaper to use. A number of factors need to be taken into consideration. ConsumerReports.org offers informative data on the cost of cloth versus disposable on their website. For most parents, the first issue is the cost. Eco friendly cloth diapers require washing that increases the household water bill. Energy efficient washers, however, can reduce the impact on their budget (and the earth) in regards to water usage. Because cloth diapers generally last a considerable amount of time, they can be passed down and used on the next child (or children). This is a plus when it comes to cost versus having to repeatedly buy disposable diapers. Cost also comes into play when choosing the type of cloth diaper to buy. They range from the most expensive pre-folded to the simple cloth insert type that fits into a water proof liner that has buttons, snaps, or velcro to keep the diaper in place on the baby. They all can be carried in a cloth diaper wet bag until they are put either in the laundry or in the diaper pail.

Second, is the convenience of disposable diapers. In today’s fast pace society of parents on the go constantly, the convenience of disposable is a definite lure. Using a good cloth diaper wet bag can help with this issue because they are made of washable, waterproof material that not only keeps the wet inside, but also the smell of the dirty diapers. When parents are traveling, even for short trips to the grocery store, the risk of having to change their baby’s diaper is great. So having an eco friendly wet bag saves money and the environment because they are reusable. In fact, they can be used for carrying other items such as soiled clothing from a potty training accident or wet swim suits. This makes them environmentally friendly because they can be used instead of disposable plastic bags.

Third, is how to deal with the dirty diapers. Disposables go right into the trash, while cloth has to be stored in a diaper pail until there are enough to make up a load of laundry of just diapers (to save on excess water usage). Knowing how to deal with dirty cloth diapers will help with the decision. Also, the choice of diaper material comes into play when buying and considering how they have to be cleaned. Diapers are made from wool, cotton, and even hemp. The most common and well known are the diapers made from cotton.

Washing diapers can have a drain on the environment if not done correctly. A lot of people will wash diapers twice, once to clean off the initial waste product, and then again to sterilize the diaper. And they will use regular detergent which can cause the diaper to leak and smell and the diaper may not perform as well. The chemicals can also irritate the baby’s skin. A more eco friendly method is to wipe off the solid waste, then pre-spray the dirty diaper with an enzyme product which will reduce the odor and stains while it is in the diaper pail. The enzymes actually eat the bacteria.

Next you should pre-wash them in cold water to agitate out the remaining waste. After that put the diapers in a regular laundry load using hot water. This is another advantage to using the enzyme pre-spray because you can be more eco friendly. The diapers can go into a load of wash that contains regular cloths that can be washed with hot water, therefore, saving on the water bill and extra water usage. You can put the diapers and the wet bag into the dryer at medium heat, or you can let them dry in the sun where the UV rays will take care of any left over bacteria and will naturally bleach them.

Making the decision on what type of diaper you want to use on your baby or toddler should be done carefully because baby skin is extremely sensitive. There have been several reports of chemical burns over the years caused by disposable diapers and there is a risk of the baby tearing pieces off the diaper and putting them in their mouth or nose. A parent or child care provider should always check into the facts before buying diapers. Eco friendly diapers are now available from many reputable vendors and range in price so that even new parents on a strict budget can afford them. Gone are the days of safety pins and rubber panties to cover the cloth diaper. Cloth diaper wet bags and outer liners that fit snug over the pre-formed cloth diapers make traveling easier than ever before. Being eco friendly when it comes to diapers is quite possible now-a-days with all the excellent brands of cloth diapers available on the market.