Say it ain't so mommas! Could our precious cloth be using up more of our precious water than their disposable counterparts!?! Well I am here to tell you IT AIN'T SO!
This is a big question I get a lot because of a few studies that came out years back stating that cloth and disposables had virtually the same environmental impact. Of course, disposable diaper companies LOVE to quote these studies. Well I am here to burst their bubble.
The Landbank Consultancy Report, showed that 2.3 times more water was wasted in the manufacture of disposables as well as 3.5 times as much energy!But how is this so? I mean you have to wash the diaper each time the baby pees in it? You do a double rinse for God's sake! I mean that is A LOT of water! Yes, I agree. It is a "lot" of water, but how much water does it take to manufacture disposable diapers? As you can see from the above statistic it takes 2.3 times MORE water to make disposables than it does to wash cloth.
Now many of you are probably skeptical. That can't be true. Well I am here to tell you it is! Having worked for numerous years in a manufacturing facility I can tell you the water consumption and energy consumption is outrageous. People always assume that just because the disposable diapers aren't "washed" that it requires little water. The fact that it uses 2.3 times MORE water (and you know how much water disposables use) that should tell you HOW MUCH water manufacturing requires.
When you have machinery mass producing anything there is a constant stream of water in the "generator" area. IT is making sure that the machinery and generators do not get too hot. Beyond that you have the prep and manufacture of each component of those diapers. For example, the wood pulp is processed in a facility, then it is bleached out. Both processes require water. Then you have to produce the plastic used. A process which requires water. Then you have to get all the "pieces" together in one place and manufacture those together. More water. When you have to manufacture one diaper for each use it requires LOTS of energy and LOTS of water. These companies must produce 2 tons of diapers for each child. I can EASILY see how they use more resources, water, and energy.
And on top of that when they produce the wood pulp it goes into a big vat of water and chemical mixture. So each diaper goes into a giant tub of water. A baby needs one diaper for each time they are changed. So that means that each disposable diaper is "washed" in a sense. With cloth you wash the diaper each time the baby pees or poos. SO you are washing that diaper one time per use as well.
SO when you add on top of that the water consumption required to manufacture the disposable that is how you get more water consumption.
So fear not fellow cloth diapering mommas. You are not depleting our precious water sources anymore than your disposable diaper counterparts. In fact, you are saving a little bit of it.
