Disposable or cloth diapers?

My husband and I spent a lot of time debating whether to use cloth or disposable diapers—nine months, to be exact. We are both environmental scientists and we felt it was our duty to use cloth diapers, which don't fill landfills with untreated waste. But then we did some research.

It turns out that cloth diapers are not entirely innocent from an environmental standpoint. When you factor in the electricity, water, and chlorine used by diaper services in cleaning cloth diapers, you find that cloth harms the environment as much as disposables. Cloth diapers don't pile up in landfills, but the repeated cleaning has a significant impact on air and water quality.

The question then turns on other factors. Disposable diapers are less fuss, easier for travel, very absorbent, and have a snug fit to avoid leaks. On the other hand, they're costly ($7 a day for the first year, by our estimate) and make potty training more difficult. Cloth diapers are less expensive, less likely to cause diaper rash, easier for potty training, and available as hand-me-downs for subsequent children. Their downside: less convenient, harder to use when traveling, more prone to leaks.

The convenience factor also entails time, and that proved decisive for us after our son arrived. As two working parents, we appreciated the time and convenience afforded by disposable diapers, and that's what we chose.

Is it a perfect choice? Far from it. Our hope is that the more environmentally friendly disposables, such as the gDiaper, will continue to improve by the time we have a second child. As of now, many of our friends using the gDiaper call their plumber more often than their pediatrician.

So, for the time being, we'll continue to use disposable diapers. Disposable isn't environmentally friendly. But neither is cloth.

—Kelly Lyles '99. Lyles is an associate with KCI Technologies, in the Environmental Planning Division. Her work involves environmental management, document management, and regulatory compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. Lyles majored in biology at Kenyon and received a master's degree in environmental management from Duke University.