Biodegradable diapers

There is a lot of debate about how environmental friendly so called biodegradable diapers are. Environmental conscious parents who still want to use disposable diapers are looking into alternatives. Studies show that on average a baby consumes 5000 nappies, thus diapers are a real issue to the environment. About 2% of the total garbage is composed by diapers.

Recently more and more diapers were marketed as environmental friendly as they are biodegradable. But how much these biodegradable nappies help the environment? This is a question that is not easy to answer.
Much recent environmental attention has been focused on the need to find biodegradable diapers to replace the disposable nappies most people are using.

The biodegradable diapers now on the market contain cornstarch, but it represents less than 10 percent of the total diaper market.

"Biodegradable" nappies do not degrade in landfills any faster than conventional disposables diapers; what's more, the contents leach as a form of bacteria/virus-laden hazardous waste. These are the primary reasons why major diaper producers express no interest in marketing a biodegradable diaper at this time. Instead they focus on reducing the size of the diapers, because in this way less material is produced.

Environmentalists accuse the marketing community of applying superficial solutions to environmental issues; the rush to market biodegradable diapers are a perfect example of this. Many marketers still have no idea that biodegradable products do not represent the magic solution perceived by, and currently being perpetuated among, consumers. Perhaps more balanced coverage of these issues could help in steering marketers - and ultimately consumers - in the right direction.

And while so called biodegradable diapers may be a bit more eco-friendly than classical disposable nappies, a more environment friendly approach is using cloth diapers. While cloth nappies still consume energy when washing, they have far less impact on the environment, and by using hypoallergenic detergents your baby is more protected.

Another option for parents is to try the “elimination communication“, a way in which a lot less diapers are used. For more information about the EC technique visit the http://www.diaperfreebaby.org/  site.