From: bwolfe@trentu.ca (BEN WOLFE)
Subject: Re: Diapers and the Environment
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: Trent University Computer Services Department
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 03:06:00 GMT

allen@tessi.com (Allen Warren) writes:

> Ben, in all honesty, it really is difficult to know what to believe,
> given what you've stated above.  Who are the "independent researchers
> who take the time to read both and find the middle ground of truth"? 
> And if they're only reading biased data, how can they then extrapolate
> what is right?  Unless they do studies themselves, their extrapolation
> must be questioned.
> 
> I do understand that both the disposable diaper manufacturers and the
> diaper service companies have biased data, but trying to discern what
> is truth from two sources of bias is not believable.
> 
> I understand what you're saying, but I'm still saying that unless there
> really is an unbiased study, then we don't really know what all the
> facts are.

You're right; that wasn't very clear from my post.

In general, the best efforts at balancing the claims have been made by
independent, often quasi-governmental bodies that have no stake in one
side or the other of the issue. Where I live, the Recycling Council of
Ontario has made a careful review of the data and strongly favours
cloth. We also have a national "Environmental Choice" program,
sponsored by the federal Ministry of the Environment, through which
products that benefit the environment can carry a restricted "EcoLogo."
Diaper services and cloth diapers are included, and the standards,
though they are a bit long, may help inform this discussion. Here's an
excerpt:

CLOTH DIAPERS

Following are the factsheet and final guideline for Re-usable Cloth
Diapers. The factsheet briefly reviews the research done on Re-usable
Cloth Diapers by Environmental Choice. 

Re-usable Cloth Diapers

Canadians throw out about 1.7 billion disposable diapers every year.
The sheer volume of this waste places a significant burden on our
landfill sites. As well, the consumption of resources for the
production of diapers that are used once and then thrown away can be
greatly reduced through the use of reusable cloth diapers. Design
improvements have increased the convenience and effectiveness of cloth
diapers and they are, in the long run, less expensive than disposables.
ThatUs why weUre putting the EcoLogo on cloth diapers. TheyUre a good
environmental choice.

The Environmental Burden of Disposable Diapers

Two-hundred and fifty thousand tonnes of disposable diapers and their
contents go into our landfill sites each year. They are the third
largest single item (after newspapers and beverage and food containers)
in the municipal waste stream. 

Disposable diapers make up approximately 85% of the diaper market. In
Canada, the manufacture of disposable diapers consumes approximately
65,500 tonnes of pulp, 8,800 tonnes of plastic and 9,800 tonnes of
packing material a year. 

The Environmental Benefit of Cloth Diapers

Reusable cloth diapers not only spare our dump sites, they take a
fraction of the material resources to produce. Less than 10 kg of
cotton is enough to supply all of the reusable cotton diapers required
by a baby during the two and a half years it spends in diapers. It
takes about 200 kg of fluff pulp and 130 kg of other materials (mostly
plastic) to supply a baby with disposable diapers.

If Canadian families switched to cloth diapers it would reduce the load
on our landfill sites while decreasing the use of material resources
such as pulp and plastics. Reducing the demand for pulp should also
reduce any air or water pollution resulting from pulp production. 

Some concern has been raised that a shift towards the use of cloth
diapers would increase the production of cotton and, therefore, the use
of pesticides. However, even if all disposable diapers were replaced
with 100% cotton diapers, the impact on the cotton industry would be
minimal as the cotton required for the manufacture of cloth diapers
would still represent but a small fraction of total cotton production. 

Diaper services certified by Environmental Choice use less energy,
water and detergent than washing diapers at home. For more details,
refer to the Environmental Choice factsheet entitled RDiaper ServicesS.

For every consumer dollar spent on disposable diapers, there is an
additional hidden cost for disposal.

Based on a review of currently available product life cycle
information, the product category requirements will produce a net
environmental benefit by conserving resources and reducing the volume
of waste in landfill sites.

[End of quotation.]


There's a similar but more strongly worded guideline and fact sheet for
diaper services. The analysis behind this was done by the Canadian
Standards Association (CSA) after a review of all available data.

As for the difficulties of extrapolating from the biased studies
produced by one side or another of the industry -- this is partly true,
but one of the virtues of life cycle analysis is that all of a study's
assumptions and calculations are supposed to be visible. This makes it
possible to single out questionable (or, in the case of the worst
studies, downright fraudulent) numbers, substitute better data, and
recalculate the results.

I hope this helps clarify the discussion. As far as the CSA is
concerned the results are very clear cut in favour of cloth, and
particularly in favour of diaper services.