Energy and effort are also a factor involved. Using diapers as an example, all mothers in years of the past were forced to use cloth diapers. This involved a constant cycle of change the baby, wash out the daiper. Most mothers could probably say that this was one of their less lesser joys of raising a child. The energy involved in this process is worth a great deal to these mothers.
Storage is a third issue involved in the advantages.
The space that is used to keep many items that must be recycled is far greatr than that of disposable items. On the other hand however, there are liabilities that come with thes items as well. One of these an a the fact that many of these items cost us more both in the short and long run. The same goes with the diapers. You end up paying much more in the long run by using disposable than if you used cloth ones.