The disposable diaper myth

Whole Earth Review, Fall, 1988 by Carl Lehrburger, Rachel Snyder

In over two years of diapering, we put our son in the pure wool covers as well as cotton, nylon, and cotton-she II-with-vinyl-waterproof-layer versions - all in a velcro wrap design that eliminates the need for diaper pins or clips. He never had diaper rash and we used the barest minimum of lotions, powders or creams, even though we filled in with single-use, "disposable" diapers when traveling and occasionally when dryness made a truly significant difference to everyone's well-being.

Most of these natural fiber covers come from California-based companies. But in New England, where winters can be long and damp and dark, the recommended air-drying of the wool covers becomes more than a minor problem . On more than one occasion, we tossed them in the dryer and suffered the resultant shrinkage and shortened life. Overall, laundry became a bit more complicated than we would have liked. The natural diaper covers can't be washed in the "heavy-duty" detergents that mud and toddlers often need. Some of the covers can only be washed in soap like Ivory; others specifically recommend against Ivory and instead suggest mild detergents. And because they need warm water, you can't wash the wool covers in with your diapers, which need hot. So if you're using several different styles of covers at once (which we were), you end up having to do lots of inefficient, smaller loads of laundry and using more cleaning products than you might like.

There's a big psychological hurdle in spending between $10 and $13 for a wool or cotton diaper cover when nylon and other synthetics are at least half the cost. But natural fibers take well to repeated washings and can be recycled among family and friends. Like cotton diapers, the covers are the difference between an investment and monthly overhead. One firm's brochure suggests that the wool covers with cotton diapers can save nearly $1,000 over disposables during the child's diapering lifetime. Another plus - your baby doesn't sound like a bag of trash when he or she scurries across the floor!

The best place to learn about all types of natural-fiber diapering products is Mothering magazine (P 0. Box 1690, Santa Fe, NM 87504), published quarterly for $15 a year. Two of their largest

A number of cities hove achieved remarkobly high collection rates for recycloble materials by use of o very simple "technology." Their solution is to provide each family with convenient and highly visible curbside containers, and to schedule pickups on a regular weekly basis. Several types of containers have been developed, each of molded plastic. The one that has been tested widely and garners participation percentages between 50 and 85 percent of the community is o stackable container first used in Santa Rosa, California in I977. The containers come in three bright colors (red, yellow, blue), designating three types of recyclables - newspapers, gloss and cons, The system eliminates Me need to tie up newspapers; the container win hold o week's worth simply tossed in. Tin ond aluminum cans ore deposited together in another container and then magnetically separated during processing. Residents can also combine clear and colored gloss in the third container.