Les Jones

Study: Disposable diapers more green than cloth diapers

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 | Environment |

(UK) Times Online - Blow to image of ‘green’ reusable nappy:

A government report that found old-fashioned reusable nappies damage the environment more than disposables has been hushed up because ministers are embarrassed by its findings.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has instructed civil servants not to publicise the conclusions of the £50,000 nappy research project and to adopt a “defensive” stance towards its conclusions.

The report found that using washable nappies, hailed by councils throughout Britain as a key way of saving the planet, have a higher carbon footprint than their disposable equivalents unless parents adopt an extreme approach to laundering them.

Which goes to show that the calculus of using reusables vs. disposables isn’t always clear. See, for instance, styrofoam cups vs. reusable mugs.

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