Ask Umbra on the Great Diaper Debate

Loading...

Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon
Upgrade to the latest Flash Player for improved playback performance. Upgrade now or more info.
9,831
Loading...
Alert icon
Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon

Uploaded by on Nov 9, 2008

New parents face an avalanche of uncertainties, and one of the biggest is the diaper question. Is it better for the earth (and your baby's bum) to choose cloth or disposable? With the help of some wee friends, advice maven Umbra Fisk delivers the straight poop on this perplexing topic.

"Ask Umbra" is the first video series produced by GristTV. Look for new video tips for greening your life from Umbra every other week.

  • likes, 5 dislikes

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (30)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • @Lumanette09 For that, they have the Diva Cup.

  • so since menstrual pads have a similar issue (disposable or cloth, which is better for the environment) would your answer be the same?

  • I think she means the organic kind not those plastic things people seem to love to wrap around their kids asses.

  • you misspelled blood.

  • cloth diapers ROCK!!!!!

  • Maybe if you werent so close minded you wouldnt be such a little brat, if people wanna debate, let them. Not like they are sitting around doing nothing, true its not as important as the things you have listed but hey, a lot of other people debate over those as it is. If you feel so strong about it, then go off and do something about it.

  • This issue is definatly more compex than a 1:57 video. I find it hard to believe that a disposable diaper taking 100 years + to decompose in a landfill is equal to washing a reuseing a cloth diaper over and over. I love grist but this is just disapointing.

  • I think that the issue is much more complex than this vid states.

    I live in Sweden where H2O is plentiful and electricity is mostly from renewable sources. So cloth nappies are clearly the best alternative (environmentally).

    The studies assume that children'll use both types of nappies for the same amount of time. Wrong: cloth nappies get wet, alerting the child to what's happening. Result: they grow out of cloth nappies more quickly.

    So don't believe this video. It's not so simple.

Loading...
Alert icon
0 / 00Unsaved Playlist Return to active list
    1. Your queue is empty. Add videos to your queue using this button:
      or sign in to load a different list.
    Loading...Loading...Saving...
    • Clear all videos from this list
    • Learn more