Madonna is a pompous ass.

That said, give me back my watch Nick.

The problem is that cloth diapers require a lot of water to clean, which is more precious than landfill space. Its very debatable which is more environmentally friendly.

water can be cleaned, they do it all the time.

GOOD FOR MADONNA, she is SO RIGHT!

Water can be cleaned, I suppose. But, washing the diapers in hot water (it needs to be extremely hot) uses up fuel and the detergents are harsh. So, it is a totally valid point its very debatable which is more environmentally friendly. The best thing to do is limit the amount of kids you have, which reduces the use of both types of diapers.

I'm sure Madonna is right there cleaning those cloth diapers all by herself, like most mothers. Nottruereflex ... would you really drink the water that came from a load of crappy diapers in the washing machine after running it through a PUR filter? Give me a break.

In reply to the previous comments, this is a ridiculous argument.

Would you use throw-away (paper/plastic/styrofoam) dishes rather than wash your dishes because "it's very debatable which is more environmentally friendly?" Would you just throw away your clothes after one wear rather than wash them because "it's very debatable which is more environmentally friendly?" I would hope not. Why is it any different with diapers? Yes they do use water, which is a precious resource, but the impact made by the amount used to launder cloth diapers (along with energy used and detergents, which, by the way, need to be very gentle to be used with cloth diapers) is minimal when compared with the enormous impact the manufacturing, distributing, storage, and disposal of paper (disposable) diapers has on the environment.

Nevermind all the toxins that go into those nice absorbant little disposable diapers...

hi.
cloth diapers are most comfortable for babies ;)

First of all, I am not a big Madonna fan. I do, however, admire the fact that she cloth diapers her little one. Before you decide that the cloth diapering is better for the environment issue is debatable, you really should do more research.

I don't know if you are a parent or not, but as a parent (who cloth diapers her daughter) I feel that not only are cloth diapers better for the environment, but they are also better for her skin. Disposable diapers have the chemical in them that they took out of tampons years ago because it was causing Toxic Shock Syndrome. They say diapers aren't worn as long as tampons, so it is okay. However, children are usually in diapers 24 hours a day for two or more years. That seems like prolonged exposure to me. Cloth diapers are more breathable and don't contain nasty chemicals.

When you throw away a disposable diaper, you usually throw the waste away with it. The waste mixes into our soil. When my daughter poops into a diaper, the poop goes in the toilet where it belongs. I assume that is where your poop goes. Also, the toilet water you poop in goes into the same sewer system that washer water goes into. So, you are okay with drinking toilet water that has been cleaned, but not washer water? What about the poopy clothes that go in the washer when a child has a nasty blowout in a diaper? Ever thought about that?

As for the amount of water I use- my water bill hasn't really gone up since I have been cloth diapering. Part of the reason the bill went up the $2 or so is because I have to wash more clothes. Babies go through a lot of clothes. I use Dawn dishwashing detergent to wash her diapers, along with baking soda and vinegar. I rarely use bleach anywhere in my house. Cloth diapers need detergents that are free of all of the extras that often get put into detergents.

Please get your facts straight before you decide to bash something you obviously know next to nothing about.

Thanks!

I'd encourage all of you to do a little research. Sometimes our "common sense" assumptions can be quite wrong.

Check out the water consumption calculator at http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sq3.html
Flushing the toilet uses an average of 3 gallons of water per flush. That means if you flush six times in a day, you're using 18 gallons. One load of wash per day uses just 10 gallons on average.

True, the water needs to be hot, but not super hot. A hot/cold cycle on a home machine is adequate. And manufacturers of today's cloth diapers (check out www.fuzzibunz.com) recommend that you use 1/2 to 1/4 of the recommended amount of detergent.

And for those moms that choose a diaper service, the vast majority of services have shifted to phosphate free detergents.

The more I delve deeper into the matter, the more I realize the much of the research on the environmental danger of cloth comes from studies funded in part by makers of cloth diapers.

Because disposable wick moisture away from babies, they are typically comfortable in a wet diaper longer. That often means later potty training ages (typically age 2 1/2 to 3) and more diapers in landfills. By the time my child is three years old, we will likely have used 9000 disposables. And that's just one baby.

I'm not a purist when it comes to these things. I'm a busy, working mom. But I will try to cloth diaper my child at home and use disposables only when we're out. If you want to hear more about how it's going, check out my blog at cbwilliams.blogspot.com

whoops! In the above, I meant....

The more I delve deeper into the matter, the more I realize the much of the research on the environmental danger of cloth comes from studies funded in part by makers of DISPOSABLE diapers.

Cloth is about choice. You can choose to be as wasteful or resourceful as you like. We dry pail, line dry adn don't use chemicals so I much rather that than fill up landfill and put chemicals on my bub.