Monday Money Saver: diaper games

We're still heavily in research mode and are looking at every cost cutting strategy possible. We also want to make sure we're helping our "Big Mama" Earth and our babies and have looked into cloth diapers. Here's my quick comparison:



Huggies:

• Average diaper use/month 320 - double that for twins!
  
• $24.00/24-pack
• Total/month - $640

Cloth:

• Average diaper use/month 320 - double that for twins and add a few disposable for public
• $272/320 with Tiny Tots
• $156/320 with ABC Tidee Didee

If the price savings doesn't help convince, here's an interesting article from Scientific American:
"

A growing number of green-minded parents are starting to recognize the health and ecological benefits of reusable cloth diapers over disposables. Most brands of disposables are made from petroleum-derived plastic and wood fiber—some 250,000 trees fall each year to feed America's disposable diaper addiction.

According to The Green Guide, 95 percent of U.S. families now use disposable diapers—to the tune of as many as 8,000 per child. As a result, 3.5 million tons of them clog landfills each year. Accompanying these diapers, of course, is untreated fecal matter and urine that can easily contaminate the groundwater surrounding landfills. Pathogens in this waste can be spread far and wide by insects and animals.

Furthermore, the process of bleaching disposable diapers to make sure they are as white as possible before they get to consumers leads to the generation of the chemical dioxin, which besides being potentially harmful to factory workers and the environment surrounding manufacturing facilities, can show up in trace amounts in the diapers themselves, potentially exposing babies' skin to a dangerous carcinogen. ..."