Has anyone in California reconsidered cloth diapers due to the severe drought that we are experiencing? I used cloth for my 2.5 year old about 80-90% of the time until he potty trained around his second birthday. I'm expecting my second and really trying to give this a lot of thought. I obviously already have all the diapers that we would need and a big enough stash to wash 2-3 times per week. I'm definitely worried about the extra water usage, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the amount of disposables we would go through if not using cloth. If this is something you're facing, what did you decide?
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The incredible amount of water used to make disposables in the first place made me feel like cloth was still a better option.
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I read somewhere that household water use is only 4% of water used in California. The rest is for things like agriculture.
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@Arden: if that is all true that's scary! I still will probably use disposables again for baby #2 for other reasons but wow.
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@Arden: I've heard that before, but haven't seen the chart. Thanks. My only concern with the numbers is that perhaps the diapers are made in an area that doesn't have a drought whereas mine would be washed where we do.
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@MrsHansen82: I'll have to look into that further. I think our water use is already on the lower side for the area, but I'm sure everyone can do more.
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Being in Cali as well I haven't given it a thought... Though I should. So far we don't have restrictions but if we did, it may make a difference. I remember the year I moved to Cali and we only flushed if we went #2 or at the end of the day to conserve water.
There are ways to be much less wasteful of water while cloth diapering but it may mean re restashing. Hmmm interesting questions.
So right now, I'm not worried but it is now on my mind for the future as things get tougher.
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I'm not facing this but one of the things I did was to cut down on how often I washed my diapers once she was bigger. We use disposables at night because H is such a heavy wetter and now I can go a week between diaper washings. It's seriously the best thing ever. I also am planning on getting some bac-out to spray on any cloth poop diapers we end up with to help out as well.
You could look into a diaper service in your area if you want to use cloth but cut down on water usage. Their washing facilities are much bigger/more efficient so that would cut the water usage down significantly.
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@brownie: We do that too in our house. It seriously saves so much water!
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Liners may be helpful too because you can lift out solid waste and flush it but little sprayingn, dunking and less time washing maybe.
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@Arden: I was going to find something similar!
We are pretty low water users and very aware as I've always lived in CA and we have had a drought as long as I can remember. I really believe overall, cloth is a better use of resources, especially if you already have them! (We did for LO1, and will for future kiddos).
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We're not in a drought area but my house is on a cistern (my DH literally drives to town gets 250 gallons of water and drives back to our house and dumps it in the tank) because of this we are extremely conscieous of how much water we use and we cloth diaper with no issue. An HE washer is extremely efficient.
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Agree that HE washers are pretty efficient. You could also look at washing and soaking in a tub to help them get clean and then just rinse or quick wash in the washer?
Also I was never really afraid to throw some clothes in with the diapers. So I always tried to make a full load.
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@avivoca: We won't use a diaper service because we already own about 50 AIO and pockets, so it wouldn't make sense. I had a diaper service for the first two months when my son was little and I don't like prefolds.
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@birdofafeather: Thanks! We've always live here too. I think what really hit home for me was driving from southern CA to central CA for a wedding this past weekend and seeing so many places on my GPS that indicated there should be water and there was nothing. It really freaked me out. I live in the suburbs and am pretty far removed from the actualities of the drought that it was really difficult to actually see it myself.
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@ChelseaRose: We just moved to the Central Valley after living coastal so cal our whole lives, so I get it! People here still water their lawns in the middle of the day. I'm shocked that there aren't more regulations but in SD we were in a really bad spot so people were more aware I think.
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@birdofafeather: I was driving from the LA area to SLO and spent part of the drive on the 154 by Lake Cachuma, which had been severely impacted by the drought. I've heard/read that even in places that are supposed to have water restrictions that they are not being enforced at all and people are rarely even given fines. I see so much water wasting by individuals and business that I really don't want to be one to unnecessarily contribute to it. We water our lawn maybe once a week and at night only.
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