How much landfill space do disposable diapers take up over a single toddler's lifetime? Billions of diapers end up in landfills every year. Cloth diapers create a different kind of environmental cost.
You take apart one unused disposable diaper and one cloth diaper. You list every material found in each one. Then you estimate how many diapers a typical baby uses from birth through potty training. You calculate the total volume of trash that amount creates.
The comparison reveals the trade-off between convenience and waste. You also consider whether a better design could reduce the environmental impact.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that disposable diapers are not better for the environment than reusable diapers.
Landfills are places where trash is buried in the ground in layers, and certain products contribute far more volume than others. Billions of disposable diapers end up in landfills every year, accumulating over the lifetime of a single child. In this experiment, you calculate the total volume of trash that a typical baby's diaper use creates from birth through potty training, revealing the scale of landfill space one everyday product can consume.
An environmental impact assessment studies harm before a project begins. This experiment does something similar by estimating total landfill volume before choosing between diaper types. By calculating waste across a toddler's lifetime, you assess the environmental cost of each option in advance.
Method & Materials
You will obtain one clean, unused, disposable diaper, and one cloth reusable diaper. You will construct a chart to compare diaper functions and list of diaper materials. You will dissect the disposable and reusable diaper.
You will need one clean, unused, disposable diaper, one cloth reusable diaper, and a chart.
Eureka Crate — engineering & invention kits for ages 12+ — monthly projects that build real-world skills. (Affiliate link)
The results of this experiment show that disposable diapers are not better for the environment than reusable diapers. The materials used in disposable diapers are not biodegradable and the volume of trash generated in the duration that babies/toddlers use diapers is significant.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting and unique because it allows students to compare the materials used in disposable and reusable diapers and discuss the volume of trash generated in the duration that babies/toddlers use diapers.
Also Consider
Experiment variations to consider include comparing the cost of disposable and reusable diapers and comparing the convenience of disposable and reusable diapers.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.
