'Pampers' diapers were the first to come on the market in 1961. They began to make environmental headlines in the early 1970's, beginning with a report from the Pennsylvania Boy Scouts of America stating that they were the largest source of litter they had cleaned up on highways in the USA.
A 1975 Consumer Report article brought to light the fact that disposable diapers are manufactured using trees, usually Old Growth trees from Canada.
Since diapers could not be flushed down the toilet (as they were causing back up and sewage problems), parents and care takers were forced to throw them in the garbage.
This caused the World Health Organization, in the 1970's, to take a formal stand against having urine and fecal matter in our landfills, as this was thought to be very dangerous and to contaminate our water supply.
Parents were advised to "flush the waste" and then throw away the diaper. This mandate has remained in effect today, though there has been no way to enforce this.
When disposable diapers first came on the market, several states in the USA actually tried to ban the sale of them because the chemicles in them were found to be so dangerous.
In fact, one of the major chemicles that were in disposable diapers and REMAIN in disposable diapers today, sodium polyacrylate (a "SAP," or super absorbent polymer) is the chemical that was pulled out of disposable tampons for women because of it's known association with Toxic Shock Syndrome.
It should also be noted that this SAP has been used in diapers since 1985, averaging about 5 to 6 grams per diaper but now has risen to about 10-15 grams per diaper.
A SAP study in 1988 recommended to all asmatic mothers to stay away from them, as they were found to increase eye, ear, nose and throat problems and cause bronchoconstiction.
Peditricians (as cited in the September 1979 issue of "Pediatrics") recommended to parents that they not use dispoables at all, because of the dangers to baby's skin and other far reaching consequences.
And those who were associated with Earth Day and other environmental issues were also very much against them noting that recently disposable diapers were rated the 3rd largest group of trash in our landfills.
Disposable diaper companies and politics entertwined and conspired to keep disposable diapers on the market. Companies have spent billions and trilliions of US Dollars advertizing diapers and keeping them in the public eye.
Cloth diaper manufacturers have small customer bases and little money for advertizing, espically on television media, where they would need to advertize to compete with their disposable diapering counterparts.
They have become a mostly "online" business commerce and people have to search to find them and find information out about them.
The latest cloth diapers are not the sheets of cloth with pins that our mothers had. These diapers are made of soft, breathable polyurathane coated covers and (usually recycled) microflease or cotton lining. All one piece, just like a disposable - these are often called the "all-in-one" cloth diaper. They are soft and gentle for a baby and are closed with velcro or snaps that are already built in to the diaper.
They are just as easy to use as disposables and do not come with all those chemicals that can cause everything from diaper rash, to severe allergic reaction.
Mama cloth, which is often produced by the same companies who make cloth diapers, follows the same principle.
They are reusable "moon rags" or sanitary napkins for women and girls. They have wings (or not, whichever you choose) that snap into place under the underwear. They are easy to wash and, like cloth diapers, can last between 5-10 years.
Women who have endometriosis or other sensitive skin or allergies for which there is no "cure" have found that switching to cloth pads has allievated if not cured their symptoms.
And so as I rinse out my cloth pads at my moon time, instead of just tossing another pad into the rubbish bin, I give honor to the Creator for my fertility and really meditate on that.
If you would like to learn more about cloth diapering or cloth menstrual pads, take a look at http://www.zannadu.com/, or http://amazpadz.com/ and http://www.gladrags.com/. Also, there are some great resources at http://www.mothering.com/