“Diaperless Babies Seen as Earth-Friendly Solution”:

As environmentalists celebrate the 34th annual Earth Day, some in the green movement are now advocating “diaper-free” babies to help save the planet.

Citing concerns about plastic disposable diapers clogging landfills and the amount of washing and detergents that cloth diapers require, many environmentalists are taking a page from tribal cultures and seeking to eliminate the use of the baby diapers altogether. . . .

I’m hardly an expert on this, but my guess is that the presence of extra human fecal matter — which seems likely to happen notwithstanding the claim that “[i]nfants give recognizable signs of imminent peeing and pooping [and] it’s possible to learn your infant’s signs” — is more of an environmental burden, both from a quality-of-life perspective and a public health perspective — than extra space being consumed in landfills. As with many things, I doubt that “tribal cultures” have much to teach us on this score.