Ever Feel Bad For The Environment?

[Guest diaperguy68]

do you ever feel bad for using disposable diapers, when are you arent really incontinent?

some people will suggest using cloth diapers. but i have a DISPOSABLE diaper fetish. cloth diapers don't do a damn thing for me, unfortunately. there's something built into my psyche that makes me love disposable diapers.

i feel bad sometimes but at the same time the need for me to wear diapers is too strong. it's like i can't help myself and the environment is second to that need.

[lil_baby_wet_n_squishy]

They are actually working on a way to recycle dirty diapers into fuel.

[SoCalAB]

Methane!

They are actually working on a way to recycle dirty diapers into fuel.

[sarah_ab]

do you ever feel bad for using disposable diapers, when are you arent really incontinent?

no.

[DailyDi]

Nope.

Cloth vs disposable is a myth as the washing and bleaching of diapers is just as bad as the disposables. Just try to live cleaner in other ways and reduce your overal waste.

Maybe Al Gore can sell us some Nappy Credits? Someone else will poop in a compost heap so we can use a diaper?

[attendsdiapers]

Nope.

Cloth vs disposable is a myth as the washing and bleaching of diapers is just as bad as the disposables. Just try to live cleaner in other ways and reduce your overal waste.

Maybe Al Gore can sell us some Nappy Credits? Someone else will poop in a compost heap so we can use a diaper?

Hehe. Well said. Count me in the definitve "nope" group.

[Aleia]

Not a bit. The environment has survived far worse than sheets of plastic sitting in landfills.

[hidden]

Nope.

Cloth vs disposable is a myth as the washing and bleaching of diapers is just as bad as the disposables. Just try to live cleaner in other ways and reduce your overal waste.

Maybe Al Gore can sell us some Nappy Credits? Someone else will poop in a compost heap so we can use a diaper?

There is also an increasing water shortage so using water to wash cloth diapers/use the toilet would be considered a waste too. Some states want to build pipes to get water from the great lakes.

Besides, ever work at a fast food restaurant? See how much trash is generated daily? Now look at the size of your bagged used diapers. Which is bigger? By how much? How much of a difference is one extra bag of trash (for full time users, if not more) compaired to how much trash is generated else where?

Not saying it is ok to do something as long as you are not the worst. Just saying you shouldn't feel guilty until you take down bigger polluters.

[messyman]

Diapers are mostly wood with some assorted plastic. It not worse than anything else you throw out.

[superdiaperbaby]

do you ever feel bad for using disposable diapers, when are you arent really incontinent?

some people will suggest using cloth diapers. but i have a DISPOSABLE diaper fetish. cloth diapers don't do a damn thing for me, unfortunately. there's something built into my psyche that makes me love disposable diapers.

i feel bad sometimes but at the same time the need for me to wear diapers is too strong. it's like i can't help myself and the environment is second to that need.

I kind of do, but I know it is such a small part of the problem it won't make a difference. I like disposables and cloth just does nothing for me. If you feel bad enough you could always do your part in other ways like recycling, taking public transportation, conserving water(like not using the toilet) and even planting trees. There are so many other ways to help the environment. I think alot of our thinking is on the guilt about how we are hurting it. It should be more positive about finding ways to make a difference that will not hurt ourselves.

SDB

[timmyc]

landfills exist for a reason, even if their were no disposable diapers their would still be landfills. Modern landfills are very well designed and do not pose a threat to ground water. My diapers are a drop in the bucket when you figure how much waste is generated on a daily basis in this country. What I hate is perfectly usable items that get tossed rather than allowing a less fortunate person to get some use out of. Ok diapers don't decompose in landfills, but even if they did, it is still a a landfill and always will be. Chemical plants, factories, and other air pollutants are far more damaging to the environment than diapers. One blog I follow completely separate from anything AB/DL suggests toilet water is a waste of resources and at the treatment plant all the TP gets separated out and land filled, and the author thinks in ten years people will have disposable waste containment boxes that will conserve water and be no less worse than the environment than baby diapers. I consider myself environmentally aware, I think we need to find cleaner burning fuels and maintain forests and wetlands and fresh water supplies. I think we need policy changes at the highest level regardless of cost. I also think most green campaigns are nothing more than mere marketing mombo jumbo.

[tris]

They are actually working on a way to recycle dirty diapers into fuel.

Sweet. Now if only I could make it an onboard conversion process, there'll be no need to roll the dirty diapers under the car in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

[fluff]

Yes I do.

Then I remember how much better I feel taped into one and forget all about it.

I recycle pretty much everything I use, I have loads of ethicla and enviro clothes and drive as efficient and reliablle car as I could afford. But my nappies?

(que Charlton Heston/Mel Gibson moment)

[peelover]

Think of how much stuff you waist every time you use the toilet. You waist water when flushing it, paper when wiping your butt, soap along with more water when washing your hands, and more paper when drying them. Also your poop goes into a sewer making that sweer ever more dirty. All that diapers waist is a diaper and whipes, thay will stay in land fills, but its still better then using the potty.

[wayney]

There is also an increasing water shortage so using water to wash cloth diapers/use the toilet would be considered a waste too. Some states want to build pipes to get water from the great lakes.

Besides, ever work at a fast food restaurant? See how much trash is generated daily? Now look at the size of your bagged used diapers. Which is bigger? By how much? How much of a difference is one extra bag of trash (for full time users, if not more) compaired to how much trash is generated else where?

Not saying it is ok to do something as long as you are not the worst. Just saying you shouldn't feel guilty until you take down bigger polluters.

B-I-N-G-O !!!! Did you know it takes 50 gallons of fresh water to make one cup of latte ? From harvesting the bean to making the cup right to the latte itself takes 50 gallons !! If we would stop doing things like this would be far more better off than most.. It's funny how the earth is 80% water yet we are running out of fresh drinking water. MY body is composed of over 10 gallons of water. For each person that is born from day to day 8-15 gallons of water gets permanently stored in that persons make-up. As population rises we use more and store more. I'm not one for ethnic cleansing but we should do some kind of population control. I beleive that we should ban births for 12 months. If you get pregnant you go to jail for 10-15 years, both him and her. No need to kill anyone off, just punish harshly for not complying. One year of no births would really help. Do this every 4 or 5 yrs around the globe and weve got control over it.

[Thickndry]

do you ever feel bad for using disposable diapers, when are you arent really incontinent?

some people will suggest using cloth diapers. but i have a DISPOSABLE diaper fetish. cloth diapers don't do a damn thing for me, unfortunately. there's something built into my psyche that makes me love disposable diapers.

i feel bad sometimes but at the same time the need for me to wear diapers is too strong. it's like i can't help myself and the environment is second to that need.

Honestly, NO, I don't feel bad using disposables. When all is said and done, and the TOTAL sum of cost in energy and harm to the environment is weighed with cleaning cloth diapers, I would think disposables make more sense in the long run. I am sure they could make a plastic that would be able to break down in a short time. After all, if we can put a man on the moon, we ought to be able to come up with a disposable diaper that is safe for the environment. I will continue to use my night disposable and feel no remorse.

[Three Rivers]

Nope, sorry.

[AutieAB]

Not at all.

My toilet blows several gallons of fresh, treated water per flush, just to push some pee away. Washing my cloth diapers uses even more (plus detergent and a load of power.

There are far worse suspects in the trash can than a few disposable diapers. Plastic bottles, cans, paper, etc, that are actually easily recycled but nobody around here provides a recycling pickup (except one company who charge a fortune for the privilege) so it goes right in the landfill...

Diapers aren't currently recyclable so we throw them away. That's just the way it is.

[wishing for diapers]

Yes I do and it does bother me. Not enough to stop, but it bothers me.

I'm sorry to those that feel different, but this idea that we are only a small part of the problem is crap. First of all, all those "little" things you do throughout your life add up. Second of all, the really big polluters get away with it because we all won't come together and make them change. Big businesses have the government in their pocket which is why they keep getting around all the EPA "rules" which aren't that stringent to begin with (again due to lobbyists buying off politicians). As long as we, collectively, keep buying their products, they have no real incentive to change.

There are still plenty of areas in my life that I need to improve in this regard, but this idea that it's someone else's fault infuriates me to no end. Sorry.

Think of how much stuff you waist every time you use the toilet. You waist water when flushing it, paper when wiping your butt, soap along with more water when washing your hands, and more paper when drying them. Also your poop goes into a sewer making that sweer ever more dirty. All that diapers waist is a diaper and whipes, thay will stay in land fills, but its still better then using the potty.

Actually there is very little waste when flushing the toilet, at least in 1st world countries. Unless you have done something illegal and morally wrong, your waste water is treated and returned to the environment. In urban populations this is done via treatment plants and in rural areas this is done via your septic system. The later is the far more efficient and direct method, but you have to have the land to support it. As far as the waste included with the water, unless you are flushing things you shouldn't, that is all bio-degradable and is essentially turned into fertilizer and compost which then gets used to grow new plants.

In regards to a diaper change, you typically use far more wipes than you would toilet paper, you still have the human waste, and now you have the diaper itself (which is not biodegradable) added to the waste. You're (collective, maybe not you specifically) also probably wrapping the diaper in a plastic bag (either individually or many in a single bag) which itself isn't degradable and keeps and degradation from happening (in a helpful manner) to it's contents. Now instead of those waste items which can serve a useful purpose making it to areas where they can be reused, you have bundled them off to a landfill where they will do little if any good. If you then factor in all the upstream "costs" (e.g. packaging for the diapers, packaging for the wipes, bottles of the lotion/powder to take care of your skin, manufacture of said items, etc..) it far out weighs just using the toilet. I'm not trying to argue against using diapers, i'm just saying don't try to kid yourself that they are somehow better for the environment.

And if you aren't washing your hands after a diaper change, please keep those hands to yourself....

[Depends1578]

No, I do not feel bad for wearing or the environment. There hasn't been a huge issue yet, and as far as I'm concerned, there shouldn't be for the rest of the time I'm living here on earth....Hopefully.

[Bettypooh]

landfills exist for a reason, even if their were no disposable diapers their would still be landfills. Modern landfills are very well designed and do not pose a threat to ground water. My diapers are a drop in the bucket when you figure how much waste is generated on a daily basis in this country. What I hate is perfectly usable items that get tossed rather than allowing a less fortunate person to get some use out of. Ok diapers don't decompose in landfills, but even if they did, it is still a a landfill and always will be. Chemical plants, factories, and other air pollutants are far more damaging to the environment than diapers. One blog I follow completely separate from anything AB/DL suggests toilet water is a waste of resources and at the treatment plant all the TP gets separated out and land filled, and the author thinks in ten years people will have disposable waste containment boxes that will conserve water and be no less worse than the environment than baby diapers. I consider myself environmentally aware, I think we need to find cleaner burning fuels and maintain forests and wetlands and fresh water supplies. I think we need policy changes at the highest level regardless of cost. I also think most green campaigns are nothing more than mere marketing mombo jumbo.

I'm pretty much with you here I've done some research and found that the total environmental impact of cloth vs disposables is pretty much dead-even. The differences come into play when other environmental situations are accounted for. If fresh water is scarce somewhere, then disposables are best there because the main issue is water And that's just a start. I'd like to do better but I have an increasing need so I can't just stop diapering I do pretty good with the "Three R's" (reduce, reuse, recycle) so I don't feel very guilty about this small part of what I leave behind

Bettypooh

[hidden]

B-I-N-G-O !!!! Did you know it takes 50 gallons of fresh water to make one cup of latte ? From harvesting the bean to making the cup right to the latte itself takes 50 gallons !! If we would stop doing things like this would be far more better off than most.. It's funny how the earth is 80% water yet we are running out of fresh drinking water. MY body is composed of over 10 gallons of water. For each person that is born from day to day 8-15 gallons of water gets permanently stored in that persons make-up. As population rises we use more and store more. I'm not one for ethnic cleansing but we should do some kind of population control. I beleive that we should ban births for 12 months. If you get pregnant you go to jail for 10-15 years, both him and her. No need to kill anyone off, just punish harshly for not complying. One year of no births would really help. Do this every 4 or 5 yrs around the globe and weve got control over it.

Does anyone know why we have a deer hunting season? It is because there are too many of them and if left unchecked, they would use up all their resources and a lot would die anyway.

Not saying that there should be a human hunting season (lots of that goes on anyway, unfortunately) but restrictions need to be put in place. In China, they have over 1 billion people. It go to the point where they had to farm hillsides/mountain sides to feed people. This lead to land slides and banning said farming. They also have a 1 kid for family rule (may be wrong).

Take a basic environmental class and it will always show that once a population for a species passes a crtitical point, there will be a huge drop in population due to lack of resources. Need a job? A higher population does not mean more jobs. Not enough jobs to go around, eventually not enough land to go around, there is already world hunger (distribution issue more than availability issue) but still, and etc.

[Guest Pizaz]

Like others have touched upon here, I'm much more concerned about drought and water shortages than I am putting a few diapers in the landfill.

[redneck diaper boy]

No only no but hell no!

If you like disposables, use them! If you like cloth, use them!

This whole climate change thing is pure bullshit. The IPCC scientist, that supplied the data to the UN, are frauds. Their e-mail got hacked. It was more than a smoking gun. It was a mushroom cloud of information that clearly depicted the attempts to with-hold cooling data. The scientist did destroy most of the raw data pretaining to "climate change". If these assholes were real scientist, they would not be manipulating or destroying data.

Again this "climate change" scare is nothing more than an attempt, on behalf of the UN, to extort money from working Americans. Don't fall for this bullshit scam!

[Creepymouse]

It's funny that on a review by an unbiased third party, it appears that 'mountain' of evidence was pretty much a 'molehill'. They were unprofessional, sure. On the other hand, in context, it appears that there was no real jiggering of the evidence, just determining where nonconforming data was coming from.

In other words, it looks like the 'tree ring' data they were using actually didn't correspond with their actual temperatures measured during the same time frames. So the temps they were not using were erroneous anyway.

But why am I arguing with you? It's a fact that changes in the environment can change the climate. Now...one good volcanic eruption might just block out the sun for a few years and we won't have to worry about global warming anymore. Nyah.