"green" Diapers

[tcc]

I just saw an ad somewhere - sorry, don't remember where, maybe as part of a Google search on diapers - about a new biodegradable infant disposable diaper. It's supposed to break down readily. I LIKE the idea of a biodegradable diaper - and I'm NOT talking about the parody of edible diapers on SNL - and would be willing to buy them if they weren't significantly more expensive than other diapers and we decently absorbent.

I'd say it's about time this has come along.

[NappyHappy]

Would be interesting to see, I wonder how the absorbency will be. If just hope they remain cheap if an adult version surfaces.

I would only wear this if it had the same absorbency compared to regular disposable diapers.

[TheMagicDragon]

Many here would probably not like it "as much" given that these weren't around when the dl person obtained the fixation on their diaper of preference. Some would give them a try, myself included, given that they are much safer for the environment although they still require energy in the manufacturing process. It's only a matter of time before eco-friendly compostable diapers go mainstream, giving this diaper a preference for future dl's experiencing it during their infancy/childhood/time of fixation.

Personally, I plan to try them when they give Depends diapers a run for market share. I have "given in" to my urge to become dependent upon adult diapers (even if they're no longer white and crinkly) for my waste elimination. Why fight it? Once a diaper lover always a diaper lover. After all, I can still get my kicks with Bambinos from time to time.

[PampersPete]

I am anti-environment. The only thing I recycle are cans and that's only because I get about $10 every two weeks to help pay for more beer Going"green" does absolutely nothing for the planet yet most"green"items are 20% more expensive. Anyone else smell another racket for the world's sheep to blindfully follow? I've posted this numerous times over the years and each time it gets better and more truthful....

George Carlin:Earth+Plastic

[Pull-ups man]

I agree with pamperspete, I mean what kind of a weird idea is this? It would only drain people of more money and plus, I mean many families are glad to get the cheapest brand of diaper which is fairly absorbent, so I really dont think they will care much if this green diaper is on the market. Another thing, if you wanna be eco friendly, then just go with a cloth diaper thats what they are for and if the parents wanted disposables, well then too bad XD I am also an anti-green person I mean we should be thinking about different fuels for our cars and bikes, not if a diaper is gonna dissolve sooner of later

those are my thoughts...

[tcc]

The basis of my question is the amount of waste going into landfills. I mean, eventually, the fecal material is going to decompose, but under tons and tons of other garbage, it takes much longer, especially when wrapped in plastic. In addition, urine, absorbed by chemically created "fluff" may NOT decompose in any quick period of time. I agree that to be the MOST eco-friendly, cloth diapers and plastic pants - in which ONE pair can last a long, long time - make the most sense, since urine and feces are already being treated in the regular sewage stream everywhere in the world. I mean, even the City of Milwaukee, WI, eventually turns its sewage slug into Milorganite, a well-recognized organic fertilizer. I just wondered how important the issue was to others, and the feed-back certainly has been interesting, with each to their own opinion and the issue having individual importance! Thanks for the input thus far!

[TheMagicDragon]

oh hey tcc, you just solved what had been a mystery for me. I'm a landscaper and always wondered how miorganite got its name. Now i know, lol!

Oh yeah, I wonder if they can make green diapers babyish?

[babylin]

18 BILLION diapers dumped into American landfills each year ---- five MILLION tons of yucky waste

HAPPINESS IS WEARING COTTON DIAPERS

[Guest Pizaz]

here's a story about biodegradable diapers...

Eco-friendly diaper service headed this way

By Diana Samuels - Palo Alto Daily News

Mountain View resident Marc Tauber, who has two small children, was rolling his trash can to the curb one day when he realized "from top to bottom, the whole bin was diapers."

He could not get the image out of his head as he drove down the street, passing garbage can after garbage can, envisioning each filled with diapers headed to a landfill.

"They were going to sit there and not decompose," he said, "and I was disgusted by it."

There had to be a solution, he thought, so he researched. Today, his and a few other families have started EarthBaby, a diaper delivery service that sells environmentally friendly diapers and takes the dirty ones to a composting facility, where they're turned into topsoil.

The diapers are made from an organic corn-based plastic and an absorbent lining made from wood pulp. They are made by a Swedish company and composted at a facility in Gilroy, where they sit in an aerated pile with 140-degree air blowing through for 14 weeks to kill E. coli and other pathogens.

They then become top soil.

"At the end, it's what you go to the garden store and buy in those big packages," said Karen Nelsen, director of operations for EarthBaby.

The company started with 20 families in September and has grown to nearly 70 families in Atherton, Palo Alto, Mountain View and Cupertino on word of mouth, composting 5,880 pounds of diapers so far. On Sunday, the business expanded into Santa Cruz County.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, more than 350 million diapers end up in a landfill each year, according to EarthBaby's calculations. A child who wears diapers until age 3 creates more than 1.15 tons of dirty diapers in his or her lifetime.

The diapers cost about $12 per pack, about the same price as disposable brands. The delivery service costs $25 per month.

They also sell a line of natural baby products, ranging from baby wipes to sunscreen. They sell biodegradable bags for diaper bins such as Diaper Genies, and the bags they deliver the diapers in are compostable, too. Even the company's delivery trucks run on biodiesel.

"Our aim is that anything we deliver to your door, we'll compost," Nelsen said.

For information call Karen Nelsen at 566-6827 or go to www.earth-baby.com.

[PampersPete]

The delivery service costs $25 per month.

As I was saying......