Huggies Vs Depends

[DailyDi]

While reading “Cloth vs. disposable” (Tribune, Oct. 5), I was struck by the hypocrisy of seniors condemning the younger, wasteful generation for relying on disposable diapers, for a certain segment of this group relies upon the same “luxuriant” convenience that I do as a young working mother.

So here’s my proposal: I will switch to cloth if you will. I will hand-wash every single, solitary reusable diaper if you will. It’s my Huggies for your Depends.

You may find yourself yearning for the “luxury” that is the disposable diaper and being less prone to judge us profligate parents who view them as a veritable necessity.

Rachel Steed

Salt Lake City

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/50424603-82/disposable-cloth-depends-diaper.html.csp

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

'Nuff said; you will not see me complaining,

However, it is not quite comparable, there is no stigma attached to babies wearing diapers that are showy, that is not true with adults in public so there is less than equivalence. To be subject to the charge of hypocrisy, all other things must be equal. You must compare apples to apples; this is more like apples and pears.

[Kilding]

Guess I should read the newspaper more often here in Utah. That one slipped right under my nose.

[Little Faerie]

It's not our (mother's) fault the baby diapers are showy. I preferred the plain ones for my daughter as they were cheaper, but even the last of the generics gave in and made them fancy. It's all in the marketing gimmicks. And now, since the new Depend printed pull ons, it is evening itself out. It is of interest to note, most people who live in apartments have to pay at a laundromat or the complex's laundry facility to wash their laundry, plus the cost of soap, and the environmental cost of the water as well. It can be more expensive in some situations to use cloth diapers. Compare the environmental costs of all the hot water use plus soap and bleach, and when the plastic pants wear out or rip and you throw them away, vs the impact of a used disposable (with the poop flushed of course). That's assuming these diapers are line dried, and not put in the dryer. It's nearly even. Each has its benefits and downsides. We need to figure out how to make the disposables more biodegradable, then we will get the best of both worlds, ease of use and environmental sustainability.

[messyman]

We need to figure out how to make the disposables more biodegradable, then we will get the best of both worlds, ease of use and environmental sustainability.

They need to be recycled because not even paper and food waste are biodegradable in a landfill. Stuff rots and give off methane for a bit then it just stops and is preserved more or less indefinitely.

[Little Faerie]

Some cities do "compost" collection alongside recycling and garbage collection, where they gather food scraps in a separate bin and take them to giant composting facilities and essentially turn it into dirt. They can even accept meat scraps, as the huge compost piles they have get hot enough to kill pathogens, whereas just one family cannot produce sufficient scraps to do this, and can only compost vegetables and fruits and their peels, paper products, some farm manures, and yard waste for the most part. If every city offered this, it would be an incredible thing. Lots and lots of fertile humus could be produced to put back into the ground for farming and it would save a lot of landfill space.

[drynot]

Little Faerie, I like your Avatar!

Anyway it would be really nice if they could come up with a way to completely recycle disposables. It might sound disgusting at first but if we could even recover a portion of the material from diapers as they are disposed of then we would make the world a better place.

I know even from my own diaper use that not all of the diaper is 'used' even when I wet numerous times.....

Alas, the energy needed to recover enough material to make it worthwhile might be too much in this day and age....

[Dougie]

Japan is already using diapers to heat buildings. Why not do the same thing everywhere? Containing the toxins can be achieved by using carbon based filters on the exhaust outlets.