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A Worrying Future for Disposable Nappies/Diapers?


Elfy

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1 hour ago, rusty pins said:

Yeah there is energy produced by solar, wind, water turbine, and other renewable sources but those also leave a carbon footprint during the production of making the equipment to produce it.

But that is the only carbon footprint involved, aside from occasional maintence which is very small.  Plus the cost of renewable energy is often a lot lower due to less maintenece required and not needing contiunous shipments of coal or oil. (Coal/gas energy costs about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, but wind energy only costs about 5 cents per kW-hour, so which would you rather pay on your electric bill?)

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14 minutes ago, Firefly 35 said:

But that is the only carbon footprint involved, aside from occasional maintence which is very small.  Plus the cost of renewable energy is often a lot lower due to less maintenece required and not needing contiunous shipments of coal or oil. (Coal/gas energy costs about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, but wind energy only costs about 5 cents per kW-hour, so which would you rather pay on your electric bill?)

Yes, one reason I think wind, solar and hydro energy is great!

 

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4 minutes ago, rusty pins said:

Yes, one reason I think wind, solar and hydro energy is great!

 

Personally I like solar the best because it's so adaptable.  You could have solar panels designed for anything from a small flashlight to a car to a whole building and you would only have to change the size of the panel.  

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48 minutes ago, Firefly 35 said:

But that is the only carbon footprint involved,

True but a very large carbon footprint. 

I'm not going to get into details but I implore you to look up mining facts and then you will truly see the true size of the carbon footprint it leaves.

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6 hours ago, DL4LIFE said:

True but a very large carbon footprint. 

I'm not going to get into details but I implore you to look up mining facts and then you will truly see the true size of the carbon footprint it leaves.

True, but I don't think the carbon footprint would be any smaller for a coal or gas power plant.

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12 hours ago, DL4LIFE said:

True but a very large carbon footprint. 

I'm not going to get into details but I implore you to look up mining facts and then you will truly see the true size of the carbon footprint it leaves.

It's silicon. The problem is not digging it up from the ground since it is sand, but processing it into a thick and pure single crystalline wafers. It is like making steel in that you need coal, but there is a special solidification process involved when the material is cooled from its molten state to give it that electronic grade quality.

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Everything we do or make has unwanted side-effects. With due thought and care, the planet can sustain a lot of people for a long time but we're not paying proper attention to the tings that will bring it. No matter all that, disposable diapers are so highly desired that they will be here till nearly the end of time. Mom's will demand them and Mom always gets her way. How they are made and what they are made from may change but they will always be here. And if they're made for children they will be made for adults too :D No worries about that.

Bettypooh

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15 hours ago, Bettypooh said:

Everything we do or make has unwanted side-effects. With due thought and care, the planet can sustain a lot of people for a long time but we're not paying proper attention to the tings that will bring it. No matter all that, disposable diapers are so highly desired that they will be here till nearly the end of time. Mom's will demand them and Mom always gets her way. How they are made and what they are made from may change but they will always be here. And if they're made for children they will be made for adults too :D No worries about that.

Bettypooh

And if they make them with biodegradable materials, disposables may end up being more environmentally friendly than cloth.

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Much of this appears to be born out of a new wave of environmental hysteria, much of it targeted at the consumer.

Admittedly without having a qualification in the area of waste management, I understand that most material in disposable nappies is already recyclable, as are most plastics. The issue appears to be the economics of it, and poor export controls involving distribution to countries with poor or absent environmental legislation. It isn't my fault for example if something plastic I use finds its way into a river in India - I've placed it in the recycling bin for processing, beyond that point my responsibility ends.
 

I have lost count of the news articles related to this and other subjects (such as the "heinous" amount of energy used by microwaveable ovens apparently - though this was reported in what is very much the "local rag" without context) which seem to imply that the consumer is responsible for how their waste is processed. Well, we're not normally.
 

This is a subject that I have found myself reading about countless times as a disabled person and through participation in related groups on Facebook and in Twitter conversations, as they are currently targeting plastic drinking straws too - this is quite a problem for a sizeable number of physically disabled persons who cannot drink (and/or eat) without these.

I appreciate the logic behind the purchase of cloth nappies, but many persons such as myself find them wholly impractical. I use a wheelchair and already have to carry some medical supplies with me constantly. I am however limited in respect of the size and weight of what I can carry, both in respect of avoiding injury to myself and damage to my expensive electric wheelchair. I do not have the size or weight capacity remaining to carry bulky cloth nappies.

Further, the idea of carrying soiled garments around with me potentially for hours repulses me. I'm also incontinent and wear constantly and would require quite an amount of these and related accessories such as plastic pants, the storage capacity for I do not have. I also have no inclination whatsoever to add additional laundry to what is often a queue of items waiting to be washed, and of course there is the issue that I have found a plastic backed product that works well for me, and I will not willingly change from it. Even the "cloth like" cover on many disposable nappies aggravates my skin.

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On 1/27/2018 at 10:08 AM, Dude84 said:

Much of this appears to be born out of a new wave of environmental hysteria, much of it targeted at the consumer.

Admittedly without having a qualification in the area of waste management, I understand that most material in disposable nappies is already recyclable, as are most plastics. The issue appears to be the economics of it, and poor export controls involving distribution to countries with poor or absent environmental legislation. It isn't my fault for example if something plastic I use finds its way into a river in India - I've placed it in the recycling bin for processing, beyond that point my responsibility ends.
 

I have lost count of the news articles related to this and other subjects (such as the "heinous" amount of energy used by microwaveable ovens apparently - though this was reported in what is very much the "local rag" without context) which seem to imply that the consumer is responsible for how their waste is processed. Well, we're not normally.
 

This is a subject that I have found myself reading about countless times as a disabled person and through participation in related groups on Facebook and in Twitter conversations, as they are currently targeting plastic drinking straws too - this is quite a problem for a sizeable number of physically disabled persons who cannot drink (and/or eat) without these.

I appreciate the logic behind the purchase of cloth nappies, but many persons such as myself find them wholly impractical. I use a wheelchair and already have to carry some medical supplies with me constantly. I am however limited in respect of the size and weight of what I can carry, both in respect of avoiding injury to myself and damage to my expensive electric wheelchair. I do not have the size or weight capacity remaining to carry bulky cloth nappies.

Further, the idea of carrying soiled garments around with me potentially for hours repulses me. I'm also incontinent and wear constantly and would require quite an amount of these and related accessories such as plastic pants, the storage capacity for I do not have. I also have no inclination whatsoever to add additional laundry to what is often a queue of items waiting to be washed, and of course there is the issue that I have found a plastic backed product that works well for me, and I will not willingly change from it. Even the "cloth like" cover on many disposable nappies aggravates my skin.

With current technology, nothing in a disposable diaper is recyclable, but this doesn't matter, use what works best and is within your budget. Scientists and engineers will figure it out. While landfill space is not a problem yet, they strive for sustainability which is important for the environment as well as the economy. If you all want to protect the environment, then save yourself some money and turn off the lights when you leave a room and buy yourself a programmable thermostat at home so your heater/AC turns off when you leave the house. Also, properly dispose of your electronic waste, batteries, and chemicals by taking them to the proper waste cite rather than dumping them in your trash. The battle over disposable vs. cloth is bullshit. You may not have to keep buying cloth diapers every time you use them ( eventually they wear out and you do), but you do have to use laundry soap to clean them and a dryer to dry them, and dryers take up a good portion of my energy bill already. Both are not great for the environment, but so are many others things we do on a daily basis.

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  It is like my therapist has told me; “There is no use worrying about things you have no control over.” I have a lot anxiety and depression anyway that I can’t afford to be fearful about things I cannot control. Sure, I am worried about the way of the world today; The wars, the environment, the consumption of natural resources, ect... A lot of you make some excellent points but I really don’t know enough about it to make a valid point. I mean, yes we could take steps to make things better and I have started to do that but I don’t have control what others do. 

   Maybe it’s the medication I’m on but I have calmed down a bit over the years. I am less likely to get into arguments now, it just raises my blood pressure anyway (yes, I am on something for that too.) Anyway, I don’t want to worry myself about the future of the world because it just brings me down. I consider you guys someone I can talk to when I have questions or just to chat. Anyway, stay diapered and happy!

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All i need to say is by 2070 is when our planet oil supply will be running on E. At that point,im not sure what will happen next but it would end up being 2 choices humanity would be forced to chose.

The star trek life

or

The Fallout series life

One of those will happen in real life. I cant tell you which one humans chose because its a grey area.

 

Good luck.

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I for one use diapers 24/7 and am in employment. I drive for a living and find that the use of disposable diapers is by far the best option for me as i have to change while at work and often do this in the back of my van. I can't imagine trying to change a cloth diaper in these circumstances! also, on a practical level the bulk of a cloth diaper as opposed to the bulk of a disposable is far greater and i feel that to use cloth diapers I would be less able to move freely to do my job. I do use cloth at home when I feel like a change from diaposables but i find they are a lot more bulky and for me really only usable as a night time diaper when i am not moving about a lot. Anyway, I think i will try to use a cloth diaper tomorrow to see if i could manage to do my job as well as i do when in disposables. My fear also about cloth is leakage around the legs. I constantly dribble and my diaper becomes gradually wetter, if there is no sap to absorb and lock away that pee then im sure sitting in my driving seat i willl leak. anyway i will take extra clothing and my disposables as well just in case.

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The problem with saying use cloth nappies is where is all that cotton/bamboo going to come from and how much forest land will be cut down to grow it, as it will be a growth market.

Then you have the problem of all the chemicals used to make the cloth, then bleach it white, which all need to go some where and some of which will enter the water system. 

 

Its like saying just use paper bags but where is all that wood coming from at least a plastic bag can be  reused a lot more then paper bags, the human race is to quick to jump to knee jerk reactions that have unintended consequences, that have not been thought out.  Once we got our milk in nice glass bottles that could be washed and reused now its all plastic.  We used to have drinking fountains for free water now just mineral water with all the carbon that brings with it.  To be honest we play around the edges, doing tiny things, to feel better about our self's ,then jet of on holiday and using more carbon then we would ever save by recycling.

 

Trick is not to panic and look out for the consequences of our attempts to solve the problem. if we wish to use less plastic, drinking bottles are a much better place to start as we have a proven replacement with low waste and good re-usability glass.

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Here's a good argument in favor of cloth diapers:  Many years ago, while driving down the highway, somebody in the car ahead of me threw something out the window.  That 'something' was a used poopy (disposable) diaper.  It hit my windshield.  It happened so fast (70 mph) that at first I didn't know what it was.  Instinctively I turned on the wipers, hoping to get rid of that thing.  BIG MISTAKE!  Poop smeared all over the drivers side of the windshield.  Of course I had to pull over and get rid of the mess, so I was not able to pursue the offender.

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9 hours ago, Lil'PinkDi-dee said:

Here's a good argument in favor of cloth diapers:  Many years ago, while driving down the highway, somebody in the car ahead of me threw something out the window.  That 'something' was a used poopy (disposable) diaper.  It hit my windshield.  It happened so fast (70 mph) that at first I didn't know what it was.  Instinctively I turned on the wipers, hoping to get rid of that thing.  BIG MISTAKE!  Poop smeared all over the drivers side of the windshield.  Of course I had to pull over and get rid of the mess, so I was not able to pursue the offender.

So everyone should wear cloth because some asshat threw something at your windscreen?

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Hi guys, I gave cloth a go for the day and surprisingly they were a lot easier and better than I first thought. The absorbancy was adequate and I managed to get changed in the van. Only difference was the heat, I got a lot hotter in the cloth and had to use more nappy cream than normal. I bought some plastic bags to put the used nappy in until I could launder at home but to conclude I thought that if disposables do vanish off the market then I would manage with cloth but they are bulkier and more fuss than disposables. On the up side my fears about lakes have been put to rest. I didn't leak one all day. 

However I do think the news article is a bit knee jerk. I think it will be many years before we see the end of disposable diapers. 

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On 1/23/2018 at 9:04 PM, Elfy said:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/23/plastic-free-future-nappies-copper

This article talks about a lot of things that may be changed in the near future regarding wastage and the environment. The last section concerns us.

As time goes on and the environment gets pushed further and further we are going to see increasingly drastic measures to try and reduce wastage. Oil is running out and the oceans and ground are getting increasingly polluted. The EU and the UK have pledged big things regarding plastics and making less waste, this includes making sure all plastic that gets made is recyclable.

Obviously it isn't something that we have to worry about at the moment but I would not be surprised if in the future the availability of disposables reduces either through price or quantity.

Geez. What a bunch of crap. It never ceases to amaze me how dumb people are and the idiot causes they take up. Only a bunch of leftists in the UK. Hope  that it won't come to the USA. If it makes its way to the USA, we are in real trouble. Pray it not happen anywhere. Why do we let the kooks run the show?

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On 2/1/2018 at 1:13 PM, ppdude said:

 Why do we let the kooks run the show?

Because the major political parties will not back any other kind and nobody else has much hope of winning any major election. The sad fact is that we are to blame for all of this.

History shows that us humans are pretty good at finding ways to get what we want. Petro-plastics will shift to something else or we will find better ways to recover the resources post-use. Yes, the plastic backed diaper as we know it today is on the way out, but everything changes through time and something viable will replace it because demand will prevent disposable diapers from going away even though the form may change.

Even with the best possible methods in place universally, at some point our planet's resources will be used up and life will cease. No other outcome is possible unless we find another source for the things which we run out of that have no alternatives available. Given our proclivity to destroy each other I doubt that the end of life on Earth will come naturally so I'm not too worried about it all. Disposable diapers (including the plastic-backed ones I love) will be here in an acceptable form for as long as I am here and that's good enough for me :girl_happy:

Bettypooh

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    I work in a grocery store as a courtesy clerk (bag boy). One of my biggest pet peeves (aside from people leaving their damn shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot!) is checkers and others courtesy clerks using way more plastic bags then necessary. I like to fill bags up when I am packing groceries in them, considering I don’t put food items in with others items that could contaminate them or foods that could be cross-contaminated with other foods ect... I see baggers and checkers put two or three items in a bag and then pack another one. I don’t think we should get rid of plastic all together but we could use less here and there.

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18 hours ago, baby-dandan said:

    I work in a grocery store as a courtesy clerk (bag boy). One of my biggest pet peeves (aside from people leaving their damn shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot!) is checkers and others courtesy clerks using way more plastic bags then necessary. I like to fill bags up when I am packing groceries in them, considering I don’t put food items in with others items that could contaminate them or foods that could be cross-contaminated with other foods ect... I see baggers and checkers put two or three items in a bag and then pack another one. I don’t think we should get rid of plastic all together but we could use less here and there.

I agree.  One other pet peeve of mine about baggers is how they are taught per their store's policy.  Sure, it makes sense to put all the soap and cleaning products together in bags that do not contain your meat and produce!  When I was 19 and bagged groceries (in paper bags back then), we divided items up not only by grocery type (frozen and refrigerated items together, cleaning items separate) but also by weight.  Now days I get all my cans and glass jars in one super heavy bag and my paper towels and boxes of pasta in other bags.  There is no reason you can't balance these items by placing some boxes and some cans together in the same bag,  some cans and a roll of paper towels in one bag and the same in the next bag, or even a bag of apples or oranges, head of cabbage or califlower in with a box of stove top stuffing or hamburger helper.  A 2 liter bottle of soda in the bottom and a bag of napkins or noodles on top.  I'd rather have my grocery bags divided evenly by weight rather than one filled all with cans and glass jars which weighs half a ton (and often tears open) and the next one that weighs less than a feather!  Meat is another thing.  Sure, if a fresh package is a little sticky or maybe the wrapper is wet from the meat inside I can see putting it in another bag before placing it in the regular bag, but ever frozen meat or packages of meat that are dry and clean sometimes automatically get placed in a separate bag first.  I'm not blaming the bagger, as they are following store policy and afraid of losing their job if they forget to bag a meat item in it's own separate bag first!

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11 hours ago, rusty pins said:

I agree.  One other pet peeve of mine about baggers is how they are taught per their store's policy.  Sure, it makes sense to put all the soap and cleaning products together in bags that do not contain your meat and produce!  When I was 19 and bagged groceries (in paper bags back then), we divided items up not only by grocery type (frozen and refrigerated items together, cleaning items separate) but also by weight.  Now days I get all my cans and glass jars in one super heavy bag and my paper towels and boxes of pasta in other bags.  There is no reason you can't balance these items by placing some boxes and some cans together in the same bag,  some cans and a roll of paper towels in one bag and the same in the next bag, or even a bag of apples or oranges, head of cabbage or califlower in with a box of stove top stuffing or hamburger helper.  A 2 liter bottle of soda in the bottom and a bag of napkins or noodles on top.  I'd rather have my grocery bags divided evenly by weight rather than one filled all with cans and glass jars which weighs half a ton (and often tears open) and the next one that weighs less than a feather!  Meat is another thing.  Sure, if a fresh package is a little sticky or maybe the wrapper is wet from the meat inside I can see putting it in another bag before placing it in the regular bag, but ever frozen meat or packages of meat that are dry and clean sometimes automatically get placed in a separate bag first.  I'm not blaming the bagger, as they are following store policy and afraid of losing their job if they forget to bag a meat item in it's own separate bag first!

Tell that to the store.  They take customer imput pretty seriously since customers are where all of their money comes from.

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On 1/24/2018 at 9:16 AM, Darkfinn said:

Absolute and utter bullshit, feamongering and sensationalism... exactly what we should all expect from the modern day main-stream media. "Peak oil" has proven to be a myth... according to the critics we should have reached maximum oil production in the early 00's but, as we've seen, as technology continues to develop new sources of oil are being discovered all the time.

Please don't buy into the garbage being published by the MSM.

Look how they develop oil.  It's quite shocking and disgusting.

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