Diaper Disposal

[Pootattoo]

Just curious how others deal with disposing used diapers.

As for me, I live in an area that doesn't require garbage pick up.

You can either hire an independent service, or like myself, take your trash to a local convenience center.

My problem is, A bag full of wet diapers can weigh as much as 50 pounds or more and I'm afraid even the best garbage bag could rip open at a most inconvenient time between home and the disposal site.

So now, I'm experimenting with drying out the wet diapers before before I get rid of them.

What I'm doing is, I got a small 3 shelf wire rack at Wallymart for just over $20.00 and it holds about 9 diapers.

I keep the ceiling fan on to dry the top level, and another small floor based fan to dry the lower levels.

This process does two things!

Not only do the diapers get dried out and easier to handle, But the pee odors in my playroom get greatly enhanced to remind me that I'm now a chronic bedwetter... Especially when I'm asleep.

[Goerge]

That would indeed make your house smell pretty bad.

One time many years ago I forgot to take my wheelie bin out, garbage day was every 2 week and I already had a pile of used nappies lying around my apartment floor. I blacked bagged them all, 3 and a half bin liners full of wet nappies and individually dumped them on the field at the back my house, I did discreet hide them in the bushes though which makes it better. They happened to be there quite a few years until some do-gooders wore tiding the area. I often think what they thought.

[LonesomeLamp]

My plan is simple. Once I change out of a used one, I toss it into a grocery bag along with other general trash (bottles, wrappers, etc). Then I wait until the coast is clear and go toss that bag directly into the trash can outside. Our trash runs once a week, so I’ll try to time it so that I toss the bag in the day before it gets taken down to the mailboxes (that’s where the garbage truck picks them up at).

[Incontinenceluv]

I must say that it is must be much easier when you live alone. When you live alone you can simply haul them to the trash can outside assuming you live in a house. If you were to live in an apartment alone, I imagine it would be the same process but with a black bag. The only thing you would have to be worried about is if you were to pass someone on your way to the dumpster. Now as for the scenario where you live with either one or more room-mates in an apartment, that would truly be nerve wrecking for me, but I think you could do something similar to what I do assuming they do not enter your room ...ever...

Seeing as I still live at home with my parents, what I have to do is place them into smell proof bags and then place those into an odor locking pail that I keep inside my closet. Then the day before the trash is to be picked up I haul the trash out to the bin. The only downside to this is that you have to incur the one time cost of the pail and continuously re-stock on the odor neutralizing bags. 

Assuming your used diapers are only wet, the smell never really gets that noticeable. I usually try to cycle them out as fast as possible to avoid any possibility of smell. Fortunately I have never had a problem in the past since no one enters my room (as far as I know). My current process tends to hold the smell fairly well. On the seldom occasion where I a sleight smell becomes noticeable. I usually plug in an electric air-freshener and if it is really bad, I have in the past tried dryer sheets but I am not certain of how well there work because tossing the trash becomes my utmost concern. 

This is one of the things that scares me the most when I do eventually move out after I am finished with college. 

[musicaddict]

My advice? Put each one in a 30 gallon black garbage bag, spin the bag so the air goes out and you can knot it, and then put two knots in the twisted plastic bag itself before you use the bag ties at the top. Seems to seal most of the smell of urine in and can buy you a couple extra days to sneak something into the garbage.

[Bonsai]

The best way to prevent smell would be to use a vacuum/sealed machine for the bags used for low temperature cooking. Those things work decently with all sort of flat plastic bags and you don’t necessarily need the expansive special food grade bags they sell specifically for low temperature cooking.

If you just add some biocide (bleach, for instance) on the diaper before vacuuming it, then it could be preserved for years.

[DiaperJeannie]

I use the Akord diaper pail. It's super easy to use and the bags aren't to heavy when it's time to empty the pail. I just toss the bag in with my other garbage.

[kirababy]

if it is the weight of the bags which is an issue, either don't fill them up completely, or use smaller bags.  Yes it takes more of them, but reduces risk of you hurting yourself, or bags tearing.

[foreverdl]

I saw online a while back ,,, that someone was digging up a flower garden, and putting the used diapers maybe a foot underground ? if you don't mind some digging and have a yard, put them without a bag but tear open the diaper so it will become fertilizer faster. It is supposed to be a good fertilizer . Just an idea..........

[Newbee]

After I have changed I put the used diaper in a black garbage bag and into our bin outside

[PuraVidaDip]

Sorry this might sound ignorant but just use more bags. I just use a glass force flex (scent free) and take it out every two days. The bags are manageable. Then it’ll be easier to load in and out of the car and into the dumpster once a week or so. 

[Loveable_guy]

4 hours ago, foreverdl said:

I saw online a while back ,,, that someone was digging up a flower garden, and putting the used diapers maybe a foot underground ? if you don't mind some digging and have a yard, put them without a bag but tear open the diaper so it will become fertilizer faster. It is supposed to be a good fertilizer . Just an idea..........

This idea is not so far off. I read a gardening tip that suggested to place the contents of a diaper in the planting hole. The idea is the diaper fill will hold the moisture around the root ball. The plastic is not so good for the planting.

Back to the disposal issue, yes a weeks worth of used diapers can add up to the point where I will use more than one can mixing in household trash in the same bag/can to disguise the soggy diapers. Dark colored trash bags are preferred but most kitchen trash bags are white but lucky not transparent.   The age of plastic shopping bags is slowly coming to an end. Good for the environment bad for me. I will normally use one bag to one or two diapers before adding to the household disposable bag(s). Up to now there has always been an ample supply of those shopping bags around the house.

Of course there is always cloth diapers but I much prefer the squishy feeling of a good disposable diaper.

Out trash pickup is curbside. Often something falling from the back of the truck is left for the homeowner to cleanup. I always have this fear my used diapers will end up on the street for all to see. Thanks goodness its not happened.

[foreverdl]

57 minutes ago, Loveable_guy said:

This idea is not so far off. I read a gardening tip that suggested to place the contents of a diaper in the planting hole. The idea is the diaper fill will hold the moisture around the root ball. The plastic is not so good for the planting.

Back to the disposal issue, yes a weeks worth of used diapers can add up to the point where I will use more than one can mixing in household trash in the same bag/can to disguise the soggy diapers. Dark colored trash bags are preferred but most kitchen trash bags are white but lucky not transparent.   The age of plastic shopping bags is slowly coming to an end. Good for the environment bad for me. I will normally use one bag to one or two diapers before adding to the household disposable bag(s). Up to now there has always been an ample supply of those shopping bags around the house.

Of course there is always cloth diapers but I much prefer the squishy feeling of a good disposable diaper.

Out trash pickup is curbside. Often something falling from the back of the truck is left for the homeowner to cleanup. I always have this fear my used diapers will end up on the street for all to see. Thanks goodness its not happened.

Yeah you can cut open the diapers and if you use a tiller to make the digging easy, and keep the dirt open till you get it filled up and push in the dirt on top. I do know you have to toss the plastic , and the garden would have to be Big to use up a large supply of diapers. But you can get rid of some of them. And find other ways, like you or someone else said hide them in someone else's trash? or a dumpster? I get it being embarrassing when the trash truck is bad at there job, and it falls on the street. Our neighbor was sitting for there sister's little girl, and the next week the wind blew open the trash lid before the trash truck made it.... And we have horrible large crows that will pull stuff out of the trash. They had the toddlers diapers on the street... I do know our neighbor is very lazy, so they will wait for the birds to eat and the winds to blow the rest away. So I got my gloves on and went out to clean up her mess. Of course I don't mind picking up a puff diaper full of PEE. Just wanted to make it safe with covid crap.

[BabyJune]

One of my big reasons for wearing cloth diapers and waterproof pants. No worries about disposing of them and I can hide the clean ones discreetly.

[babykeiff]

On 4/18/2021 at 5:25 PM, Pootattoo said:

Just curious how others deal with disposing used diapers.

As for me, I live in an area that doesn't require garbage pick up.

You can either hire an independent service, or like myself, take your trash to a local convenience center.

My problem is, A bag full of wet diapers can weigh as much as 50 pounds or more and I'm afraid even the best garbage bag could rip open at a most inconvenient time between home and the disposal site.

So now, I'm experimenting with drying out the wet diapers before before I get rid of them.

What I'm doing is, I got a small 3 shelf wire rack at Wallymart for just over $20.00 and it holds about 9 diapers.

I keep the ceiling fan on to dry the top level, and another small floor based fan to dry the lower levels.

This process does two things!

Not only do the diapers get dried out and easier to handle, But the pee odors in my playroom get greatly enhanced to remind me that I'm now a chronic bedwetter... Especially when I'm asleep.

Wet diapers, as well as other material, decompose by being consumed by bacteria and progressively larger animals. The smell you refer to is from urea. Urea is a mildly acidic that can penetrate other materials. = penetrating the walls etc, and them decomposing by being consumed = your house will rot and fall down if you do not reverse this.

[Enthusi]

Oof this is indeed a toughie. If I were you’d I’d be pricing out a private trash removal service.  Or investing in durable trash bags.   Like others said, using lots of small grocery bags could help too.  
 

As for your experiment with letting the diapers dry out… let us know how that goes.  I’m worried it would smell rancid.  

[foreverdl]

I agree the best way is to have a trash pick up service, I know some places don't have the paid services, ours is part of our city water sewer , trash all one payment. 

[BabyBoi91]

I would check out the price of trash removal. It may be pretty low. At our home it’s like $25 a month. By the time you factor in gas , lost time going to the store, and lost space “drying diapers” (which I don’t think will be very efficient), I think $25 a month may be worth it. 

[Fuzz]

If you rip out the shell of the diaper and throw the absorbent material (s.a.p. and paper pulp) in the compost it will compost pretty quickly.
Way better for the environnement, for the house smell, and the empty shell weight practically nothing.