Save the Earth

article from My Eco Nappy


Big Business has created a disposable market in which several billions of diapers are used for a couple of hours, taken off and thrown in the bin. The technology behind the development of the disposable diaper is impressive...
 

Here’s the down sides:

• They are really bad for landfill requirements
• They are really bad on toxic residuals and chemical materials to achieve the diaper functions
• Over a couple of years, you spend a lot – a lot – of money on them.
• An upside is that you don’t pay for waste management directly, but the down side is that you do actually pay for this as well. (??!!!)

 This is your chance to make a green eco-friendly money saving decision.  Save the Earth – it’s your personal contribution - it’s a significant one. Something to be proud of when Baby grows up, and you can tell them you did your bit...(Yup, i'l stand tall and proudly will announce that to my kids..will you?)

The following Articles give you more details, but in summary :

 

 Avoiding the use of disposable diapers will play your significant part in landfill use (equivalent in Malaysia to burying 3,000 medium houses each year).

• The use of disposable make a significant contribution to ground contamination, and the use of plastics and toxic chemical processes, which may affect your babies health directly.

 

 Buying Cloth  Diapering System will save you RM3,000 in disposable diapering costs. Ever wonder where all you hard earned money goes each months,each year?

LANDFILL     (-__-!)


Landfill is a big issue. Management of waste and refuge in disposal sites is another Big Business in own right, and a complicated one too. You pay for it indirectly through rates and taxes.

Estimates of how much space Amercia needs for its disposable diaper waste are quite alarming. America used around 20 billion disposable diapers in 2004 and it got bigger every year after that of course. That’s 3 million tonnes of waste and about 4% of the total waste that goes to landfill is disposable diapers

Let’s try to put that space into perspective.

• Malaysia needs a hole the size of 3,000 houses to take one year’s disposable diaper waste. Think about burying 3,000 houses each year!
• Sticking to our 4,500 disposables per baby, we can each cram our waste into 3 cubic metres – for one baby.
• In Malaysia there are 500,000 babies born every year. Now we’re into 1,500,000 cubic metres (every year).

 Check out the space your supermarket shelves set aside for disposables. It’s one of the biggest bits of shelf space allocated. Everything on that shelf space has a useful life of a couple of hours of wearing, and then it makes its way to landfill.

The last thing is that it doesn’t degrade. It’s still there next year and the year after that. But when it gets wet, it leaks…..

 LANDFILL LEACHING

In modern diapers, the core is a combination of fluffed wood pulp and a dried hydrogel, or SAP (super absorbent polymer). SAP is a network of polymer chains, which can absorb more than 100 times their dry weight in liquid.

The three main components for disposables are: plastics, fluffed BLEACHED wood pulp and SAP. For the most part, the environmental issues with disposables are the plastic used to make them waterproof and the SAP that could be toxic. 

 

Main chemicals problems in disposable diapers are :

Sodium Polyacrylate - the same SAP (super absorbant gel) that was removed from tampons because of its link to toxic shock syndrome and allergic reactions. Dioxin – A by-product of bleaching. According to EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is known to cause damage to the central nervous syst- em, kidneys, liver and is the most toxic of cancer related chemicals. Tributyl-tin (TBT) – a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals

Due to the use of high-grade polypropylene used to make the outer covering and various layers, their materials remain intact in landfills for many years – reports estimate up to 500 years.


Landfills have contaminated aquifer drinking water supplies, wetlands, and streams throughout the world – and continue to do so.

The final piece in this is what you do with the poo. When disposable diapers are deposited in landfills they generally go with the poo inside. This is a health and environmental danger on a grand scale when you calculate the volumes. The risk is carrying human pathogens and increasing the risk of the spread of disease.

That’s why one should flush any solid waste into the toilet before disposing of the diaper in the trash. But the reality is that this is rarely done, despite the instructions.


My note:

Its so scary to know the truth.But surely there's something we can do before its ever too late.

Ever wonder why NAS* keep looking new space for living in Mars?..maybe this is one of hte reason.To start new life, new environmental friendly system, despite the polluted earth to be leave behind.

Have  you seen the "Wall-E" cartoon movie?..yup..that's not possible to happen..

(T_________T)

...Mmm...the very first disposable diapers ever exist on the earths, still exist in the landfill area untill now. How the situation will be for our kids in future? playing in playground, next to 'covered' landfill? Or build their dream house on the 'well'-managed-used-to-be-landfill housing area?

No..not for my baby..

(-____-")

For my part, I had done my responsibilities to save the earth for my baby and other peoples' babies too.It is so sad to see others doesn't really care about their baby's future worlds, let alone others babies' future...to save money is another story .. (^_^)

It's not about buying so said 'expensive cloth diaper' sold by me or other Cloth diaper seller..any normal old skool Conventional Lampin will do save the earth...

Yup, if u ever ask, I do still use the old skool conventional lampin to my kids..
 Kenapa? Tak percaya? Meh datang umah...you can see my laundry of  those lampin...

To save the earth, i'll never regret to wash my baby poo-poo and pee-pee in those CD eeeeeveryday...
Save money some more, so that i can buy something permanent to my baby, and save and invest the rest...PLUS..i reduce the hospital / clinic / over the counter bills of those nappy rashes cream etc.

*image by emily brianne

Very nice Cloth Diaper stash..isk..kalau  dapat satu cenggini, best jugak ekk..(*sambil jeling cik Hubby sambil urut2 bahu sikit....) .Haa