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... or are they just discarded with household waste.

2007-10-10 23:14:47 · 17 answers · asked by l0bster_quadrille 4 in Environment Green Living

To be specific ... I mean disposable ones.

2007-10-10 23:17:20 · update #1

17 answers

You can get biodegradable ones that will disappear into landfill. Apart from that just buy reusable ones that you can wash yourself.

2007-10-10 23:16:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

As some other people have said, you can get biodegradeable ones, but they literally take YEARS to break down in landfill... I remember hearing something the other week that said they take something like 30 years to break down.. There are quite a lot of biodegradeable baby wipes on the market too, and some are flushable down the toilet. I have tried those, but they are not very nice quality for baby's bottom! Some of the reuseable cloth nappies are apparently REALLY easy to use now. My friend uses these, and you can buy ones that wrap over so you can adjust the size, meaning you literally just buy a great big bulk pack, and they last the whole of the time baby is in nappies.... Personally, I use disposeables because they are so easy, but I really dont think there is any way of recycling them...

2007-10-10 23:27:39 · answer #2 · answered by pinkygazoo 3 · 0 0

Get in touch with the Bradford Real Nappie Project. They sell re-usable ones that are easy to use and I think they know of a company that collect and wash them for you as well. Even paying someone else to wash your nappies works out cheaper over the year than buying disposables. Remember that every disposable nappy that has ever been used are still there. Bradford Alhambra are having a Real Nappy Project Fashion Show next week sometime, why not go to it.

2007-10-11 02:58:24 · answer #3 · answered by Rabia 1 · 0 0

Recycling those is kind of spooky to me because they are considered Biological Waste and could spread infectious waste into other products.

I am not aware of any program that recycles them... no.

The most 'Green conscious' thing to do is to use cloth diapers and reuse them over and over again.

You can do this by putting them in the toilet while holding one corner .... flushing it to remove any large items from the soiled diaper..... then throw it in a bucket of bleach water....
when full of diapers...... simply tip the bucket up over the side of the toilet to empty as much of the water as possible.... then put the diapers into the washing machine and wash normally.

You will probably use more cloth diapers than you would disposable ones, but they save tons of money.... and are much better for the environment.

I was also thinking that when using cloth diapers...
perhaps you could put one of those big sticky female sanitary napkins inside it to collect the urine. They are the same material as a 'disposable diaper' yet MUCH cheaper.....much less plastic and bulk.... and you could make the cloth diapers last longer that way. It would be a happy medium between cloth diapers and disposable diapers.

2007-10-11 02:36:43 · answer #4 · answered by pink 6 · 0 0

No! All the disposable napkins which have ever been made are still sitting in landfill sites - the plasticisers in them don't rot.
I used terry towels lined with muslin napkins, which were washed and ironed. When they became too tatty to use they were turned into dusters and floor cloths.
It was calculated that with the initial purchase price, washing, etc., terry towel napkins cost only one third the cost of disposables over a baby's lifetime usage.
They also saved trees, collection charges and landfill.

2007-10-12 20:56:00 · answer #5 · answered by Veronica Alicia 7 · 0 0

Not the disposable ones. But you can buy biodegradeable disposable nappies that will at least rot down.
You can also get nappy services that deliver cloth nappies to you. They pick up the dirty ones, wash them and bring you some more clean ones. They're all washed together so it saves water and you don't have to wash any gross smelly nappies :)

2007-10-11 00:02:10 · answer #6 · answered by ********** 3 · 0 0

Terry nappies or the reusable ones are the best. Even the biodegradable ones take 10 - 20 years to decompose properly and still give off by products.

2007-10-10 23:32:12 · answer #7 · answered by Kevan M 6 · 0 0

Terries, kooshies etc are all reusable and last all your babies not just for one. I have used the ones my mum bought 38 years ago on all 3 of my children, they are still going strong and will probably be used on my grandchildren and possibly great grandchildren too!!! (actually thats not strictly true my last was nappy free - i used to terrys for mopping up missed wees and vomit and for sitting her on etc - she never actually wore them or other nappies 95% of the time. Hence being completely toilet trained before 20months of age! she never got used to weeing her clothes(coz thats how your baby looks on its nappy-clothes) or sitting in her own wee/poo.

If you want to use disposables moultex are as far as i know the only completely biodegradable nappies, they are unbleached and dont contain harmful gel.

2007-10-11 04:07:43 · answer #8 · answered by happyearthmother 4 · 0 0

Pop them on your compst heap, urine is a very popular activator among keen composters. You may need to find some extra newspaper and grass cuttings in order to get a good mix.

Composting them yourself will save greenhouse gases as the decomposition will be aerobic, and it will save on transportation associated with landfill.

You may need to buy appropriate nappies with a minimun of non biodegradeable material.

There are books on composting for beginers, and probaly some websites too.

2007-10-11 01:05:51 · answer #9 · answered by John Sol 4 · 0 0

Why not purchase reusable nappies.
They used to be terry nappies, and they were big and bulky, but they have really come on in the world and look very similar to a disposable.
You can then wash them yourself, or hire a company to come and collect them and they wash and dry and redeliver them for a charge of course.

2007-10-11 00:58:33 · answer #10 · answered by PIPPA H 3 · 0 0

There's no way to recycle nappies unless you get terry towel nappies which would soon fill up your washing basket.

2007-10-10 23:18:00 · answer #11 · answered by hippy1975chick 5 · 0 0

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