DISPOSABLE NAPPIES (DIAPERS)

I cannot think of a more disgusting thing than a baby's dirty nappy.

Although nappies are necessary disposable ones are disgusting especially when the parents just throw them in the street instead of using a nearby trashcan.

These disgusting things are non biodegradable although their contents are. The must take up tons and tons of landfill.

There are alternatives out there. Granted all of them are reusable and have to be washed.  And most young mothers are just too plain lazy to wash nappies.

From wikipedia:

An average child will go through several thousand diapers in his/her life.^[25] Since disposable diapers are discarded after a single use, usage of disposable diapers increases the burden on landfill sites, and increased environmental awareness has led to a growth in campaigns for parents to use reusable alternatives such as cloth or hybrid diapers.^[26] An estimated 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used each year in the US, resulting in a possible 3.4 million tons of used diapers adding to landfills each year.^[27]

The environmental impact of cloth as compared to disposable diapers has been studied several times. In one cradle-to-grave study sponsored by the National Association of Diaper Services (NADS) and conducted by Carl Lehrburger and colleagues, results found that disposable diapers produce seven times more solid waste when discarded and three times more waste in the manufacturing process. In addition, effluents from the plastic, pulp, and paper industries are far more hazardous than those from the cotton-growing and -manufacturing processes. Single-use diapers consume less water than reusables laundered at home, but more than those sent to a commercial diaper service. Washing cloth diapers at home uses 50 to 70 gallons (approx. 189 to 264 litres) of water every three days, which is roughly equivalent to flushing the toilet 15 times a day, unless the user has a high-efficiency washing machine. An average diaper service puts its diapers through an average of 13 water changes, but uses less water and energy per diaper than one laundry load at home.^[28]

In October 2008, "An updated lifecycle assessment study for disposable and reusable nappies" by the UK Environment Agency andDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stated that reusable diapers can cause significantly less (up to 40 per cent) or significantly more damage to the environment than disposable ones, depending mostly on how parents wash and dry them. The "baseline scenario" showed that the difference in green-house emissions was insignificant (in fact, disposables even scored slightly better). However, much better results (emission cuts of up to 40 per cent) could be achieved by using reusable diapers more rationally. "The report shows that, in contrast to the use of disposable nappies, it is consumers’ behaviour after purchase that determines most of the impacts from reusable nappies. Cloth nappy users can reduce their environmental impacts by:

• Line drying outside whenever possible
• Tumble drying as little as possible
• When replacing appliances, choosing more energy efficient appliances (A+ rated machines [according to the EU environmental rating] are preferred)
• Not washing above 60 °C (140 °F)
• Washing fuller loads
• Reusing nappies on other children.^[29]

There are variations in the care of cloth diapers that can account for different measures of environmental impact. For example, using a cloth diaper laundering service involves additional pollution from the vehicle that picks up and drops off deliveries. Yet such a service uses less water per diaper in the laundering process.^[30] Some people who launder cloth diapers at home wash each load twice, considering the first wash a "prewash", and thus doubling the energy and water usage from laundering. Cloth diapers are most commonly made of cotton, which is generally considered an environmentally wasteful crop to grow. "Conventional cotton is one of the most chemically-dependent crops, sucking up 10% of all agricultural chemicals and 25% of insecticides on 3% of our arable land; that's more than any other crop per unit."^[31] This effect can be mitigated by using other materials, such as bamboo and hemp.

Another aspect to consider when choosing between disposable diapers and cloth diapers is cost. It is estimated that an average baby will use from $1,500 to $2,000 or more in disposable diapers before being potty-trained.^[32] In contrast, cloth diapers, while initially more expensive than disposables, cost as low as $300 for a basic set of cloth diapers, although costs can rise with more expensive options.^[33][34] The cost of washing and drying diapers must also be considered. The basic set, if one-sized, can last from birth to potty-training.

Another factor in reusable cloth diaper impact is the ability to re-use the diapers for subsequent children or sell them on. These factors can alleviate the environmental and financial impact from manufacture, sale and use of brand-new reusable diapers.

Options as alternatives to disposable nappies:

List of cloth diaper types[edit]

• Terry Towelling Diapers – Terry diapers are large, flat square sheets of absorbent cotton material, which have to be folded and fasten together with safety pins. The towel like fabric is usually white in colour.
• Flannelette or Muslin Square Diapers – Flat square sheets of absorbent cotton material, which have to folded and fasten together with safety pins.
• Shaped Diapers – Flat Triangle, T-shaped, X-shaped, Y-shaped cloth diapers made out of towelling, flannelette or muslin coton material, fasten together with safety pins, velcro of poppers, designed to fit a baby without folding the diaper.
• Tie-Up Diapers – This type of cloth diaper has to be folded, it is fasten together by using the strings attached to the diaper.
• Flats – Flat diapers are a large, single layer, square or rectangle of absorbent cloth. Birdseye cotton or muslin are the most common materials used, but any absorbent material may be considered a "flat" if it is composed of one single layer. Flats may or may not be hemmed or otherwise finished at the edges. Flats must be folded into the desired shape before they are usable as a diaper.
• Prefolds – Prefolds are a rectangular piece of absorbent fabric that has been folded, layered, and then sewn so that the center strip of the diaper has more layers of absorbent material than the sides. This reduces bulk while still providing enough absorbancy where it is needed. Prefolds get their name because before their invention, flats were the common diaper type available. Flats require folding in order to obtain the appropriate number of layers of absorbent material in the wet zone. A "prefold" is pre-folded and sewn down so that less folding is required at the time of the diaper change. Prefolds typically have 4 to 6 layers of material in the center and 2 to 4 layers on the edges.
• Contours – Contoured diapers are made of multiple layers of absorbent fabric and are cut and sewn into an general hourglass shape. This is done so that no folding is required before they are ready to be used as a diaper and also to reduce bulkiness.
• Fitteds – Fitted diapers are hourglass shaped absorbent diapers that have elastic at the legs in order to better contain feces and urine. They usually also have a built in closure such as velcro or snaps that is used to secure the diaper onto the baby. There are several subtypes of fitted diapers including closureless fitteds (those that lack velcro or snaps), prefitteds (fitteds made from prefold diapers), and pocket fitteds (pocket diapers that use absorbent materials for all the layers instead of wicking or waterproof materials).
• Pocket diapers – Pocket diapers are hourglass shaped and have closures to secure them onto the baby (generally snaps or velcro). They consist of a waterproof outer layer and an inner layer that are sewn together on three sides to create a pocket. The inner layer may be made of a moisture wicking material or an absorbent material. The pocket is then stuffed with absorbent insert that can be customized based on the absorbency level required for each baby. The most common inserts are made of microfiber, bamboo or charcoal bamboo. One subtype of pocket diapers is the sleeve diaper, which is sewn only on two sides instead of three so that the pocket may be accessed from both the front and back of the diaper.
• All-in-one diaper – An all in one (AIO) diaper consists of a waterproof outer layer sewn together with absorbent material on the inside. There may also be an additional inner layer of moisture-wicking material. All-in-ones are hourglass shaped and have a velcro, snap, or other closure to secure them on the baby.
• All-in-two diaper – An all-in-two- diaper (AI2) is a diaper with two parts. An all-in-two diaper consists of a waterproof diaper cover with fasteners and an absorbent insert. The insert is a rectangle or hourglass pad of absorbent material, that may or may not have a moisture wicking material as its top layer. The insert snaps or lays into the cover and may be removed when soiled or wet. The cover may be reused throughout the day by replacing the insert at each change.^[21]