When I read motions that call for "determined action by Ministers to address the serious waste-related problems and the substantial cost to local government and to the National Health Service resulting from the use and promotion of disposable nappies", I can't help but think what they're really say is "ban X".
There is, like the obsession for organic products, a new fashion that states we should all be using old fashioned nappies again on environmental grounds. The off-set of in power consumption terms about using your washing machine and tumble dryer when you've got "real" nappies to deal with is rarely mentioned.
I don't know why but I have the strangest feeling of deja vu on this one. Last year it starts with calls to ban incandescent light bulbs. That appears to be coming to pass without little to no attention paid to the mercury issue. How long I wonder before we hear noises about regulating out Pampers? Will anyone with kids find themselves having to buy a washing machine and dryer as well to cope? They'd probably be subsidised for some people if it did happen.
5 comments:
Power consumption is not the only environmental and economic cost of using traditional cotton nappies. Most cotton is grown on intensive plantations, using genetically modified seeds and millions of tonnes of industrial pesticides. Turning cotton bolls to cloth involves the use of a wide range of chemicals, including solvents and bleaches. Soiled nappies are soaked in odour-neutralising chemical solutions (often in PVC buckets) before being washed in machines that use copious amounts of water and heat, creating equal volumes of polluted water that is (unlike factory effluent) subject to no regulation whatsoever, aided by detergents, water softeners and other domestic chemical products that are also flushed into the public sewers. This process binds mothers (for it is largely they) to months if not years of drudgery. And anyone who thinks that harvesting and processing cotton is ethical and environmentally friendly work needs only look at this BBC web page: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6612677.stm
I don't know if we helped the environment, but we used reuseables for our first sprog. It gave us a nice warm feeling. Gave our son nappy rash...
I'd love someone to run the numbers on "real" vs disposables. Hot washes'n'loads of water vs a flick of the wrist. You need a lot more reals over disposables.
When number two came along (haha) we thought fuck that.
The numbers have been run by the DoE.
Roughly equal effects on the environment.
needs only look at this BBC web page
for a source of wholesome and unbiased news.....
Hi tim, thanks for that. I don't feel so bad now. :^)
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