Quote:
Originally posted by basa
I agree disposable is bad, re-usable or bio degradable is better.
However with regard to disposable nappies (I have 2 daughters) don't the liners get thrown out ? And what about the energy (heating water) wasted washing them, not to mention the chlorides, sulphates, phosphates, surfactants and drying agents in detergents that pollute the water ?? 
6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other ?
|
[OFF TOPIC]
The nappy liners we're using at the moment are flushable, so they at least get treated as sewage rather than taking raw turds to landfill. We have just ordered a set of washable liners which you sluice in a toilet b4 washing.
Pollutants in washing detergent can also be dealt with by sewage treatment, whereas the entire contents of a disposable nappy (including indestructible petrochemicals and some
very nasty gel crystals designed to soak up liquid) go untreated into a landfill site. And the very manufacture of those nappies uses energy on an industrial scale and generates plenty of pollutants.
Research by the Real Nappy Association suggests that, taking manufacture, material composition and washing/disposal into account, the 'environmental footprint' of a re-useable nappy is far smaller than for a disposable.
Finally:
1. You just don't get any significant nappy rash with washables!
2. By the time our son has finished with nappies, even allowing for costs of washing them, we will have saved somewhere between £500 and £1,000.
[/OFF TOPIC]
Now back to disposable DVDs....