I am not an enviromentalist BUT...

[DiaperedDragon]

Does anyone else feel super guilty that by using Disposable Diapers your harming the environment.
Especially with the use of Plastic backed diapers.
At times it's like the binge/purge cycle, but with emotions for the environment.
By no means will I stop wearing 24/7, and I'll never switch to cloth.

How do you guys/gals feel this existential crisis?

 

[Nowididit]

My thoughts are this. EVERYTHING we produce on earth has come from the earth. I mean EVERYTHING.
EVERYTHING we use is produced by mining, drilling, fracking and farming. Without mining, drilling, fracking and farming we wouldn't have the basics.
It came out of the earth so it should go back in the earth.

 

[BobbiSueEllen]

I remember a time when people were hollering about disposables and how bad they were for the planet; then they put SAP in diapers...and the voices go oddly silent. The sad part of this hypocrisy is that disposable diapers were far more environmentally friendly before SAP came to town.

 

[Bearcatz]

I don't worry about it. Most of what you're throwing away is pee, and that's pretty much just water. There's wood pulp, but that ought to bio-degrade pretty easily. I reckon the plastic is about equivalent to a potato chip bag, but leave a diaper in direct sunlight for a while and the plastic will start disintegrating pretty fast too.

I have about 135 acres of property, and have a "not unless it's definitely dead or dangerous" policy when it comes to taking down any trees, and I plant more every year. I'd encourage anyone concerned about the environment to do the same. Besides, planting trees just makes you feel good inside.

 

[jamiejamie]

Yea. I have the same concern since I have a degree in Biology. I wouldn’t worry about it since most goes into the landfill and they are decomposed over time and can be turned into fossil fuel. Diapers probably makes about a small percentage of the landfill anyway.

 

[lilbabyjooce]

It does concern me a lot. Even if you made the switch to cloth, the water waste from washing them is pretty massive, and the toilet isn’t a better alternative either in that regard. Plus plastic microfibers are most likely in certain cloths as well, and being able to discern what fabric is the most sustainable and most plastic free isn’t very easy.
Ultimately, as someone who cares a lot about the environment, we can only do what we can. I think we have a certain level of responsibility to try and be at least conscious of the affects of our actions, but sometimes we don’t have another way and sometimes we don’t even realize the impact of our actions—especially actions that are made out to be eco friendly (like the water waste with cloth). I try to balance out my diaper wearing by doing other things to help the environment in the ways that are feasible to me. Sometimes a balancing act is the best we can do within our means, and that’s okay!

 

[SpAzpieSweeTot]

It does concern me a lot. Even if you made the switch to cloth, the water waste from washing them is pretty massive, and the toilet isn’t a better alternative either in that regard. Plus plastic microfibers are most likely in certain cloths as well, and being able to discern what fabric is the most sustainable and most plastic free isn’t very easy.
Ultimately, as someone who cares a lot about the environment, we can only do what we can. I think we have a certain level of responsibility to try and be at least conscious of the affects of our actions, but sometimes we don’t have another way and sometimes we don’t even realize the impact of our actions—especially actions that are made out to be eco friendly (like the water waste with cloth). I try to balance out my diaper wearing by doing other things to help the environment in the ways that are feasible to me. Sometimes a balancing act is the best we can do within our means, and that’s okay!

There are filters you can buy for microplastics. Potty flush water is black, and so is diaper laundry water. Maybe a diverter valve on the washer, so diaper laundry water is used to flush with?

 

[Abdlchriscrinkle]

There are filters you can buy for microplastics. Potty flush water is black, and so is diaper laundry water. Maybe a diverter valve on the washer, so diaper laundry water is used to flush with?

Neat idea!

 

[oldpppants]

I used to live in the desert, where water is scarce and expensive (and should probably be even more expensive). We debated when my kids were babies about cloth vs. disposables... with our lifestyles cloth turned out to be difficult; and in the desert the advantage of one over the other is, if you'll pardon the expression, a wash - wasting water vs.filling the landfill; one is about as advantageous as the other.

 

[BabyLink9]

Yeah I do think about this quite often, which is why I think at some point it would be great to switch over to bamboo based diapers. There are a few brands out there concerned with this going that route. I know most people here don’t like cloth backed, but if an option came out like that, and was well made I wouldn’t mind the switch.

 

[Hemix]

The thing is there's already a kind of biodegradable plastic that could work well with enough political pressure worldwide, polylactyde combined with chicken wing fibers (that's the best alternative I know, there could even be better ones with transgenic organisms).

However, I can imagine it's cheaper to keep producing and selling what we already have, and because people tend to warp and not care enough about politics, we won't be able to get into the topic until a lot of damage has already been done.

So taking that into consideration, I'm not fighting in an already lost battle.

 

[DiaperedDragon]

It does concern me a lot. Even if you made the switch to cloth, the water waste from washing them is pretty massive, and the toilet isn’t a better alternative either in that regard. Plus plastic microfibers are most likely in certain cloths as well, and being able to discern what fabric is the most sustainable and most plastic free isn’t very easy.
Ultimately, as someone who cares a lot about the environment, we can only do what we can. I think we have a certain level of responsibility to try and be at least conscious of the affects of our actions, but sometimes we don’t have another way and sometimes we don’t even realize the impact of our actions—especially actions that are made out to be eco friendly (like the water waste with cloth). I try to balance out my diaper wearing by doing other things to help the environment in the ways that are feasible to me. Sometimes a balancing act is the best we can do within our means, and that’s okay!

Never considered the use of water in the cleaning process, thanks everyone to opening my eyes to different views on the subject.
Disposables for life

 

[lian]

As a DL, I only use my diaper at night. During the day I wear one, but go to the bathroom normally and take advantage of the fact that I as a man can do so to speak through the pants leg So I reduce the amount to one diaper a day.

That being said, I tell myself: I have struggled for 40 years with my secret and forbidden me diapers. That is also quite a pollution. Besides, I just can't believe that the world will perish because of us ABDL

 

[buridan]

Yes, I do worry about this. It's one of the reasons I wear diapers only occasionally, rather than wearing a diaper to bed every night. (That's the closest I'd ever want to get to 24/7.)

Cloth v. disposable isn't a simple issue. Washing cloth diapers requires water and energy, and manufacturing cloth diapers uses lots of energy. If you live in the desert, and there's plenty of landfill space, disposable diapers might be less bad for the environment. If there's plenty of water where you live, and your trash goes to an incinerator, cloth diapers are probably better. Of course, if only one kind of diaper makes you happy, then this isn't a real question.

There are other aspects of AB play that have less environmental impact and that are also easier on the wallet. If you buy a pair of PJs with cute prints, you can wear them for years, and they don't add much to the laundry bill...

 

[Nowididit]

I think the only environmental waste practice that bothers me is the fact that we are dumping garbage in the oceans. We have more than enough land mass to bury our wastes, there's absolutely no reason to dump our garbage in the oceans.

 

[EcoIncon]

There's a common trap that we may be falling into with this thread. Most that study the subject carefully (this topic is related to my actual career) agree the primary environmental impact of disposable health products is not the disposal of them but the energy required to manufacture them (CO2 emissions, manufacturing waste water, et. al.)

As demand for adult diapers is now exceeding that for baby diapers and the global growth of the disposable health product market soars, there is a lot of work going on to minimize the waste effects throughout the entire product lifecycle of these products. There's a lot of great stuff happening. This abstract has a pretty good overview... though it's a bit nerdy (a great fit for me)... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652621019041 of the things happening in this space.

For me, I wear because it enables me to live a normal life. I do use cloth (much less energy to manufacture) when it's convenient but honestly I'm in disposables 75% of the time because they are much more convenient for me. I wouldn't worry about your environmental impact. If wearing is essential for you, just use products with the right materials for your situation. If you wear for fun, find something else you can trade off from your routine to offset the impact (maybe cut out that Sunday drive to nowhere? stop using single use plastic bottles? recycle those aluminum cans you've been throwing in the trash?).