Commercial Eco-friendly Disposable-Diaper Collection and Disposal Services
Since we wrote our last article about diaper (nappy) choice and the eco-conundrums this presents to all parents, there has been a new development which can be a great help to Eco-friendly families. Innovative recycling businesses have been stepping-in and offering a solution for those that use disposable diapers.
Commercial eco-friendly disposable-diaper collection and disposal services are now available in many states and countries. They do cost money, and are not common. You may also find that they are not advertised in your local press and that you need to seek them out. But, despite these problems many families that are environmentally aware do find them, and are using them. The reason is that sustainable diaper disposal services bring big benefits in protecting the eco-systems of our planet, and the positive effect is greater than many people realize.
(Image: By Spigoo )
If you are using disposable diapers for your child, for their convenience, and for the comfort of your child, but you are at the same time concerned about the effect on the environment of disposing of them in your general rubbish, an eco-friendly diaper disposal service could be for you. Most diapers go to landfill when you put them in your garbage, and that is where the damage occurs.
However, when you engage one of these services, for a fee, they will arrange for your soiled diapers to be collected from your doorstep on a regular basis. The eco-friendly diaper disposal services company will undertake to process the soiled diapers in a responsible manner, and with the maximum possible re-use and recycling of the diaper materials.
Many people agonize about using disposable diapers because when they arrive at a landfill they take up a large volume. In fact that volume is so large that it is equivalent in many landfills to up to one sixth of the total landfill volume. In addition, disposable diapers decompose very slowly, and make landfill gas when they do. The nappy-soil also contributes significantly to the contamination in the leachate (dirty tip-water) that the landfill produces. For a single product, they use up a disproportionately large volume of all municipal waste landfills in industrialized nations.
Studies have shown that cotton diapers are much less damaging to the environment, if re-used by washing until worn-out, washed using low-temperature washing machine detergents with enzyme based or detergent washing machine cleaning products, and dried on a washing line or indoor airer.
Diaper Disposal Services Reduce the Quantity of Waste Sent to Landfills
Ecologically-aware people that employ eco-friendly disposable diaper collection and disposal contractors really do not need to avoid using disposable diapersl because they are concerned about the damage these products do when they are landfilled. Very little, if any, of the material in these diapers will go to landfill. The plastic film and rubberized waistbands are separated and sent to a plastics recycling facility for re-use. The absorbent gel is extracted purified and re-used in other products, and the remaining absorbent organic fibers of the diaper linings are then usually composted with the soiling in the material. As part of the composting process there is a stage when the material is also heat-treated to remove any possible infectious agents, and the end result is a compost which is a valuable fertilizer.
This is good for the environment because nutrients are added back into the soil saving on fertilizer needs, and the plastics which are recycled are used instead of fresh plastic resin. That means that the demand for new resin is reduced, which would otherwise been made from mineral oil from the world's diminishing reserves of carbonaceous (fossil) fuels.
Using eco-friendly diaper disposal services costs families who use disposable diapers some money, to pay for regular diaper collection, and their eco-friendly disposal with maximized recycling. However, society should encourage these services for their benefits in reducing damaging impacts on our environment by lowering the demand for landfilling, and for the useful recycled materials which are produced as a result.
Parents who care about preserving the quality of life in the world, for their children when they become adults, need not use traditional cotton nappies with all the work that entails washing them and drying them. They can be eco-friendly and use modern highly elasticized and comfortable disposable diapers, which give babies great freedom of movement and reduce nappy rashes, while also engaging one of the eco-friendly diaper disposal services which are now available, and have the best of both worlds.
Readers of this page also like to read our Cloth Vs Disposable article here.
