What a Waste

Plastic Pollution on TED

admin — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:24:45 +0000

Take 5 minutes to learn more about plastic pollution through the TED talk of Diana Cohen, a co-founder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, an organization we support and are organizational members of.

We can stem the tide of pollution into oceans and landfills by choosing non-plastic, reusable alternatives to plastic products.

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Bioplastics: landfill from biological sources

admin — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:52:45 +0000

Have you wondered about bioplastics? Article by the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s Manuel Maqueda in the Earth Island Institute’s Earth Island Reports weighs what bioplastics may or may not mean.

The point, of course, is that reuse makes more sense than throwing away plastics no matter what the source of the materials. Throw away doesn’t mean go away.

“The Bioplastic Labyrinth”

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As a Plastic Film Covers the World

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:11:16 +0000

I was reading about Thailand’s efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags, and I noticed that the Guardian UK has a page just for plastic bag waste.

Guardian UK photos of plastic bag waste

Now, I feel sick seeing trees covered in a thin film of plastic bags. Bags don’t stay in a landfill. Through gradual diffusion, they are spreading out across the land and the sea. We’re suffocating ourselves.

That it has to come to such a state before there is outcry all around the world is sad, but at least there is a building outcry now. The Guardian has collected all of their waste stories from one page.

Who suffers waste? It’s tempting to say that we all do, but the world’s poor suffer disproportionately from the waste that is dumped around them.

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Every Day Is No Plastic Diapers Day

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:12:26 +0000

Today is No Plastic Day, to bring awareness to disposable plastic goods like bottles and bags. It’s time all of the plastic pollution warriors out there added plastic diapers to their list of nasty polluters and toxic waste issues.

Let’s make every day No Plastic Diapers Day. There are perfectly good reusable products that do a better job of catching baby waste.

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Less Waste through More Chemicals?

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 01:36:09 +0000

I’ve been watching with interest as the Pampers Dry Max public relations fiasco unfolds.

The story has been developing for weeks among parents, but it has hit mainstream media more recently. Parents report serious rashes when using Dry Max diapers. The problem is so bad that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is investigating complaints, and parents are submitting their stories of rashes and blisters when using Pampers Dry Max diapers.

In the past year, Procter & Gamble has been excitedly spreading the word to their retailers in that they had a development that would change the way stores use shelf space. A diaper revolution, was the word going around.

The product they introduced was Pampers Dry Max. Most disposable diapers include not only superabsorbent polymers (SAP, the blue beads that absorb urine—you may have seen them on your baby’s bottom if you’ve used disposable diapers*), but they also include naturally absorbent materials such as wood pulp or cotton. All of this is packed into a tight and tidy plastic wrap that covers a baby’s bottom for 12 hours or so. The innovation with the new product was to remove the naturally absorbent materials and just pack the plastic wrap with plastic SAP.

Cutting out the cotton and wood pulp makes a thinner diaper. This was their response to the nasty truth about disposable diapers constituting such a large proportion of the garbage that is hauled away from curbs every week. This is “2x drier & 20% thinner” than competitor Kimberly-Clark’s products, so they can pick off users who are willing to make minor changes but aren’t looking for real changes. (If you are looking for a real diaper change, you know where to look.)

When “Modern” Means Untested

The whole idea of “modern diapers,” whether people are talking about throwaway diapers or reusable diapers, just amuses me. This phrase plays on parents’ fears of not knowing the latest, even when the latest is untested and can cause health or other issues for their children. Even the simplest, most old-fashioned flat cloth diaper does the job beautifully, and flat and prefold diapers are so easy to care for. I don’t quite understand what people think they gain by “modern” in the context of diapers.

All of this because a major manufacturer of throwaway diapers recognizes the solid waste problem they have created over the past 30-60 years.

The answer isn’t more chemicals on babies’ skin. The answer is a return to the tried and true. Cloth diapers just work.

What Is the Issue Again?

What is the current issue with these diapers? Is it really public relations? You would think so to read business articles.

I’m waiting for a P&G executive to say that because they care about the health of babies they will investigate every claim. Wouldn’t that send a stronger message to their young mother demographic than saying stories are “completely false” then accusing mothers who have seen their babies develop terrible rashes of spreading “false rumors”?

*“It is perfectly normal to see some gel on the skin from time to time.” “Diaper Gel Facts,” pampers.com

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