# Yes, the environment's nice and all but I'll take disposable, thankyouverymuch! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2002, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-environments-nice-and-all-but-ill-take-disposable-thankyouverymuch/137573 "2002-11-19T18:22:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-environments-nice-and-all-but-ill-take-disposable-thankyouverymuch/137573/21 "2002-11-21T05:21:25Z")
If I ever had a child (as if) I’d _try_ to use cloth diapers, with a diaper service. I’m not sure it would work out, though, if the baby inherited my skin. Being the eldest- aka mommy and daddy’s guinea pig- cloth diapers were initially used on me, to disastrous results. The doctor told my mother that the cloth diapers, or probably what they were washed in, was responsible for my horrific diaper rash, and he actually advised her to switch to disposable. As for choosing other disposables vs reusables, paper towels and feminine products are the only ones I routinely choose over the alternatives. It’s “mother nature’s” fault we have to even use the damn things, so screw her and the environment! [sub]Sorry, that’s the pms talking.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-environments-nice-and-all-but-ill-take-disposable-thankyouverymuch/137573/22 "2002-11-21T08:31:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JuanitaTech \* > \*\*On the other hand, I also use disposable diapers and baby wipes. This is _not_ an option. Have you _seen_ what comes out of the business end of a two year old? I don’t even want to confront it just to clean it off his bottom let alone to clean it off a cloth diaper! > \*\* Your babysitters will (or do) love you. I was at my most environmental in high school - and there was still nothing I hated more than finding out the parents had decided to go with cloth diapers. However, cloth diapers make excellent cleaning cloths…better than sponges. Then you wash them and reuse. I also use a sh-mop, which is kind of like a re-usable swiffer - the cloths get washed with the other cleaning rags. After my unpleasant experiences with Instead, there’s no way I’m going to a reusable feminine product. And I do use paper towels. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-environments-nice-and-all-but-ill-take-disposable-thankyouverymuch/137573/23 "2002-11-21T16:04:35Z")
Disposable diapers are where it’s at as far as I’m concerned, except in the case (maybe) of very young infants who aren’t as stinky and messy. I used disposable diapers and wipes and the diaper genie, with it’s big old plastic refills. My concession to the environment is to only have one child, whom I potty trained fairly young. Oh, and he had rashes all over his body except for the diaper area. Regarding the menstrual cup, no thanks. Yes, it may be just a body fluid and honestly I’m not grossed out by my own used tampons or anything, but I don’t pee on my hand if I can help it, either. Just because it’s mine, doesn’t mean I want to embrace it. Nobody every accused me of being an earth mother. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-environments-nice-and-all-but-ill-take-disposable-thankyouverymuch/137573/24 "2002-11-21T16:39:41Z")
> [@](#): > > I was at my most environmental in high school - and there was still nothing I hated more than finding out the parents had decided to go with cloth diapers. My goodness, I always leave the Kidlet in a plastic diaper for a babysitter; I wouldn’t make them do cloth. They probably wouldn’t know how, anyway! ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-environments-nice-and-all-but-ill-take-disposable-thankyouverymuch/137573/25 "2002-11-21T17:28:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NinetyWt \* > **Plus, think of all the landfill space they take up. Do ya’ll ever wonder what’s gonna happen when we run out of landfill space ??😕…** Maybe your college professor was a little alarmist… [Here’s another view…](http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:dY_kEAcC8q4C:environment.uchicago.edu/studies/thesis/papers/selim.pdf+%22Resources+for+the+Future%22+%22Clark+Wiseman%22+%22landfill+space%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) > [@](#): > > …There has been sharp disagreement as to whether we are running out of landfill space. A. Clark Wiseman, an economist at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, has made a colorful observation that has been cited on a regular basis by those writing about landfills. Mr. Wiseman calculated some years ago that if we kept generating garbage at current rates for the next 1,000 years, and that if we placed all U.S. garbage into one giant landfill 100 yards deep, this landfill would fit on just 35 square miles of land - a trivial amount of space, considering how much undesired open land exists in America. Kinnaman and Fullerton, two economists who have written about solid waste, agree with Wiseman that there is no shortage of land. They point out that "while the number of landfills has been steadily decreasing over the past 10 years [this due to new economies of scale and a resulting trend toward fewer but larger landfills], the estimated capacity of remaining landfills has been steadily rising… the remaining capacity of landfill space has doubled from roughly 10 years of remaining capacity in 1988 to 20 years in 1997… ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-environments-nice-and-all-but-ill-take-disposable-thankyouverymuch/137573/26 "2002-11-21T22:23:57Z")
Just because you _can_ do something doesn’t always mean that you _should_. As being good stewards of the planet, we should try not to be too excessive. A 100-yard hole? Er … that’s 300 feet deep. Isn’t that like a 30-story building? :rolleyes: My source says 5 to 10 years’ capacity is out there. This is from ASCE’s Report Card on America’s Infrastructure: "Sanitary landfilling in the United States has made monumental strides in the last 20 years, moving from open dumps with little or no control to “state of the art” facilities with sophisticated containment systems, environmental monitoring, improved operational practices, and increased regulation. At the same time, more stringent regulations have caused landfill capacity to decline: between 1986 and 1996, the total number of landfills in the U.S. fell from 7,683 facilities to 3,581 - a capacity reduction of more than 50%. … Since the mid-1980s, almost three-fourths of the nation’s municipal landfills have closed because regulations governing land disposal have tightened. Most states, however, still have more than 10 years’ landfill capacity remaining, with the greatest potential shortages projected for the Northeast where most states have less than five years’ capacity on average… Specific recommendations supported by ASCE: -Emphasis should be given to integrated management of MSW. Continued development of improved landfill design and operating technology is paramount. -Increased federal funding of research into waste-to-energy programs. -The problem of overconsumption should be addressed, with the goal of reducing the production and consumption of unnecessary goods, packaging and throwaways. Toxic materials used in products and packaging and produced as byproducts in production processes should be minimized." Of course, I kind of like the last one. oh … ASCE = American Society of Civil Engineers;) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-the-environments-nice-and-all-but-ill-take-disposable-thankyouverymuch/137573.md?page=1)