To not understand common attitudes to disposable personal hygiene products?

[hooochycoo]

I'm confronted by this again and again on MN, and I confess I don't understand why it's OK to justify using disposable nappies, wet wipes, sanitary protection etc? Why is it OK to add so much rubbish to the world on the justification of convenience when there are alternatives that are still easy but generate less or no waste? Use a flannel, use a moon up, put/hold your baby regularly over a toilet/ potty, use modern easy quick drying cloth nappies. Why's it OK to recoil in horror at the hippyness of such things? But it's ok to continue buying disposable rubbish from huge corporations and throw them into landfill? Apart from an argument of "each to their own", aibu to not get it?

Curious as to why the people who feel squeamish about buying second hand cloth nappies feel that it's important for them to be new and never pooed in when they are washed and clean. And then will be pooed in again pretty quickly.

Personally I bought about 20 pocket nappies second hand for about 50 quid. They are waterproof fabric and fleece on the outside, so dry super quick. The insides you can stuff with absorbent pads that take a bit longer to dry, but will dry over night. These have lasted me two babies. I use about 3-4 a day, as I've always given my children the opportunity to wee/poo outside their nappies regularly. So the nappies are rarely pooey, just damp. So there's not much washing, and not much work.

The times that my dc's are in child care, the nursery has used the cloth nappies and put the babies in the potty too. Amazingly both nurseries that I used were keen to try it once I explained it to them. So I must not be as annoying and smug and rude in public. Both kids went to nursery a 2/3 days a week from 9 months ish, when my maternity leave ran out. I just asked whether the nursery would just mind popping them on the potty at nappy changes, after meals and after naps. Obviously not if they didn't want to and no And they did and they were amazed that they used it. Really lovely to find such open minded people.

Moon cup wise, it was a bit of a revelation. I'd always had really heavy periods with lots of pain. But mooncup has made them much more manageable. These days I put the moon cup in when I think my period is due, and then just need to empty it when I'm back in at tea time and then before bed. Sometimes if I'm busy I don't do it at tea time, just in the evening. It never leaks. It's not messy. It makes no waste. I don't have to buy anything. I never get caught out with tampax. It makes it all really easy.

Anyway hope that helps anyone that is interested in trying these things too. That's all.

You can buy them in boots.

They usually take a couple if periods for you to get the hang of. And alot of folk find them uncomfortable because 1- they are putting the mooncup far enough inside and 2- they need to cut the little plastic tail off.
www.mooncup.co.uk/advice-centre/faqs.html
I personally think they are really good. But not everyone's going to like them. I recommend you at least look into them and try them though.

Hooochy do you buy second hand knickers?

I'd have less qualms with passing on nappies between siblings than from outside the family though.

Yes, if they were clean and in good condition. Which second hand nappies are. wouldn't know where to buy them. I have bought a second hand swimsuit.

Gosh, it really doesn't add much to the housework. And of course, my husband did do about fifty percent of the washes. I leave at seven and get back at seven too, but I never really considered it a chore. Not like bedding, god I hate washing and changing beds. Urgh. Hanging out Terries of an evening is sort of mind numbingly soothing, I found it oddly relaxing.

Ok then

Would you buy second hand knickers that the previous owner had crapped and weed in several times a day?

MummytoMog, one last post and i'm going to let this go because quite frankly this is tedious and pointless. You have an opinion. You are entitled to that opinion. That opinion is not borne out by the evidence. If you want to question the evidence then you need to do that with facts - your personal experience and time spent on internet forums does not equal scientific research. For the last time, the report states that if you follow all the guidelines you can reduce the environmental impact of reusables by 40%, making them more sustainable than disposables - that is good news surely if you want to use reusables? If you don't meet all those criteria then there is little difference.

I could argue with you all evening regarding funding and political bias in Quangos, but i don't think anyone else is really interested. I'm not sure you will find many waste carriers who think the EA is biased in their favour - people don't generally like being regulated, being told how they can operate and risking prosecution if they don't comply. It is a fine line trying to police and engage with stakeholders at the same time. Sometimes the wrong balance may be struck, but it is wrong to imply bias on the basis that some activities require licences that generate a very small proportion of the EA's budget.

I object to people being made to feel guilty about their choices when the difference in environmental impact between two choices is negligible. Use whichever is right for you and your family. If people care about the environment then they need to get political, make a fuss and worry about the big stuff like energy, transport and agriculture. I agree with the op when she talks about people who just don't give a shit - i find that quite hard to respect too, but if you want to make a difference, make a difference where it matters. It honestly isn't here.

Ok, you genuinely don't find that an uncomfortable concept so I just have a mental boundary about such things that you don't. Probably neither of us is "wrong" there are reasonable reasons why another person's underwear is taboo to do with diseases but with the advent if modern washing these are less necessary.

hoochy you haven't answered the the point about having more than one child?

Isn't that the ultimate in selfish disregard for the environment?

I use a mooncup and washable thin towels/liners for me, but DS is in disposable nappies. It's my choice, and for him, it's very much a finite stage. OK, I won't be having periods for ever, but still.

You'd hate me

I use disposable nappies.

I use disposable kitchen wipes, kitchen roll, floor wipes, bathroom wipes, face wipes, baby wipes.

I use tampons.

Still no-one's told me how you remove poo from a disposable nappy. Am I mean to use a spatula?

*meanr

*meant. Oh FFS!!!

I have bought a second-hand swimsuit, used second-hand underwear, and bought second-hand bedding (I once had some flatmates who were horrified at that- I said, look, we're living in a homelessness hostel for young women- can we truly afford more than 99p a sheet?)

Having a septic tank makes one responsible and very aware about their own methods of waste disposal - trying to unclog ones own sewerage system mid raging winter storm is very educational - and though I grew up with a septic tank and parents telling me about what I could and couldn't dispose of it wasn't until I had to live with - and pay for - my own that I completely stopped using bleach and sanitary products. Dh grew up on a mains system and would shove everything down the loo/into the bin until he was the one picking it out again several weeks later [Festive Vomit Smiley]

I don't hate you. But I'd be frustrated if you said the reaso you do all those things is because you can't be arsed to do otherwise or that the alternatives sound weird and a bit yucky.

I have two kids yes. I suppose that's part of the reason I put thought and effort into my choices. And I'm also trying to educate them to be thoughtful and less wasteful themselves. One of them were accidental if that helps?

I would buy second hand underwear if it was clean and in good c

Ondition regardless. I wouldn't buy stained smelly washed out anything. But if it was in the lovely condition that used nappies are , completely clean and lovely, I have no problem. I neither have a problem sitting on public toilets either. Or sleeping in hotel sheets. Or eating off cafe plates.

Love that those of us who try to make a difference are smug and middleclass nope
Do you like going on holiday in the UK and finding sanitary protection on your beach ?
Probably not but hey fuck it, mock other people rather than doing something about it

Who on earth has time to hold a baby over a toilet and wait?!

Glu twas always thus and always thus shall be.

Hey glue and Hester! This has come as a shock to me. Genuinely didn't realise people would be so angry with me!

I think it's because your OP was initially quite lofty sounding :)

I think you realised that though.

Hello muddy, it's not particularly time consuming unless you are very fundamentalist about it. You just hold them/put them over the loo/potty/ bowl whenever you're changing a nappy. Or if you want to when you're going to the loo yourself. Or if you fancy doing even less washing, when the baby wakes up or finishes feeding. Or if you're really lazy, put the baby in the potty with some toys to do a poo while you're putting your make up to go to work, to save having to change a shitty nappy on your way out the door.