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?

Lazy arrogant and uneducated?
Wtf!

I used resuseable nappied and wipes with ds2 for about a year. But i'm telling you they are NOT as easy to clean as people say. And the smell of shite does not leave them no matter how you try. I persevered but eventually realised that all the soaking and rewashing was causing far more hassle for me than it was worth and life is too short to spend so long trying to remove the smell of shit from your washing machine and clothes.

I also tried mooncup and the bastard thing had me in tears every period because i just could not get it to work. Again tried for a year but tampons do a far better job so they win.

We have an incinerator near us. None of our nappies go into landfill. :)

There are lots of things people do that aren't 'thinking about tomorrow' (to quote hester)
Having lots of children is definitely one of them, driving cars or even using any form of transport to get out and about is another.
Where are you going to draw the line? Does a parent of one child using disposables get a break over a parent of 6 using reusables?

It is a very pointless thing let 'depress' you, OP.

Maybe we should also not buy buggies for convenience sake, when we can drag children behind us on a log...

OP, I am willing to bet you do stuff that I consider lazy/unjustifiable so I guess it evens out. [shrug]

I live in a flat too with no tumble dryer.

And mrs dv, I guess I did want to start a thread about something that I was interested in. But I didn't make up a load of old crap to justify it! In my experience, it seems on MN and in real life, the majority of people use disposable stuff.

Still think convenience is not a good enough argument for creating waste! Sorry. But I continue to agree that medical issues are definately a different issue.

*the centre of this argument seems to be that OP is against 'big corporations'.

who supplies your internet access, OP?*

Or the phone.laptop she is using, or the train she is travelling in.

Its very easy to pick out one bit of life and get on your soap box about it, but very difficult to follow it through in all areas.

I've got twins. Washable nappies haven't made it out of the bag yet.

You care a little too much OP

Worry about your own crevices

Ok, i use disposable nappies and sanitary pads etc.

But I've never driven a car so solely use public transport, have never been abroad so don't pollute the world on planes... only ever wash at 30c and recycle everything I can - so although I am aware of the worries about nappies, I felt like I wasn't being too evil by making my life more convenient and using them.

Op - are you saying that EVERYTHING you do is eco friendly? So you'll be selling the car and living in a tent yes? Oh - is that not convenient for you? Pity, guess you don't care about the polar bears.

that thing that happens with babies that as soon as you take their nappies off they wee or poo?
Don't know about anyone else here, but I used to take my DC nappy off because they had soiled it, not on the slight chance that they wouldn't.

Well, we can't all be as perfect and environmentally conscious as you, OP.

What yellowgiraffe said, I also read that the difference in environmental impact between reuseable nappies and disposables was pretty negligible when you took into account the electricity, detergent and water use.

Unless you are scrubbing them with a stone in the river I suppose...

"I live in a flat too with no tumble dryer. "

And? So our circumstances are the same are they? Are you telling me that you continue to use reusables even though you can never actually keep up with the washing and large amounts of it has to just sit there festering? And that's better?

Your arrogance is astounding. You think that you can approve a reason or not, and what we're supposed to be appreciative that you've excluded those of us with medical conditions.

I am under no obligation to justify my use of certain products. For me convenience is enough of an answer and to call it lazy is infuriating, I am too busy with other things to be lazy.

I do actually believe that what you're saying is in some aspects as not female supportive, because I think for many women, the use of disposable products allows weeks of their life not to be dictated by their periods which is only a female affliction. I cannot function in my office using reusable sanpro. It's just another disadvantage that most of us don't need.

Do you eat meat OP? I understand that's really bad for the environment. Are you vegan? I hope so....

Like it redsky! :-)

Dragging children around on a log made me giggle!

The core of my argument isn't against big corporations, just an observation, but as you're interested I knit my own Internet.

Yes I'm pretty sure I'm not perfect too and so things that others would find offensive. I'm not disputing that.

I thought about using reusable nappies with ds1, but I had PND, and I made the choice to make life easy for myself - for the sake of my mental health. Same applied after each subsequent child - because I got PND after ds2 and ds3 too.

Reusable menstrual protection is pretty new - or at least, it has only started to come to prominence in recent years, and for all of those years, I have had a mirena coil in, so no periods. However, I do have a rather dodgy pelvic floor, so I wear a disposable pad each day. As far as I am aware, there are no reusable incontinence products suitable for someone like me - and I would be concerned that a reusable product would not protect my skin from the urine from any odd leaks.

"but then if we're trading character assessments, yous all sound lazy, arrogant and bit uneducated."

Oh you rebel you

I don't eat meat, I don't drive, I don't fly. But I'm sure I'm not 100% environmentally perfect. I don't think I have to be to have this discussion, we can all be better. The fact that we can't be 100% shouldn't stop you trying.

I'll await the cavalry then mrs.dv! ;-)

But you know that thing that happens with babies that as soon as you take their nappies off they wee or poo? Well if you just hold them over a toilet/ potty then they do it there and make less mess and use less nappies.

I don't know about that, usually mine waited until they were nicely cleaned up and the fresh nappy was on- then Bingo- pee or poop in the new nappy! Perhaps I should have told them off for being so wasteful!

Why can't women use what ever products they feel happy and comfortable with without someone judging them for what they stick up there fanjo, in their knickers or on their babies arses?

Sorry I just dont believe that the benefits in reusables arent completely wiped out by the environmental impact of washing them...do you put them in the machine with everything else (if so ewwwww)

I also agree, I have massively cut down on tumble drier use and my house already spends 75% of the time looking like a chinese laundry...I think my lads may have something to say if im drying my reusable pads on their radiators

With heavy periods (sometimes 2 super plus tampons and a pad struggle) I couldnt contemplate a mooncup. Plus im mega private - have seen discussions about rinsing it...god I struggle with making too much noise unwrapping a tampon (I appreciate as an adult this is weird)

I respect your rights to do what you want but honestly I think your annoyance is misplaced try directing it an the manufacturers of these products, they should be encouraged to develop more environmentally friendly alternatives which break down.

I have, since reading a thread on Mumsnet about surfers, stopped flusing tampons and now bin them but im afraid thats as far as I can go....sorry.