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?

Well said, Binky!

Well, mooncups are fab, I have to agree with that. I am a part of the unofficial mooncup appreciation society

The other stuff, I don't agree with so much. Esp the part about holding babies over the toilet. My nan used to do that. With 5 children it took up a great deal of her life. That wouldn't be for me. Although my dc are out of nappies now, so its not relevent to me anymore.

I guess we all do the stuff that suits us best.

Binky, because it creates waste and is selfish, putting your own convenience above the environmental impact on others?

Hey hoochy as you are so much less selfish than all the rest of us, maybe you could pick up all our extra washing that we cannot keep up with and wash it for us? It's for the environment after all..

It's not at all as simple as that. It's not necessarily clear that biodegradable disposable products are always worse for the environment than the cost of manufacturing/washing/drying the reusable product. Depends on individual factors.

We all compromise environmental impact against personal comfort and convenience to some extent, it's an individual decision where exactly you draw that line, and which issues are non-negotiable for you personally.

Personally I do use disposable tissues and tampons, yes, because they're convenient. However I don't eat meat, drive a car, or have children. There's no point fixating on one thing, like sanpro or nappies, when it's the sum of all the choices we make in life that determine our overall environmental 'footprint'.

Fair enough murder of goths, but only as long as now petrochemicals are abused in it's transportation and it's couriered to me by willing specially trained squirrels.

Its not always about convenience, or being lazy or selfish. There can be many reasons why people choose to use the things they do. Reasons that you will have no idea about, and I doubt you would want to know because you believe that you are right.

I used washable nappies, I use disposable san pro, its is my choice and I will not be changing, you can call me lazy or selfish, but you do not know and I will not explain my reasons.

BTW that soap box your standing on, have you calculated its carbon footprint?

Ephiny, that sounds like an informed, balanced opinion. Thank you, I understand where you're coming from.

I guess it's just the blanket exclamation that "I'll do what I like because it's convenient for me " that I don't understand.

We can all be better, we have choices. We should surely feel obliged to use them for the good of all, not just for ourselves?

Totally agree with you OP. Jolly, I think we'd all agree there are times when convenience products should be utilised-about once every three months I use tampons.
But for everyday, washable pads.

I'm really not trying to be rude, and as I've said lots, I'm not disagreeing that medical issues are a different issue!

I still don't really understand!

Yes we can all do better. But until your perfect don't dictate to me about my choices, when you have no idea of why I have made them.

Its not my fault or anyones elses that you don't understand 'I'll do what I want because its convenient for me' what is/isn't convenient for you is not the same for someone else, you do not have to understand why.

I eat meat ( health issue after a decade of being veggie)
Ive been on holiday....on a plane!!! And I damn well intend to do so again.
I use disposable nappies and san pro....nappies because of cost and sanpro more because of heaviness aswell as cost.
I have a tumble drier.
My dp has a car ( he has to get to work...no buses)
And a whole lot of other things too.

But... I recycle everything possible.
Buy food feom local farms to reduce food miles.
Use recycled tissue and many other recycled products.
Walk rather than go in the car alot.
Buy second hand and pass things on
Reuse things.

I'll be friggin damed if I jave to give up holidays and food and having dey clothes just so I can sit in the house holding my toddler over the loo in order to save the planet.

Yes we need to look after the planet....but I'm not going to make my lifee 100 tomes harder for the sakw of it.

1. DH and I both work fulltime yet don't have the money to buy a tumble dryer.
2. ^^ see above for running costs of said machine.
3. ^^ don't have space gor one anyway.
4. I Have a mooncup that I love, have had it for years and have banged on enough to convert various friends and family. However, my wizard's sleeve fionula hasn't snapped back into place since the birth of pfb (aged 2), so it causes pain and discomfort before falling out. So it's fucking awful bastard bloody buggering minging pads for me, making me want to throw up with every step I take, or everytime I sit down or go for a piss
5. I live abroad, reusable wipes don't exist here (yes, I did look), also repeat point 1 ^^ above.
6. Stick your judging up your bum! Quite frankly.

Btw, do you eat Nestle chocolates? Drink Nescafe? Have a Nespresso machine? Adore George Clooney and all he's done for Dafur etc while he advertises Nestle products? Do you use L'oreal goods? Body Shop? Use Amazon? Have Gmail? Have an Apple product? Buy flowers flown in from Kenya? Buy clothes from Primark/H&M/Nike?

There's shit all around us, we do what we can and make our own choices. I've just justified my choices to you, OP, because you made me so angry with your smugness.

IRL I'd mutter "whoopi shit" to you and just wander off.

Hoochy - you may not be trying to be rude, but you don't seem to be trying not to be rude and judgemental either.

Putting people's backs up, as you are doing, is not going to advance any cause.

I'll admit I should have a go at mooncupping. But seriously boggling at the idea of holding each two year old twin over the toilet followed by the baby! I suppose I could install a hotplate in the bathroom so I could cook dinner with the other hand. We'd have to live in there!

Agreed with MrsDV about it being a feminist issue too. The invention of disposable products actually made a huge difference to the lives of women, who before that were usually stuck in a constant cycle of washing. Disposable nappies/sanitary towels/tampons etc freed up a load of their time and gave them a bit more freedom. It's one of the big reasons they became so popular. Yes it's convenience, but it's also about not being slaves to household chores (which invariably fall to the women, even now!). Not many people want to go back to those times, understandably.

elQuinto Whoopi shit, that's polite, I would just say Fuck off!

Are you going to go on any male dominated websites and tell them they are lazy and thick for using disposable razors, shaving foam in a aerosol etc? Or is it just women you like bossing around?

Don't forget disposable condoms? Why use them when you can use a sandwich bag and an elastic band.

Hoochy do you make all your own clothes, grow/raise all your own food, handmake all gifts and grow your own trees to make furniture? Is your house built with entirely reclaimed materials constructed by your own hands? Because anything else is just selfish as its done for your convenience.

Honestly I think you're getting defensive reactions ('I'll do what I like' etc) because of your tone and attitude in this thread, OP. If you'd framed it as a discussion of 'how can we all try to make better choices' rather than being so judgemental about certain choices and calling people lazy and selfish...you might have got better responses.

I use recycled loo roll

How lazy of you. There are alternatives you know.

By your reckoning you should be using flannels surely? or is it that you find loo roll convenient?

Its easier to take stuff for granted when you haven't experienced the alternative

^I think women of my age and older feel pretty strongly about sanitary wear because of their own horrible experiences.
Those old enough to remember having to use washable nappies may well feel the same^

Yes /\