Did anyone else know you are supposed to wash out disposable nappies before putting them in the bin?

[sparkleymummy]

I had no idea! I thought the whole point of them was that you didn't have to wash them.

This is copied from my employers website:

"Use cloth nappies when you put a nappy on your child. Britain trashes Millions of disposable nappies a year. Nappies take up 1% of Britain?s landfills and they take 500 years to decompose. Cotton nappies can be reused 100 times and decompose in 1 to 6 months. These disposable nappies consume 1,265,000 metric tons of wood pulp and 75,000 metric tons of plastic. After using disposable nappies we are supposed to wash them out, only 5% of us do. Meaning that millions of tons of dirty, possibly disease infected nappies wind up in our so called "sanitary" landfills. In fact three million tons of untreated faeces and urine does not go through our sewage system but into our landfills. Over 100 different diseases are known to be excreted in human faeces, and there is a chance (at least it has not happened yet) that they can seep into our groundwater."

Message withdrawn

try this and look under toilet training

as for untreated urine and feaces...

well what do they suppose to all of the above produced by animals? (both wild and farm and tbh even pets?)

isnt it all part of nature

yep but you aren't supposed to put animal faeces in your household waste bins either.

The problem is not poo decomposing as a cowpat in a field would. In landfill, there is not the correct "eco system" (or something!) for it to decompose properly and safely. Or something.

oh thanks soup dragon

i obviously missed that point

yes i just stick dirty nappys in a nappy bg in the bin (current charge in disposables)

have to say i HATE disposable nappys full stop as they are so bad for the envirnoment and my own will be in cloth from day 1

Rinsing out - ha! But tipping solids into the toilet makes a lot of sense - I usually do this if we are using disposables (if we're out etc). But I bet 99% of people never do - firstly because there's nothing on the packaging / any NHS info to suggest that; and secondly because people seem to change nappies in all sorts of places rather than the bathroom. I've never understood this - surely anything poo-related belongs in the bathroom? It's where our changemat lives and once you're in there, it's easy to flush away what will flush, and then you're in situ for washing hands too.

Reusables gave BabyDragon horrendous nappy rash, hence she is now in disposables which don't. I generally tip poo into the toilet though.

Yes I did. Apparently it is illegal to put faeces in the bin. We use reusables anyway but because I am in the habit, whenever on the odd occasion we use a disposable, I put the poo down the toilet, I would rather it went down there than sit around stinking in the bin.

i am really bothered about this actually, maybe most people do do it out of common sense but i have never seen it mentioned in baby books or seen other mothers do it.next time i buy a packet of nappys i will read to check if anything is mentioned. do they tell you at anti natal?

I learnt via my local council info - can't remember how exactly as it was a few years ago but it was mentioned alongside the fact you aren't supposed to put dog waste in your rubbish either.

Never been told at ante-natal, or any other parenting information source.

i used to be a childminder, and while doing the course i was really surprised to learn that it is actually against the law to put any human bodily fluids into the household waste - urine, faeces, blood, snot (i presume?) you are apparently supposed to get yellow harzardous waste bags form your council

This is one of those "my God, why didn't I think of that" threads. OK, yes I'll start putting the poo down the toilet but what about the wee? It doesn't make sense.

And what about us non-mooncup wearers? I'd never flush a sanitory towel or tampon down the loo but these contain bodily fluids, so they go in the bin. Is it the lesser of two evils?

I think that the World Health Organisation says that all Fecal (sp?) matter should go down the toilet. If I ever use eco-disps (on hoiday etc) I always put put it down the loo. Don't like the thought of it being wrapped up and put in a bin.

This can't be widely known otherwise places with changing stations (like mothercare) would have somewhere to tip the poo before people wrap the nappies up and put them in the bin.

I did a poll on my friends at an NCT gathering and none of them knew this. Most of us use disposables. A couple flushed very solid poo occasionally but none on a regular basis. Its amazing that we're not told about it. Presumably the nappy companies have an interest in not publishing any info about it on the packets. It might put people off buying disposables (heaven forbid) if they think that actually the benefit of buying them (i.e. being able to chuck them in the bin with limited effort) is not even legal!

it really annoys me when baby changing facilities don't have actual toilets in them for this very reason. also lo will often do a poo whilst changing as she sometimes uses a potty so really annoying to have to put it in bin.