The ManicaPost
Diapers take up to 500 years to decompose and if not properly disposed can lead to the spread of diseases. In this week’s issue of Focus On Environmental Issues we will look at the environmental dangers and alternatives to diaper disposal. They are commonly referred to as pampers after the name of a company that also produces diapers.Diapers are loosely defined as a form of baby undergarment that allows children to deposit their excretions without using the ablution facilities. Traditional diapers are made up of cloth while the modern diapers are made of a synthetic disposable material.
They are hardly any researches on diapers in Zimbabwe, but the Union of Concerned Scientists have estimated that 18 billion diapers are disposed of in rubbish collection dump sites every year. Parents in the US pay up to $2 448 per year for quality diapers. For the US only 3,4 tones of waste make up 2,1 percent of the landfills every year. It is very sad to know that it takes many generations for diapers to decompose hence the need for us to explore safe disposal strategies.
In the olden days diapers were a very important component of the laundry. It was handled with care so that evil minded people would not temper with them for ritual purposes. In general children’s waste was disposed of carefully where people or dogs had no access. But things have changed, we find diapers almost everywhere including road sides. Although diapers seem to offer a convenience they have led to the erosion of our cultural values. But of importance in today’s article is the environmental damage they are causing to the environment. Later we will give a few options for their safe disposal.
Generally diapers require sufficient amounts of oxygen to burn or decompose. The major factor that inhibits them from burning or decomposing fast is their moisture content and their material which is not readily flammable. The material is not biodegradable. Baby waste can also act as a route for disease transmission if not properly disposed of.
Dogs, rodents, insects and birds usually come to feed on the waste material taking the pathogenic residues all over the community. Dogs open the diapers and expose them to flies which are disease vectors. Our greatest environmental challenge of all times is global warming. The constant increase in dump waste results in the increase in Greenhouse emission particularly methane. High quantities of such gases in dump sites also causes big fires to start.
These fires pollute the environment and increase the pace of global warming by letting out carbon. The smoke, fumes and heat from these landfills is not only harmful to the atmosphere but also to human beings. The Environment Health Association of Nova Scotia reported in “Archives of Environmental Health” that diapers deposit volatile organic chemicals into the environment.
Lengthy exposure to chemicals produced from diapers like ethylbenzene and dipentene is known to have long term negative impacts to humans. The dyes such as dioxin which can pollute the underground water and poses a potential risk to humans and animals. In urban areas most of our diapers go to rivers like Sakubva River and it is the population downstream like Dora who bear the brunt.
Their water becomes contaminated and animals eat the diapers resulting in poor animal health or death. The dumpsite do not provide conditions that promote decomposition — rather the diapers are mummified making them harder to decompose.
Some diapers have less negative impact than others. It is always good to read which ones are less harmful to the environment. But going back to basic shows that the cloth diapers are the most environmental friendly option. Affluence has resulted in most communities going for disposable diapers. Cloth diapers can be used between 50 to 100 times before it can be disposed.
They are also environmentally friendly. Cloth diapers take less than a year to decompose making them very safe for the environment. The excreta from the babies is properly deposited and processed in lavatories. The disposable diapers sometimes cause a lot of discomfort for children as they are left wet for a long time without being attended to. Cloth diapers quickly show and babies are regularly changed keeping them dry and healthy.
Everyday we are faced with a number of environmental choices which are critical for us and for the generations to come. Environmental disasters seem very far and yet very near. We need to try and make good choices on the diapers that we buy and the way we dispose of them so that we do not pollute the environment.
Due to the reduced rains caused by Global Warming underground water is now more commonly used in other places. Diapers are polluting this resource — we may not be able to use this water in future.
They are many cheap environmentally friendly ways for disposing diapers in Zimbabwe. I will just talk of three. The
