Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Change

“No one likes change, but babies in diapers.” (Barbara Johnson)

Diapers are a dirty business.  Let’s admit how thankful we are to the individual  who invented the disposable diaper. It made a smelly mess easier to deal with. We all know the basics of what a diaper is used for, are aware how to change them, how to dispose properly of them, and when they are full. These things are basics when it comes to parenting. There is interesting information about diapers that most people are unaware of, but should know.

·        A mother in the World War II era invented the diaper design because of a shortage of cotton which was used as covering for infants. Marion Donovan created the first practical disposable diaper in 1950 by using shower curtains for plastic covering and layers of tissue as the inner absorbent material.

·        Diaper packages advice that fecal wastes in the diaper should be flushed down the toilet before disposing of the diaper. Only 0.5% of all the waste from disposable diapers goes into the sewage system whereas over 92% ends up in a landfill.

·        Did you drop your favorite book in a puddle or maybe spilled some juice on it? Get a diaper. Spread it out flat and lay it in between the middle pages of your book. Put it in front of a fan or lay it out in the sun. The gels in the diaper will soak up the moisture from the pages soon. And your book is alive again. Ranchers also use diapers as an inexpensive breathable bandage on their horses suffering from hoof infection or abscesses. They use over the counter hoof poultice or a mixture of wheat bran and Epsom salts wrapped around the hoof by a diaper.

·        Dribbling a cup of alcohol into the diaper, soaking it in water and freezing the diaper creates the ultimate ice pack you can use over and over again. Put it back in the freezer once it’s no longer cold enough and it’ll be good as new.

·        Most parents look at monthly checkups costs or baby formula prices, but if you sum up your diaper cost, you’d average at about $750 per year per child.

·        No one has ever lived long enough to observe how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose completely. Researchers estimated its life span based on the material it’s made from to be about 250-500 years.

·        Since diapers are super absorbent, they are perfect for temporarily stopping leaks while you’re getting that leak fixed or buying the materials you need to patch it up. Also, people discovered that it’s perfect for flood water seeping into your home from under your doors. It may be a bit of hard work though since you have to get the sodium polyacrylate from the diaper into sand bags. It’s the stuff that soaks up liquid and it will expand as it traps the liquid inside.

·        Since the majority of diaper users do not dispose of the fecal waste in the toilet, disposable diapers are the third largest consumer in landfills and represents 4% of solid waste as a single item. 50% of household wastes are made up of disposable diapers. Disposable diapers also use 2.3 times more manufacturing water than cloth diapers. Production of disposable diapers yearly costs us over 300 pounds of wood, 20 pounds of chlorine, and 50 pounds petroleum.

·        Various predecessors to the diapers, including swaddling cloths, leaves, and skins, have existed for thousands of years in various cultures.

·        It wasn't until the late nineteenth to early twentieth century that cloth diapers were invented and disposable ones didn't exist until the 1940s.

·        Diapers can grow your plants. You can find this on the YouTube “How Can Diapers Help Your Plants Grow? “by the King of Random, Grant Thompson,

 “Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.” (Mark Twain) [i]




[i] Sources used:
·        “5 uncommon facts about diapers” by YouTube
·        “9 Weird and Funky Things You Wish You Knew about Diapers” by Abby
 

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