The Wonderful Earths Deed contest was created by my Tribe Brother @elamental, in the hope that it would inspire more people to look at the way that they live their lives and begin to implement changes that benefit the earth and in turn benefit themselves.. There are so many things that we can do on a daily basis that really would be for the betterment of the planet.
One of the most important things to change is our mindset. We need to see the earth for what it really is, our one true home. Without a healthy earth we can not survive, it is pointless to be so protective about dwellings, if we no longer have clean air to breathe and fresh water to drink. Our priority has to be about protecting the Earth, because when we start to do this, then we will be creating real communities. Global communities, sharing a common goal.
As a mother of 3 children I have seen first hand the amount of products that are produced and pushed on parents for their babies and children. Everything is geared towards living a convenient lifestyle and most of the products are created so that they do not last a long time. Having children can be very expensive, and it really is if you end up buying all the products that are being pushed onto you.
The most common baby item to be bought is nappies, disposable nappies. These nappies take between 200 and 500 years to decompose fully into the earth. They are a lot of petrochemical ingredients used in the production of disposable nappies, which are not something you really want to be putting next to your babies skin. By the time most children reach 2 and a half they will have used
approximately 6,500 nappies – which equates to over 10 tonnes of waste, 40 black sacks per child per year or if you prefer a colourful image, as many as 70,000 double-decker buses stretching end to end from Edinburgh to London.
http://www.pollutionissues.co.uk/landfill-nappies.html
Now let that sink in and on top of that is the amount of methane that they create as they break down, as much as 630kg per child.
So what to do, well some people use no nappies at all and use elimination communication, which really means learning to recognize your babies signs before they need to pee and poo and allowing them to do so over a potty as you hold them. I have tried it in the past, but it was difficult when I was living a nomadic, lifestyle, it wasn't always convenient to stop. So instead I use cloth nappies. I am using the same ones my eldest daughter had , with a few extra added now for my youngest. However during the day she wears no nappy as she is outside and will occasionally use the potty, although she prefers to pee outdoors.
Thats my youngest all bare bottomed in my arms. The best way to be!
As she is 21 months now I really only use one or two a day, unless I am out and about. I don't have a washing machine so I hand wash them. I always have and yes it is time consuming and not as convenient as using disposable nappies. But here's the thing, when you are passion about something you really are committed to making it work. I do not want to be one of those people who just keep polluting the earth when I know their is an alternative and as an added bonus is cheaper too. I read somewhere that you save around 500 euros a year by using cloth nappies.
The ones I use are called Popolini and are made from organic cotton, and are produced in Europe .
How we choose to live our lives is up to us, but imagine what the world would be like if everyone decided to take responsibility for the waste they create. I think most people would be in shock, as we really have become a throw away nation, happy to just put things in a bin and forget about it. But you shouldn't forget about it, because every single thing you throw away does not disappear, it is either burnt or put in landfill, left to pollute the air and the soil. We really need to start accepting what we are doing Our real home is the earth, lets start showing her the respect she deserves. Now is the time to start making a change.
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I think a lot of people around the globe need to learn that everything they throw away just finds a way to get back to them and cause them trouble. People need to become more aware of the waste they create, its impact and effects and then think before taking decisions when it comes to throwing stuff. We need to change our mindsets and begin to show more love and care for our planet if we want our future generations to enjoy that which was handed unto to us by our ancestors. Great post @trucklife-family
thanks so much @thegreens xxx
My mom used cloth diapers on both my brother and myself. #oldskool <3
Yeah so did mine, it was quiet the norm back in the day, but alas we are living in the age of convenience xxx
Good way to repay to our earth. Well India we hardly used diapers all the time except during long journey, else small undies do get everything sorted. But now a days everyone is managing diapers and keeping them whole day and you have right concern to get rid of these
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yeah they really are getting very popular, they really have not been around that long as @yestermorrow pointed out above his mum used cloth nappies on him as did mine, but the amount of waste is staggering x
Nice to see the mention of elimination communication. We used cloth nappies as a back-up, but relied on elimination communication, so her nappies were dry most days. Then around 18 months we totally ditched nappies and have been having a great time with my now 25 month-old daughter using the toilet near perfectly!!
I think a lot of people don't realize that babies don't like wearing nappies, in a way you have to train them to use them when they are born and sometimes the reason a baby gets upset is because it needs to poo or pee an really does not want a nappy on and then all that training to get them to stop using them, really it's quiet crazy xxx
Oh! That is an eye opener, the amount of waste that comes from using disposable diapers!
I'm all in for reducing our wastes - that can be another eye opener when you really examine what you are throwing away!
Thanks for bringing this to our awareness with your #earthdeeds
you're welcome @porters much love to you xxx
I loved this post, i don't have children but i have often pondered about the stupendous usage of nappies and where they were all going, and with most people actually having a washing machine there really just is no excuse other than ignorance.
thank you @myindigoinsight, it is good to see you back on here xxx
...and do not forget how much water is used to create all of those disposable nappies. This is exactly why our house uses rags we wash and re-use over and over for all our home cleaning purposes. I actually just got done washing a bunch of them. Re-use over all else, great post.
Yes the water used is huge, so much waste. Thanks brother for your feedback and for this much needed initiative xxx
Its what I do :-)