Friday, April 8, 2011

Washing Machines are Evil. That and People Annoy Me.

My blog has been all rainbow poo and baby smiles but you knew big-mouth me was going to come back sooner or later right?

I am all happy and in dreamy land with my camera and my babies but then I saw a post on facebook yesterday that just

set.

me.

off.

I have a friend; first time pregnant, trying to make decisions, sort all of this baby nonsense stuff out; post something about the AMOUNT of cloth diapers there are to choose from.

There are a lot. It's kind of overwhelming.

One of her friends wrote her saying she should maybe re-think her decision to cloth.

That in itself pisses me off. Who is this chick to tell another mom what to do?

The best part were her arguments: Boys pee more than girls, you'll be doing laundry twice a day, she wouldn't last a MONTH on cloth and will be in disposables anyway, they aren't good for the environment, they cost more money than disposables, etc.

Are you laughing yet?

Or are you pissed?

I'm still kinda pissed. Fist off, she says to re-think the cloth decision. F you chick! I mean, REALLY?!?! You are the master mother we should all base our motherhood decisions on what you say?

She said that this new mom will be on disposables in an a month so might as well not try cloth. Well, I'm sorry YOU are a failure and a lazy ass but that isn't EVERYONE.

Laundry twice a day? Did you cloth diaper with only two in your stash? I do laundry every other day and still have a few left that are clean.

Boys pee more than girls? Let me see your scientific evidence doctor.

Not good for the environment? I used this lame excuse too... when using disposables and not wanting to do any more research.

Let me have someone else sum it up for you:

It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.

The untreated waste placed in landfills by dirty disposable diapers is also a possible danger to contaminating ground water. Pro-disposable advocates say that cleaning cloth diapers uses more energy and contributes to the load on sanitary sewer systems and potential water pollution. This view really makes no sense if you think about it. The amount of water used per week to wash cloth diapers at home is about the same amount consumed by an adult flushing the toilet four or five times daily for a week. Also, the greater amount of water and energy being used by diaper service companies to wash large amounts of cloth diapers multiple times; the per diaper impact on energy and water supplies is actually less than home washing.

Finally, when flushing solids from a cloth diaper down the toilet and washing the diapers in a washing machine, the contaminated, dirty water from both toilet and washing machine go into the sewer systems where they are properly treated at wastewater plants. This treated wastewater is much more environmentally friendly than dumping untreated soiled disposable diapers into a landfill.


And if WASHING diapers are terrible for the environment than we better get rid of our clothes and dishes. HEAVEN FORBID we wash that stuff. We'll use paper and styrofoam dishes, throw-away hospital gowns and trash every towel after use.

DO NOT WASH YOUR REUSABLE ITEMS, it's BAD.
I'm pretty sure I couldn't type a statement more stupid than above.

Cloth diapers cost more than disposables? I switched to cloth because I was damn sick of spending $100 a month on diapers. I spent $250 total on my stash including a wet bag. I spend $20 ever five or so months on Country Save detergent and our electric bill when up about $10 dollars since I started cloth but it's also the same time we started using the hot tub. I'm taking a wild guess that the hot tub takes up most of the extra energy.


More importantly, aren't we over this crap? This judgey, do what I do and if you don't you're wrong parenting CRAP?!?! If a mom decides to use disposables, COOL. If they decide to cloth, COOL! Co-sleeping versus crib, bottle versus breast, cry it out versus soothe? I mean, you are MOM and you know BEST for YOUR baby so lets support other moms trying to do their very best raising THEIR baby.

It takes a village.

And basically: I. Support. YOU. I support YOUR decisions. I support YOU GUYS doing whatever you can do to be the best mommy and daddy even if it's not what I do.

If you are going to be all judgemental then you are kicked out of my village. The tribe has spoken.

11 comments:

Brandy@YDK said...

totally agree with you. I think she should be supported in her decision. I wish I had been more informed regarding cloth. i think it can be a little overwhelming but there is so much information ou there

wonderchris said...

If someone wants to braid leaves together and use tree sap blessed by far away monks for diapers - then so be it.

I support the cloth - the baby's butt will thank her for it! :)

Unknown said...

Brandy: I agree.

Wonderchris: I love you!

Anonymous said...

I'll use cloth diapers when zombies start scratching on our door during the apocalipse but until then disposables are much, much better since my whole house doesn't smell like pee and poo.

Unknown said...

I'm so glad cloth is working out for you! And I really hope your friend doesn't take what that other woman said to heart. It only takes one little seed of doubt thrown at someone to completely remove their enthusiasm for something or their belief that they can do it. :-(

SkippyMom said...

Oh I am so on this train.

We had five and I swear to god I never give advice or say "do as I say" because um, well....we were lucky - it is all trial and error and what worked for us may not work for others.

When I had to stop breastfeeding our second child we could not afford formula [no, I am not kidding] so my mother gave me the recipe that she used for me and my sister. Homemade. Everyone, friends, pediatrician, mil freaked!

Our daughter is now a happy, healthy 5'9, 127 lb college freshman in the honor society this year.

Yeah - that formula sure screwed her up.

If anyone asks for advice the only thing I say is "Do what's best for you." or "Do what feels right."

And please World don't ever tell me how to raise my kids.

Driscoll Duo said...

Like. .

Crystal Escobar said...

Oh my gosh, that IS annoying that that mom said that about cloth diapers. Although I have not switched to cloth diapers I still believe they are WAY better. I really need to look into this more, just been too lazy to consider it. Thank you for the information though. You are awesome!

Launa said...

Totally, totally agree with you. when I first became a mom I could not believe the crap that is out there. All the "do this, not that" stuff. Come on!
On another note... g diapers are great... and the pee ones are compostable (however, they are just as expensive as disposable... I now use their cloth inserts... so there ya go!)

NICKI said...

I cleaned up our local park last week, and was amazed at how many dirty diapers people just toss in the woods!! They ain't that disposable!!

eco•POLITAN said...

The tribe has spoken! There is no appeal process.