As a parent of two young kids and a self-proclaimed Eco-Patriot, I’m often frustrated by the un-eco-friendliness of the diaper world. Admittedly, I don’t have the commitment, stamina, desire, or whatever else is required to use cloth diapers. Frankly, I’m not very excited about the thought of scraping my kids’ poop off of an article of clothing and then putting it into the washing machine that my clothes go into. I have a hard enough time when my 2-and-a-half year old, whom we’re trying to potty train, has an accident in her underwear. I usually just throw the underwear out so I don’t have to deal with the mess even though it’s her coveted Cinderalla underwear that she will never forgive me for getting rid of. “Cinderalla got messy,” I say.
Sure, there are services out there that can handle washing cloth diapers for us, but I just don’t have the time or desire in my busy schedule to manage another vendor in my personal time. I manage enough vendors at work.
I know, I get a mark against my eco patriotism for this one.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not slighting people who use cloth diapers. The world needs more people like them and less people like me. I just can’t get myself to convert.
And I know there are diapers that apparently dissolve in water when you flush them down the toilet, but I haven’t had success with those keeping doo-doo inside those when my kids crap. All it takes is one massive blowout – and I’m talking excrement out the leg holes of the diaper and up the back to somehow reach the top of the head – to make me never want to try any other kind of diaper again except for what has worked well thus far for us.
Anyway, I’ll stop defending my un-eco-patriotism and get to the topic of this post. I just read that TerraCycle is now in the business of “recycling” dirty disposable diapers and then making products out of them. That’s right, collecting kid dookie and making a salable product out of it. Needless to say, I live in (well, actually, my amazing wife does much more so) a dirty diaper vortex so I was blown away to read about what TerraCycle is doing (especially after having just changed a massive explosion from my 6-month old). How could anyone want to buy a product out of ka-ka even if it is washed incredibly well? Hopefully there’s a big FDA approval process somewhere along the line.
Apparently TerrCycle is trying to partner with Huggies to capture the baby fecal matter. Then TerraCycle will make outdoor furniture, pallets, and composite building materials out of the kid dung. Questionable decision in my opinion by the Huggies brand manager to buy into this program. I’m all for extended producer responsibility, but holy Tebow, this is another level.
In all seriousness (sort of, but not really), good job to TerraCycle on thinking outside of the box and on trying to solve a big waste problem. Don’t put me on your mailing list when your furniture comes out though. I’ll pass on the shit-derived patio chair.
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Congratulations to the City of San Francisco for having 
I recently learned that there are over 400 different green certifications out there. That sheer number of eco labels has made it difficult for companies to choose which labels to seek certification with and for consumers to know which labels are actually legitimate.
I periodically get asked for advice on how to setup a zero waste event or how to convert a business to zero waste. It can be a very daunting task with so many things to consider – who hauls the waste, can you source compostable and recyclable products, how do you educate consumers, and much more. Don’t fret, you’re not the only person who finds this type of project challenging. Fortunately, there are some great resources on the web and here’s a few to help you out:
