Science & Technology

Rant

The truth Is in Your kids "Green" Diaper

Posted 37 months ago|8 comments|656 views
Written by
Jeanopera
Kansas City, MO
When I’m not studying, I’m a part time teacher at a preschool, let me tell you, I love working with kids. I work in the city at a large preschool with many kids to tend to. One years to be specific, but I cannot help but to rant about my dislike of working with the children’s parents. Now I know that “Going Green” is a huge thing right now, its good to tell your kids to turn off their bedroom lights, not to let the water run, so on and so on, most of this takes place in the home. But how do you make your infant green? Or expect teachers to make them green while at preschool?

Where I work I expect to change diapers and interact with the children, what I did not expect was that I would have to bend backwards for parents to be “ green”.

Really I do appreciate the thought put towards out planets future, but when a parent brings there child in to school with a cloth diaper demanding I scrape it clean of soil and wash it and put it back on their child when the facility doesn’t offer that service, I get a bit irritated , especially when that parent makes a scene about how diapers fill landfills and kill our planet.

Then there is always the opposite situation, the parents who want there kids changed every half hour or so, dry or not, God forbid there child is sent home in a diaper that was just wetted the ten minutes before they went home.

I recycle, I bring my own bags to the store, I minimize my use of water, so naturally I get annoyed when a parent asks if their child’s finger painting was on recycled paper and scoff at me when the answer is a big fat no. Overtime is great, but not on a Friday night when you must stay past your shift with multiple children because the group of those children’s parents carpool together and are all stuck in the same car in traffic.

Once again I am all for going green, I just wish at times it wouldn’t be a burden at work. Any parents of kids in preschool on board? I would love to hear your Points of view
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COMMENTS
TheLegendTomWing
TheLegendTomWing
 Administrator
Philadelphia, PA
37 months ago: Screw 'em!

It's your job to provide REASONABLE accommodations, if parents want you to wash them, let them provide the stuff needed (such as a washing machine).

On the flip side, if they want their kids changed every half hour dry or not, tell them to come do it. Your job isn't to cater to parents, it's to provide a friendly and safe environment for the children.

Good Luck with that!

Oh, and Welcome to the RantRave Community!
37 months ago: OK... I know...

What do you do with 'Greem Poop'?

I have never figured that one out!

Great to have you here. Red-Mom....

8's

AGoodMinute29
AGoodMinute29
Havertown, PA
37 months ago: I totally agree! You should tell those parents that it is a HUGE waste of water to have to clean all the dirty diapers... Yes, diapers are filling up our landfills but washing them all the time is a waste of water. If they are both damaging to our environment, why not go with the less complicated of the two?
Jeanopera
Jeanopera
Kansas City, MO
37 months ago: I agree GoodMinute, it seems they dont realize some trends are more harmfull than helpfull, especially the fact that I personally find it unsanitary to wash a soiled diaper with other things such as bibs and cloths
Rudi Stettner
Rudi Stettner
 Moderator
37 months ago: The proper thing for them to ask is that you put the diapers in an airtight bag for THEM to wash. As for someone demanding that you change a diaper every 30 minutes, checking is one thing, changing is another. Do they change their underwear every 30 minutes? Maybe they are new parents.They will probably mellow out after a while.
amishking
amishking
 Moderator
Auburn, NY
37 months ago: Use green diapers!

They are called newspapers. Wrap the brats butts with yesterday's headlines. You recycle, the brats are dry, the parents get what they want, everyone wins.

Welcome to rantrave!
Coloranter Raver
Coloranter Raver
Denver, CO
37 months ago: Amishking! Wow! And it would keep put the newspaper industry back in business!

The diaper dilemma is a difficult one for the green movement. Because, as AGoodMinute29 points out, the energy needed to heat the water, wash, and then dry the cloth diapers can be offset by the energy needed to continue to create new disposable diapers. Meanwhile there's the detergent with its phosphates and nitrates that end up in the water supply causing algal blooms and killing lakes and streams. This vs. something that won't ever biodegrade. Not just not in our lifetimes, not ever. A completely biodegradeable disposable diaper could be developed, but it would probably be a lot more costly and not nearly so effective. All tolled, the most green system, actually is reusing 100% organic cotton diapers, rinsing their contents in the toilet, washing as many as will fit in the machine at once in cold water, with a minimum of detergent, and line drying them in the hot sun for final disinfection.

Jean, the parents that want to use cloth diapers should be supplying you with fresh cloth diapers to use and a diaper pail for their used ones. There are health code things to consider when you are in the a center and changing diapers. There are possibly infectious agents in the babies' stools. For your own health, I would refuse to rinse and reuse or whatever.
Out Of The Box
Out Of The Box
 Moderator
33 months ago: Yep, and what these greenies don't realize is that "biodegradable" most commonly refers to natural processes including air and sunlight, neither of which are present in a compacted landfill. There are not any products I can think of available commercially that will spontaneously biodegrade into environmentally friendly components.

So even if Captain Planet there puts out the extra dollars for eco-diapers, unless they compost them or dissolve them and flush them down the toilet, once they hit the landfill, they are part of our eco-system for a long, long time.

So yep, the mommies and daddies need to bring an ample supply of cloth reusables, and an appropriate method of transferring the dirties back to their house. A diaper service would be the most eco-friendly way to achieve this, due to their large batch capabilities.

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