When Robots Reproduce

24 Feb

canwegohalfonababy:

the authors of “what to expect in the first year” on cloth diapering:

Because there’s more fussing and fiddling involved, diaper changes are generally more trouble with cloth diapers.

well duh. home-cooked meals are generally more trouble than eating at mcdonald’s every night, but i go to the trouble of shopping for food, preparing it, and washing up afterwards because, even though it’s more work, it’s cheaper, it tastes better, and it’s better for me.

Because absorbency is more limited, double diapers are usually needed at night, and, for some heavy wetters, during the day.

a cloth diaper has endless degrees of absorbency—depending on the type you’re using, you can fit anywhere from one to three prefolds and/or inserts in there. you can put more in the front for a boy, or more in the back for a girl. how is that more limited than a one-thickness-fits-all disposable diaper? does not compute.

And then there are the plastic bags of soiled diapers to be carried home from outings and the ever-present pail of dirty diapers, which is never truly odor free.

most diaper bags on the market now have at least one zippered pouch with a waterproof lining. if you don’t have that, you can get a small zippered wet bag. i have both and smell hasn’t been a problem. at home, we have a giant wet bag that i am in love with and the only time it noticeably smells is when it’s almost full and by then i have to do laundry anyways, so really, no big deal.

Finally, though cloth diapers don’t end up in landfills, their laundering does have a negative impact on the environment; whether it’s as significant as the impact from disposables is debatable.

that’s like saying, “go ahead and always eat takeout, because even though all those styrofoam containers and plastic bags are going to end up in a landfill, the sinkful of soap and water you would use washing dishes at home will be just as bad for the environment.” um, how about no. when you consider the energy costs associated with production, transportation to the store, and transportation to the landfill, it’s not really that debatable at all.

i have no problem with disposable diapering, it’s easy, i get it, we do it too sometimes, and i’m no big environmentalist. but why bother telling total lies to discourage moms from cloth diapering? is pampers paying these guys off or what?

This is just sort of baffling. I think my favorite, though, is the bit on diaper pails. Really? A pail full of dirty cloth diapers stink? And what exactly does a pail full of soiled disposables smell like? Roses? 

I didn’t realize this was even a topic they weighed in on, and it pretty obviously is a topic they shouldn’t have weighed in on if they weren’t interested in doing any real research on it.

(Source: georgiacostanza)

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