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Dirty Diapers Used To Grow Mushrooms
Zothecula writes While their contents might be considered an environmental hazard by many, disposable diapers themselves pose a more significant problem for the environment. According to the EPA, the average baby will work their way through 8,000 of them before they end up in landfill where they'll take centuries to break down. In an effort to reduce the problem, scientists at Mexico's Autonomous Metropolitan University, Azcapotzalco (UAM-A), have turned used diapers to the task of growing mushrooms.
Mushrooms used to be grown on horse manure, and I doubt they are very "selective". So this is no surprise.
However, it is well known to be a bad idea. You do not grow food for human consumption on human feces, because the risk of contamination is too high. Horse manure is ok, as is growing animal fodder on human feces.
And there are better schemes to get rid of old diapers - since they are rich in high quality cellulose that can be used after a good clean.
And to recycle them in a sustainable way. Problem solved. In general, I think that should be the case for a lot of things.
In the end, both.
Plump helmet explosion?
You should look up what that 'fertilizer' thing used for all grown crops is.
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: Grow mushrooms
Phase 3: Profit
Worst. Signature. Ever.
Fungi based solutions like this really need more good press. For those interested here's a video from TED Talks of Paul Stamets giving a presentation on using Oyster Mushrooms to decompose diesel and other peptroleum waste among some other amazing uses of other types of fungi. Paul Stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world - http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_...
The problem with detergents is that they *ARE* biodegradable. The phosphate in the detergent encourages algae to grow which causes problems in the rivers.
Modern cloth diapers, while expensive, are very easy to use, and contain waste as well as disposable diapers. They pay for themselves in a reasonably short time and prevent all of this landfill waste.
Our daughter was premature, and we used disposables until she was large enough to move into the "one size" BumGenius diapers we got from our registry. I think we have ~20 of them, which means about $340 spent and a 3ish day supply without laundry. When we're done with them, though, we can resell them - yes, they have resale value.
The alternative we would be using is $0.21 each, so we'll break even after 245 or so days. Larger disposable diapers are more expensive so the savings will grow with time, not shrink, and the cloth ones are very adjustable.
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
You're assuming they're only counting the 3 years at the beginning of life. What about the 10 years at the end of their life?
I worked as a nanny for triplets for nine months. I'd say that I changed each one 8-10 times a day. The well-baby clinic said it was the first set of triplets they'd ever seen that never had any sign of diaper rash. The grandparents provided the diapers, with the stipulation that I use as many as I saw fit without worrying about cost.