Two sustainable products you need to buy now and forever
By: Nuriddeen Knight
Tags: Sustainability, Mothers, Environment, Ethical Consumerism, Covid 19

The sustainability movement has been telling us for decades that we need to reduce the number of products we buy, reuse those products, and recycle them when possible. This call was largely directed at saving the planet, a cause that — unfortunately, many don’t care about. But CoVID-19 and the excess of panic buying should give us another reason to practice sustainability; shortages. In a viral video, a woman cried complaining that there were no diapers left and in distress as to how she would ‘diaper her baby’. While diapers are convenient they are not necessary. Not only are they not necessary but they are harming our planet. Diapers are one-use items. This means every time a diaper used is a diaper thrown away and eventually left to rot in a landfill, “…disposable diapers do not degrade well in a landfill… disposable diapers take about 500 years to decompose”. (1)

Disposable diapers are not sustainable for the planet and they're also not a reliable option in case of shortages. Luckily, there are alternatives. First, we should remind ourselves disposable diapers have not always existed, in fact, they are less than 100 years old (invented in the 1950s). Meaning that likely our grandmother or great grandmother didn’t use them for her babies. Thus the alternatives are still in the living memory of our older family members. Secondly, we have to get over the ‘gross’ factor. Reusable diapers will necessarily mean being more ‘hands-on’ with your young one. But since most parents know the joys of their children’s gross antics, this shouldn’t be too hard to overcome. Also, besides being a sustainable option and a backup plan for shortages it also saves a lot of money.

Essentially a reusable diaper is a cloth diaper, instead of throwing it away after one use you dispose of the excrements, wash, and reuse at another time. You may want to buy 5, 25, or 50 (depending on how often you wash), whatever amount you buy will be more sustainable, more reliable and more cost-effective than disposable diapers.

The second item we should consider replacing is sanitary pads. Disposable sanitary pads are used once then discarded. While this is convenient and also removes us from having to deal with our own menstrual blood it also ends up in a landfill. Wasting away and adding to negative environmental impact, “a single menstruator will use somewhere between 5 and 15 thousand pads and tampons, the vast majority of which will wind up in landfills as plastic waste” (2). The idea is the same as with diapers, whether you buy, 5, 25, or 50… the amount you buy will be more sustainable, more reliable and more cost-effective than disposable sanitary pads. It’s also worth mentioning that this requires less of a “yuck” factor than reusable diapers. While some women prefer to wash their reusable sanitary pads after each use it’s also perfectly fine to throw it in the hamper and wash it on wash day (unlike diapers where you will have to clean each diaper after use, at least somewhat, since it may be soaked in urine or contain fecal matter).

Reusable pads aren’t the only option, the diva cup — for example, might be a more suitable replacement for a tampon user. And there have been further innovations like the “period panty” which operates just like normal underwear but is made to absorb period blood. Lastly, if you’re interested in DIYing there’s plenty of tutorials on making your own reusable pads and reusable diapers, though I’d be the first to say it’s probably not worth the effort unless you’re into that sort of thing in general.

There’s so much more we could focus on, and while most of the environmental destruction is not about consumer choice but corporate corruption, we can still play our role in sustainability. If Rona teaches us anything, one of those lessons should be that sustainability is not just about saving the planet but also about looking out for ourselves.