surprised woman

Startling Facts about Adult Diapers and Briefs

by General Urinary IncontinenceWomen's Healthcare

surprised womanDid you know that:

•Adult diapers and briefs currently make up 7% of our nation’s landfill?
•Baby diapers currently contribute just 2-3% of landfill waste?
•Diapers are the third largest type of landfill waste?
•The average adult diaper or brief will take up to 200 years to decompose (the same amount of time as an aluminum can)?

In the coming years, adult diapers will contribute an increasing percentage to our landfills. Not only are adult diapers and briefs larger than baby diapers, but the number of adults using diapers is on the rise.

Most diapers go into landfills, which exist on the edge of cities and towns and are eventually covered by dirt. As towns and cities expand over time, they appropriate and build on top of these landfills. Housing developments spread across these previous trash dumps, leading some to wonder what future archaeologists will think when excavating these sites. Will they wonder about the anthropological meaning of so much plastic-backed paper products?

Reducing Your Carbon Footprint
If you or someone you know uses adult diaper products, there are two major ways to reduce your carbon footprint, or as some call it, your carbon “buttprint”:

  1. Use diaper boosters or diaper doublers. These are pads that go inside adult diapers, providing extra absorption and making each diaper last longer.
  2. Use long-lasting adult diapers. These diapers have been very popular in Europe and are available mostly online. While the average store-bought adult diaper lasts 2-3 hours, these long-lasting diapers allow users to go 6-8 hours before needing a change.

You can read more about ways to “go green” with adult diapers in Gary Hirsch’s blog.

Of course, the best way to reduce your carbon impact is to get out of adult diapers altogether by reducing symptoms of urinary incontinence. If you haven’t already, ask yourself the three questions we posed in our previous post to see if you have done everything you can to get out of diapers.

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

trash by gender

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Can You Reduce Your Carbon “Butt Print”?

by General Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

trash by genderThese days people and companies alike are starting to take action to erase their carbon “foot print,” whether that means driving a hybrid car or going vegetarian.

But if you have women’s urinary incontinence and you use adult diapers or pads, you have to worry about more than your carbon foot print. You have to consider your carbon “butt print.”

What is a Carbon Butt Print?
Your carbon butt print is the amount of waste that you create by using adult diapers. Like many other consumer products that include plastic, diapers take a long, long time to break down in land fills. Hence, every diaper you use and throw away contributes to your carbon butt print.

Consider this:

  • Adult diapers and briefs currently make up 7% of our nation’s landfill
  • Baby diapers currently contribute just 2-3% of landfill waste
  • Diapers are the third largest type of landfill waste
  • The average adult diaper or brief will take up to 200 years to decompose (the same amount of time as an aluminum can)

Yowza … that’s a lot of carbon. And the number of adult diapers being thrown into landfills will only increase as baby boomers age.

What You Can Do to Reduce Your Carbon Butt Print
Naturally, the best thing for both you and the environment is to get out of adult diapers if at all possible. If you haven’t actually sought help for your women’s urinary incontinence (and about half of all women who have this condition have not), now is the time to do it. Here are some resources to help you get started:

Inspiration to Get Help
Finding the Right Doctor
Preparing for Your Appointment

Aside from that, you can reduce your carbon butt print by following the guidelines here:

Startling Facts about Adult Diapers and Briefs

Good luck and thanks for considering “going green” when dealing with your urinary incontinence!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of Iamnee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net