Gee2 wrote:
Dont believe everything you read, the % of disposable diapers in land fills can't be compared to the percentage of anything else that is thrown away that should have been recycled. In other words landfills have 1 billion % more beer/soda cans then diapers.
diapers would barely get any mention if you were to itemize in order what we throw the most away.
I have to agree with Gee2 and some of the other posters. In comparison to many other things disposable diapers are only an insignificant percentage of the total. Just look at the amount of junk mail and advertising fliers that the US Post Office delivers each day. Some of it is just dropped off in bulk at the post office with instructions to deliver one set of trash to each postal customer. Think of it. Not everyone wears diapers but everyone gets junk mail.
Sure, some of it must generate some sales or those responsible wouldn't be paying money to produce and distribute it. The post office delivers it because that is the class of mail that makes them a profit. And most people that receive it just toss it in the trash after the inconvenience of sifting through it to make sure it isn't concealing any of their real mail.
I am not suggesting that everyone should take a 'who cares' attitude towards trash going to landfills, and if someone wants to effect a change they need to start somewhere. However if someone wants to start down that road and bring about a change in how solid waste is produced and handled, if they are going to single out one item over others they should start with something farther up the list, and with less utility, than disposable diapers.
They might as well also start with something that could be changed very easily if this bureaucratic mess we call a government had the will to do so.
Bulk mail fits that slot very nicely.
If congress had the will to do so, it could easily order the post office to cease accepting and delivering that class of mail. Or in the alternative to charge an amount of money to do so that would also reflect the true tax and environmental cost of producing, delivering and disposing of the countless tons of such mail that goes through their system.
Why the american public puts up with that type of behavior by the government and post office is beyond me. What the post office charges to deliver that class of mail is so low that it continues to proliferate. Yet it generates a profit at the post office because it is cheap and easy for them to handle. But there are many hidden costs that the public has to bear, such as the cost both in dollars and to the environment of producing and disposing of all that junk. The retailers and beggars profit from its delivery. The post office profits from its delivery. But neither of them have to pay for the cost of disposal or deal with the environmental cost of either its production or disposal.
In short the american public is subsidizing advertising by some of the largest and richest retailers in the country as well as others who just want to sell them things or talk them out of their money in one way or another. I am not saying people or businesses should not be allowed to advertise. But why should the cost of that advertisement be picked up by the public. The cost should be paid by those who directly benefit. The cost should be paid entirely by those who choose to produce such junk and set in motion its delivery to the public.
The problem could be fixed quite easily. You don't have to outlaw the practice. You don't even have to pass a tax bill. Just increase the postal rates for that class of mail to the point that it either goes away, or the extra dollars generated by its continued delivery would be sufficient when transfered to the general fund to pay for the disposal of that huge amount of waste as well as take care of the environmental impact of its production.
If that results in less revenue for the post office and puts them in a deficit situation then at least it can be handled directly instead of allowing them to engage in a practice that brings them profits at the expense of every tax payer and postal customer. In short deceitfully passing their deficit along to others in hidden costs and taxes and allowing beggars and big retailers to do the same with the cost of their advertisement. In fact the subsidy to the post office and advertisers is given to them at the expense of every person who lives in this country or on this planet.
Yeah, I guess that probably qualifys as a rant. (shrug)
Signed,
(Tired of having his mailbox stuffed with trash) Sarnoga