Image Courtesy of KellyWels.com
It’s not so unusual to see the words “disposable diaper” and “explosion” in the same sentence, but in today’s news story by ABC News, it’s not what you think.
Apparently a plant operated by Nippon Shokubi Co, one of the world’s largest producers of acrylic acid, suffered a huge explosion on Saturday. Sadly, 34 people were injured and 1 firefighter died.
“Acrylic acid is a key component of superabsorbent polymers or SAP, (the ingredient in disposable diapers) which absorbs large amounts of liquid.”
The plant, which supplies 20% of the world’s acrylic acid to companies like Proctor and Gamble (who make Pampers), is one of the world’s largest exporters, and the blast may well mean increased prices for consumers around the world.
What can you do to make sure you are unaffected? (If you know me, you know what I’m going to say):
Cloth diapers contain NO acrylic acid, many are made in the US, and are friendlier to the environment.
You can even find cloth diapers like BumGenius and FuzziBunz and Thirsties on Amazon.
What do you think? If you use diapers, will this potential price increase/shortage encourage you to use cloth?
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Glad I decided to go with cloth and I already have my stash! Just waiting for baby to fill them
I have been thinking about this for a long time and have decided to take the plunge and go cloth. I primarily used gdiapers for my second and third children but while environmentally friendly they were not as budget friendly. A couple quick questions for the frugal mom…how many diapers do you really need? Do you use your homemade laundry soap on them to keep the laundering prices down?
I did use my homemade laundry detergent when I was CD-ing, and it worked great. Occasionally I would strip with something like Rockin Green. With Mason I used mostly Bum Genius because they were really easy (I bought seconds, on Craigslist, etc to keep it inexpensive). But with Emma I did a LOT of prefolds and covers, especially from 0-6 months. I found them easy to use, easy to launder, and cheap.
Jaime,
I have 2 boys, a 2 1/2 year old and a 7 month old. I have about 30 prefolds, 12 flats, and 6 covers to use between the two of them. I also have a few all in ones (Thirsties and BumGenius Freetimes) to use while we are out as I just find all in ones to be easier to travel with.
If you are local to Rochester, you should check out Luvaboos. They are the local cloth diaper store and have a cloth diaper trial that you can try to see if you like the cloth diapers or not. They are also super helpful and knowledgeable and will help you with ay questions you have. They also have a semi-annual consignment sale where people sell diapers they are no longer using for VERY reasonable prices. So it’s a good way to get some cheaper cloth diapers if you aren’t entirely sure if you need them.
If you aren’t local to Rochester, there are many cloth diaper stores in the country. You can probably Google if there is one near you.
I should also mention, I wash the dirty diapers every other day, which is why I have so many.
The plant, which supplies 20% of the world’s acrylic acid to companies like Proctor and Gamble