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November 23, 2007
Coda: Flooding last night in Clinton Hill basement
All righty, then: Got an appt. late last night (online--love that!) with Roto Rooter, and they were here at 8 this morning. They snaked out the sewer main, going out the full 80 feet to the sewer, and we learned these things: A) Baby wipes are NOT FLUSHABLE, despite what it says on the package; they found wads of 'em; B) we had some little roots, but not many; and C) it is possible that our pipe has become slightly out of joint with the city sewer, but hopefully not. We have to get the sewer-cam out tomorrow to see what's going on. In the mean time, it's draining fine again, so we can shower and all the other good things again. Cost for the roto-rooting was high-ish--$350--but came with a guarantee, and they had to come back out a second time (which they did cheerfully). Cash well-spent. Moral of the story: Baby wipes are great, but you gotta put 'em in the trash. Very Euro.
Comments
Ah ha! I've always been very suspicious of the claim babywipes are flushable.
Why not just wet some toilet paper with a spray bottle of water with a pinch of lavendar oil mixed in, and use those for baby wipes?
Posted by: guest at November 23, 2007 4:38 PM
I dunno about the lavendar-oil idea, but I will say this: Put a few sheets of toilet paper in a glass of water, stir, and watch what happens: It totally disintegrates. Put a baby wipe in a glass of water: It does not. Damn you, lying liars at Cottonelle!!!
Posted by: guest at November 23, 2007 4:46 PM
I'm not OP, but I can imagine the wet toilet paper will totally disintegrate once you start wiping!
Posted by: guest at November 23, 2007 4:46 PM
Well, somehow our mothers managed to clean us and diaper us using cloth. It IS an option, it never went away. One of the worst problems in landfills are disposable diapers.
Posted by: guest at November 23, 2007 4:56 PM
Doesn't lavendar oil and Rose oil calm the skin? Unless there's an allergy to it, it should help with chaffing and rashes.
Posted by: guest at November 23, 2007 4:58 PM
From NY Times piece on cloth diapers in 1990:
''THE past year has been a boon for diaper services,'' said John A. Shiffert, the executive director of the National Association of Diaper Services, a trade group based in Philadelphia. Why? ''Because disposable diapers are a symbol of the solid-waste crisis,'' Mr. Shiffert said. ''Cotton diapers are the original curbside recyclables.''
Each baby uses about 10,000 diapers, and a disposable one can take 500 years to decompose, the association reports. Eighteen billion disposable diapers are dumped in landfills each year, accounting for up to 4.5 percent of all household solid waste.
Cotton diapers, on the other hand, can be reused 50 to 100 times and are then recycled as rags. Cotton disintegrates in one to six months.
Andrea Lee of Manhattan has been using cotton diapers largely for environmental reasons since her 20-month-old son was born. But like many modern mothers, she was initially concerned that cloth diapers might be difficult to use.
''It has been really easy,'' Mrs. Lee said, ''and I don't have to carry those big bags of diapers home every week.''
Mrs. Lee added that her son has never had a diaper rash. Proponents of cotton diapers say children who wear disposable diapers develop diaper rash five times as often as those who wear cloth ones.
She believes using a diaper service has saved her money as well. ''I always try to convince people to go ahead and do it,'' said Mrs. Lee, who uses the Riteway Diaper Service in Brooklyn.
Posted by: guest at November 23, 2007 5:03 PM
I stopped paying $350 for sewer cleaning last year. Pay $49.95 now. I was leary at first, but now recommend them after using them. No complaints.
GT
Posted by: gt at November 23, 2007 5:08 PM
By the way, this issue of wipes not degrading also applies very much to the adult wipes, which is what we (not being babies) were using.
Posted by: guest at November 23, 2007 6:12 PM
TMI! TMI!
Posted by: guest at November 24, 2007 1:48 PM
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