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Now Greens Want to Ban Diapers=20
Marc Morano, CNSNews.com
Thursday, April 22, 2004=20
As environmentalists celebrate the 34th annual Earth Day, some in the =

movement are now advocating "diaper-free" babies to help save the =

Citing concerns about plastic disposable diapers clogging landfills =

amount of washing and detergents that cloth diapers require, many
environmentalists are taking a page from tribal cultures and seeking =

eliminate the use of the baby diapers altogether.
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The green movement is now promoting diaperless babies as a "retro,
cutting-edge, environmentally friendly scheme" to mothers throughout =

industrialized world.=20
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The green movement already has declared war on the modern flush =

declaring it an "environmental disaster," and has instead pushed =

"dry" toilets as an earth-friendly solution.
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Former Vice President Al Gore joined the board of a waterless urinal =

late last year to further the dry toilet cause and to help avert what =

environmentalists believe is a looming international water crisis.=20
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"There is a way to have a baby and NOT use diapers," says one Web site
advocating diaperless babies. Parents are urged to get in tune with =

infant's body signals and hold babies over toilets, buckets and =

any other convenient receptacle when nature calls.=20
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One advocate suggests bringing a "tight-lidded bucket" along to serve =

waste receptacle when mothers take their babies out in public.
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'Primitive Worship'
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But Robert Bidinotto, publisher of ecoNOT.com and a critic of
environmentalists, dismisses such notions as "primitive-worship."
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"Incredibly, some environmentalists actually prefer that the foul =

normally capture in diapers and landfills spill instead onto our =

carpets and even our children," Bidinotto told CNSNews.com.=20
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Paging Dr. Freud
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Noting many greens' opposition to flush toilets and now baby diapers, =

said environmentalists' have a "strange affinity for bodily wastes," =

believes they have become "obsessed with toilet issues."
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Umbra Fisk, advice columnist for Grist Magazine, a major environmental
e-publication, has joined the diaperless-baby effort.
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Responding to a reader's question in the Feb. 12 issue of Grist about =

handle baby waste in an Earth-friendly manner, Fisk fully endorses the
diaper-free movement as a "retro cutting-edge environmentally friendly =

Fisk urges parents to "be the first in your neighborhood" to go =

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If Only We Could Copy Haiti and North Korea
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"People around the world who have no access to diapers manage to raise
children, and a small group of parents in diaper-rich countries have =

follow their lead. Around here, it's called 'elimination =

'diaper-free,'" Fisk wrote.
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Fisk argues that changing times mean parents no longer have to change =

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"The concept is logical and simple: Infants give recognizable signs of =

peeing and pooping; it's possible to learn your infant's signs; infant =

isn't frightening; and if you train your kid to ignore their outputs, =

just have to go back and retrain them when traditional potty-training =

arrives," Fisk explained.
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Another diaperless baby advocate, who identifies herself as Natec, =

how-to manual for prospective mothers of diaperless babies titled, =

Timing: The Solution to the Dirty Diapers War." The manual, which used
fictionalized names and characters, describes Natec's motivation to go
diaper-free after the birth of her son.
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"When David was born, I started to think about the kind of world I was =

for him to grow up in. The thought of garbage spewing and sprawling =

filled me with horror. And right along with this horror were those =

mother's helpers, disposable diapers ... rotting, but never really =

in all their plastic glory," Natec wrote.
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Natec maintains that plastic diapers "can take 500 years to =

is not impressed with so-called "biodegradable" diapers, because they =

contain more plastic to compensate for the weakness of their =

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Although green advocates estimate that diapers account for only =

1.8 percent of landfill space, they nevertheless consider that =

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"One percent of billions of tons is worth worrying about. If we don't =

about how to address that one percent, which one percent will we =

asked Richard Dennison, a senior scientist with the Environmental =

group, as quoted in Natec's how-to manual.
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'Evil Empire of Western Parenting'
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Concerns about landfills are not the only reason some parents are =

diaperless.=20
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Scott Noelle, editor of the Web site Continuum Concept and a father, =

why he eventually stopped using diapers on his infant daughter Olivia, =

essay titled "Going Diaperless."
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"In my mind, diapers became the symbol of the Evil Empire of Western =

in which babies must suffer to accommodate the needs of their parents'
broken-continuum culture: a controlled, sterile, odorless, =

carpeted fortress in which to live with the illusion of dominion over =

wrote Noelle, on the Web site livingharmony.com.=20
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'Monster' Wants a Hut
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Despite his concerns, Noelle continued to use diapers on his daughter, =

the fact that he "felt like a monster and a fraud."
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Noelle finally chose to go diaperless and looked to traditional =

inspiration. "How I longed for a simple, dirt-floored, baby-friendly =

that of a Yequana family," he wrote.
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Natec agrees with Noelle that modern society has a lot to learn from =

traditional ways of life.=20
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"[M]any of us have not, until recent years, given credit to the =

skills of more Earth-centered, i.e. 'primitive' cultures," she wrote =

how-to manual.
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"When you think about it, there have been millions of years of human =

only a few thousand years with any references to diapers," she added.
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But Bidinotto of ecoNOT.com bristles at what he considers the =

a "primitive" way of life by diaperless baby advocates.
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'World of Filth and Disease'
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"These people have no idea what primitive life is really like. Their =

alternative to today's 'controlled, sterile, odorless' environment is =

of filth and disease, where countless millions died in plagues and =

Bidinotto explained.
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Ingrid Bauer, author of the book "Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of =

Infant Hygiene," writes on her Web site natural-wisdom.com that the =

parents interested in going au natural is parent-infant communication.
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"Observation and close bonding interaction help the parent to =

baby's signals, body language and timing rhythms," Bauer writes in the
frequently asked questions section of her Web site.=20
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"Some common signals that indicate a need to pee in a young infant =

squirming, 'fussing,' tensing the face, frowning or having a look of =

concentration," she wrote.
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"When the baby has to go, the parent holds him or her in a comfortable =

over an appropriate toilet place and makes a cueing sound (perhaps a =

'sss')."
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What's the parent of a diaperless baby to do when out shopping? Bauer =

this solution.
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Get the Bucket, We're Going to Wal-Mart
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"These parents may rely on using public bathrooms, or bring along a =

such as a tight-lidded bucket," Bauer wrote.
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Bauer calls freedom from diapers "responsive infant-care."
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"This gentle and ancient practice is the most common way of caring for =

hygiene needs in the non-Western world," she writes.
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Bidinotto rejects any notion that industrialized nations should mimic =

traditional cultures.=20
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"The only thing that we moderns have to learn from primitive cultures =

they themselves learned. They learned that life is much better with =

conveniences, such as diapers. And in fact, most primitive peoples =

to get and use such conveniences," Bidinotto explained.
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"But now environmentalists want to sentence millions to the filth and =

that our ancestors were so eager to escape," he added
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