Opinion

Compostable Diapers – who knew!

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My sister is having a baby soon, so lately our conversations have included the discussion of car seats, strollers, and diapers. I mentioned that no one tells you how much you will truly spend on diapers. Ah yes, the fun part of raising a kid, endless butt wiping many, many times throughout the day. In a recent conversation, my sister told me about new technology for diapers.

The compostable diaper. Regular disposable diapers can take hundreds of years to decompose, and cloth diapers require too much water to wash and reuse. The compostable diaper (I even found ones that are flushable) are diaper inserts that can then be turned into compost. One company will pick up your dirty diapers weekly, and has a commercial grade machine that composts the diapers and turns your babies poo into topsoil for landscaping. Or you can take them out to your own compost bin in your yard (although they say only the wet diapers, not the poopy ones). Your baby will help fertilize your lawn!

Why has this taken so many years to happen? From my research disposable diapers made their debut in 1961 by Pampers. How many disposable diapers are sitting in landfills? Wikipedia says that:

“An average child will go through several thousand diapers in their life…An estimated 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used each year in the US, resulting in a possible 3.4 million tons of used diapers adding to landfills each year.”

Now multiply that times 52 years of diapers and you have 176 million tons of diapers have gone to landfills just in the United States. That is also 1 trillion, 424 billion disposable diapers sitting in our landfills. That is a shit ton of disposable poo. Two of the companies I found are in Northern California, I would be curious to hear if there are similar companies in other parts of the country. Definitely way past time for baby mommas to change the tune and start looking at alternative ways. I do not have the kid yet, but compostable diapers will be on the list.

#putpootogooduse

For further research:

http://www.gdiapers.com/

http://tinytots.com/

http://www.earth-baby.com/p-3-the-earthbaby-story.html

Has this gone too far?

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Seriously? An iPad potty training chair. What has the world come to? While I do not have kids, I have worked with plenty of children, (daycare and babysitting) who were being potty trained. A good book often did the trick. I am sure there are a zillion ways to engage a child, and train them, as well as a zillion ways children respond. They are all different right? Yet, have we gone too far with an iPad potty chair?

My mind has visions of children growing up in grade school, high school, college, and then in the workforce, that can only do their business while holding an iPad. I mean I already have a husband that does his business with the news on his iPhone, and if that is dead, the default is a magazine. I am also an offender, I catch up on Candy Crush in the bathroom. (The only place I am truly a captive audience). No, I am not ashamed to tell you that I give a few mind-numbing moments of my day to Candy Crush.

Having said all that, I cannot even remember how I was potty trained, most likely I was given a book and told to come out when I was done. If we start early with iPads on toilets, where does that lead us? Does that become a security blanket? Why are we not teaching kids to come up with dreams, tell stories, sing songs, read stories, as well as teach them to sit and be. Maybe that form of meditation on the potty is just what the little tykes need in this non-stop, technology seeking world.

What do you think?

#saynotoiPadsonpotties

Boss or Bossy? Ah, the stereotypes.

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No one likes to be judged. Especially if you are being judged because of your gender. It is 2014. Does it still happen? You betcha. Should it still be happening? Hell no.

When I saw this Pantene commercial, I hardly thought about what they want you to think about, the individual’s hair. Yes, if you really look it is shiny, glossy, and looks great. Yes, you see it subliminally. Yet, at the moment, I do not care. I like an ad that can make me think, that can make me put myself in their shoes. That is telling a story, and making an emotional connection with their consumer. Does this commercial hit you in the gut, or make your cry? No. But, it does make you think.

How many of us have felt gender stereotypes in the workplace? I definitely have. Am I taken seriously because I am a woman? Not always. Do folks think I come off as a bitch when I might be firm and aggressive about a situation? Sometimes. Would they feel the same way if it was a man who was firm and aggressive? Probably not as much as they would a woman. Am I biased? Maybe. Why might I be biased? Only because I have felt what it is like to not be respected in my role by men, and sometimes even women. Gender stereotypes at its finest. You will see what I mean when you watch this quick Pantene commercial.

#Don’tletlabelsholdyouback

Suck the life out of your day

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It is a good thing. Yes, when you can crawl into bed at the end of your day, and know that you have truly sucked every moment out of your day. You have been present.

I like to think of it as absorbing every molecule of life. The good, the beautiful, the ugly, the stinky. Absorb. What an interesting word. It makes me think of a sponge and how when it attracts water to it, it expands and becomes absorbent. When it does not have liquid, it contracts and dries up. A sponge is such a great analogy to sucking the life out of your day. If you do not fill your day with items of interest and engagement you start to wither and dry up.

Think about all the things in your day that you are passionate about, the things that inspire and give you energy. Did you come up with what that is for you? Is it helping people, pushing them to see life differently? Or is it designing the best new innovative product? What energizes you? Whatever it is, when you feel that passion and energy, that means your sponge is filled. It has absorbed the energy, and there is an urgency within you.

Urgency. Now that is another topic of interest. When you feel passion for what you are doing, when you are engaged, you feel a sense of urgency. You want to make things happen. You want to move people to look at their life differently. You want to launch that new technology that will change lives. You absorb and suck the life out of your day. You live and breathe all that you stand for, and you make things happen.

Suck the life out of your day.

Is hotel Wi-Fi just air?

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I was watching Modern Family a few weeks ago, and Ed O’Neill said something to the effect of, “Wi-FI: you are just paying for air.” It really got me thinking. We were recently staying in a hotel, and they charged a $9.95 fee per night for Wi-Fi. Which is actually a fairly normal amount of money for a hotel to charge, but why? You are already paying enough to stay in the hotel, plus taxes, why not offer hotel Internet Wi-Fi for free?

Think about it. You get free shampoo, conditioner, soap, water, heat, electricity. Okay well it is not free, it is part of the rate you pay for the room, but because it does not show as a charge on your bill you think of it as free. I would almost prefer my Internet Wi-Fi just be part of my room rate, rather than have to pay for it on top of my daily rate. Why? Well, unless I have to do work, I do whatever I can on my iPhone because I am cheap and do not want to pay the same amount for my hotel Internet for four nights of use with that I would for pay for a whole month of Internet at home.

Hotels must make shit-tons of money off their guests through daily Internet charges. Yet, should they? Internet should now be seen in the same way as electricity. We do not even think about whether turning on the lights will cost us more for our stay. If we did, would some of us sit in the dark? Why do we think differently about Internet? Or, does it all have to do with money and how much hotels can make off their guests?

What do you think?