Of course, washing reusable (linnen or cotton) diapers is a bit of a drag.
There are cleaning services (click for example) for that job but they drive around in vans and use industrial machinery to clean the pieces of cloth. Thereby bypassing the intention for people who rather not use disposable diapers: helping the environment ánd saving money.
So, how 'bout simply burning disposable diapers so they don't end up in a landfill?
Well, you can try:
Firefighter John Bartlett (click) from Florida, USA started thinking: 'Why does almost everything in a house burn to a crisp but do we often find diapers nearly intact?' Turned out it was the absorbent gel in disposable diapers that made them fire resistant. This got Stanford scientists (click) to develop a gel that's not only bio degradable but could also help prevent wildfires from spreading.
Maybe, one day we don't have to throw diapers in landfills anymore but donate them to the local fire department. And how about we put them (after leaving them outside for a week or so to let Mother Nature take care of the content our babies produced - in our cavity walls? They could help prevent our homes from burning down, help as a soundproofing system and help lower the utilities bill because we might have to use less gas to heat our homes.
I'm not a scientist so I don't exactly know how (or if) that would work, but wouldn't that be awesome?
It could even work with cat diapers! And yes, that's a thing:
In the USA everything has to be expensive; if you don't pay a lot of money for a gift, apparently you don't appreciate, like or love that person very much. So you give gifts for birthday's, Christmas, Bar Mitswa's, graduations, completing tasks, Mother's and Fathersday, weddings, births, pre-birth parties and even funerals. It's true. Bigly (click). Even paying for something costs money. Interest on a credit card debt is over 40%. For Americans*: if you buy something for $100 and you wait a year before moving money from your bankaccount to your credit card account, you end up paying $140. Forget the Airmiles you're receiving as an incentive: do you really want to spend $2000 to 'earn' a $50 gift cheque? If so: I can sell you one for $500.
*I know it's not your fault but you'll have to agree your education system is broken and a lot of you can't count or spell very well.
If you buy something in a shop, you always pay more than what the pricetag says. How much that is differs per product, per state and often even by city. If you buy the stuff with a credit card (the average American has seven credit cards. Because they can easlly get a new one when they've reached the limit on the older one) you pay even more. But 'only' 4% more if you pay off within a month.
This article (click) is about advantages and disadvantages of debit and credit cards.
Why Americans don't use debit cards, although they are just as easy to use but just cost a monthly fee? Simple: American banks don't advertise debit cards because advertising credit cards has a far better ROI; the price for the ads is quickly paid for and some more.
Speaking of expensive: you may have been one of those poor scammed people who were tricked into buying a diamond engagement ring. Hate to tell you this, but you fell for a 1938 advertising campaign:
Borrowing money is an integral part of American society but if you think about it: most American students studying today will not have paid off their student debt before they reach retirement age.
If they're really good in saving money and have a high paying job as soon as they leave college, American students may have a chance to be debt free by the age they are sixty and finally can put some money in a savings account for their retirement.
Just recently the Biden administration decided to cancel student debt for students who borrowed money to study at Corinthians Colleges (click). Because this 'school' turned out to be a scam: a couple of Wall Street investors had bought several dozen bad schools, stuck the name 'Corinthians' to them - implying the organisation was just as loving as the Bible book with the same name - and tricked students into paying (and therefore borrowing) a lot of money for a study that was essentially and literally worthless.
Americans have one of the worst but also one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the (western) world and America also is one of the most expensive countries in the western world for internet. Overall: the USA is not a very cheap country to live in.
But is paying a lot of money for almost everything perhaps the price to pay for living in one of the most 'free' countries in the world?
You are free to choose a candidate from every political party, right? So how come only Republicans and Democrats get a seat in the Senate or Congress?
Imagine telling your partner what you want to eat, but he or she only gives you either a wrap or a pizza? Would you still say: 'Yeah, but I live in the greatest country in the world because I have freedom of choice!'?
You are free to choose if you want to give your money to KFC or Pizza Hut, right? Nope. It's the same company. By buying a can of beer from either Coors or Miller, you're just making one company richer because they are the same company. Think you are free to watch or listen to a TV-, or radio channel of your choise? Not really: 90% of all media in the USA is owned by just six corporations.
Freedom comes at a price. But what if you pay but don't get the product you ordered?
Some 2350 years ago Celts lived in Galatia. Roughly the area we now call Turkey. That's a historic fact. So if modern day Irish would move to Turkey en mass and drive the Turks of their lands, they have every right to do so 'because they lived there so many years ago'. Right?
It would also mean native Americans have every right to drive off the descendants of white Europeans of their lands. Do you think they should?
And do you think Israelis have every right to suppress and even kill Palestinians 'because they live on the land we used to live on a couple of thousand of years ago!'?
Are you living on land that's been inhabited by your own people for milennia? No? How would you feel if you were to be driven off that land by people who claim their ancestors had lived there thousands of years (or hundreds) ago? Would you say they are in their right to do so?
It recently happened to a friend of mine who had been working 60 hours a week for forty years and had been craving for 'freedom' for the last twenty years. I asked him: 'What will you do now you have all this money you saved up for your retirement and all the freedom and time in the world?' 'Don't know, really. Haven't given it much thought, to be honest. Just thought I'd be happy with a lot of money and freedom. But now I just miss working.'
Isn't this weird? For centuries man has longed for more spare time but once we do have more time, we don't know what to do with it.
Seems we need to feel wanted, useful, needed. We're hardwired to grow food, help a company grow, help children grow. Without growth things just stop. And we don't want things to stop. What's the point of living if there's not some kind of growth?
So we grow food, revenue, our bank account, buy a bigger house and a bigger car. We grow our knowledgde and even blow up our problems.
I personally think that growing is inherent to being a living being. People who have come to a standstill - for whatever reason - are often bored, depressed and even suicidal.
So, maybe when you think you have reached the end of your personal growth, you could help others to grow. Share your knowledget with them, take them to see an exhibition, help them set up their own little vegetable garden or whatever. Helping others to grow can help yourself to grow.
As long as people have had different opinions, they feel the need to cancel out the opinions of others.
For people who love to shout they are against 'cancel culture', Republicans and their [sheep] voters want to cancel a whole lot of achievements and other stuff that normal people consider...wel...normal.
On the top of the list of things that Republicans want to cancel is...cancel culture. High on the list is sex and violence in books and films, cursing in general and preferably at home too but Republicans also love to cancel food programs for the homeless and affordable healthcare for everyone whose hospital bill is not paid for by the government.
They say they want 'freedom for everyone!' while also being against a woman's right to choose, a Muslim's right to travel and a South-American's right to live and work in the USA. If a person from Canada doesn't have the right paperwork to live and work in the USA, that's fine. In this case 'fine' is Newspeak for 'racist'.
