What To Do With The Byproducts Of A Living Poop Machine?

Photo by wharman

Apparently, there are around 8 million disposable nappies (diapers) used in the UK every day.

That's a lot of shit!

So how do you apply the environmentalists mantra of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle to this problem?

I guess if you stopped feeding the baby, you would reduce the number of nappies you used. You might increase the number of prison jumpsuits that you yourself use, though.

Using old-fashioned reusable nappies has become increasingly popular over the last few years, but the general population either don't even consider them or don't want the hassle.

So that leaves recycling - but what on earth could you do with a soiled nappy? How about sticking it to your roof?

This company, knowaste, recycles the nappies and then sells them on to this dutch company, to be used as roofing tiles. While that conjures up all sorts of not-so-wonderful images, the reality is a bit more mundane. There are mysterious "processes" involved which break the nappies down into chemical components which are then reformed to become roofing tiles.

Which is a pity, because I quite like the idea of mothers around the country throwing used nappies onto the roof of their houses, but you'd have to pity the ones who live in a 30-storey tower block!

(And yes, I know that photo isn't of a baby, but I'm in cute-picture-mode this week. I'll be back to my tough-as-nails manly image next week, honest!)