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Post by datgirl on Jul 18, 2015 7:53:11 GMT -5
I just read a story someone posted on Facebook about the gel in disposable diapers. It showed someone taking a diaper apart and using the gel in your flowerpots, seed starting, putting it in your garden all to retain moisture. During the video the narrator states that the gel is biodegradable and environmentally friendly. Has anyone ever heard of this. I would think that stuff is full of chemicals. I googled it and found so many different opinions.
I remember when my son was a baby, he broke out in a rash from one particular super absorbent diaper so I wrote the company. They sent me coupons for more diapers.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 8:04:31 GMT -5
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Post by desertwoman on Jul 18, 2015 8:46:14 GMT -5
That's a new one for me. Never heard of it.
But if it causes skin irritation it makes me wonder what is really in it, biodegradable aside. I'll pass on this idea.
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Post by tbird on Jul 18, 2015 10:15:10 GMT -5
was this before or after the baby used it?
lol ;)
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Post by datgirl on Jul 18, 2015 11:49:40 GMT -5
lol actually the video starts out saying you can use a new diaper or a "gently used one". Not sure what that means. I just wonder how many people that see that video will think it's a good idea?
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Post by tbird on Jul 18, 2015 11:54:49 GMT -5
I hope they cautioned against root crops!
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Post by datgirl on Jul 18, 2015 13:03:25 GMT -5
No they didn't. I can't believe anyone that was going to try this would use a used diaper, but then again, who knows.
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Post by tbird on Jul 18, 2015 13:12:12 GMT -5
babies......free of germs from top to bottom!
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Jul 18, 2015 13:26:28 GMT -5
Not interested in using this at all. Scientists test anything.
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Post by tigersister on Jul 18, 2015 22:05:16 GMT -5
It's the same stuff that can be found at florists and some garden centers. Hydrogel and florists crystals are two of the names for it. It has other names too, but I can't think of what they are at the moment. It comes in most moisture control mixes of soil.
They are a polymer, so definitely not part of organic practices in my book. Some of it is manufactured from plant fibers, so the companies that make it with that tout it as being natural.
My husband wanted to dump a bunch of it in our yard when we moved into our current home, since he could get ahold of a lot for cheap at the time. The idea of plastic breaking down in the soil really bothered me and didn't support my wanting to go organic, so I did some research on it. There's many conflicting reports on it, and it's hard to find unbiased studies. I found some longer term studies done in Germany and France. From what I remember, the studies say hydrogel hold onto heavy metals and keep them at the plant roots. Whatever heavy metals that get into the watershed and would normally be flushed away instead end up being absorbed by the plants. The control plants had a fraction of the heavy metals than the plants planted in soil with the hydrogel. There wasn't anything I could find, at the time, that studied the long term effects of it breaking down.
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Post by brownrexx on Jul 19, 2015 13:54:58 GMT -5
Personally, I'd rather my food wasn't grown in it. Me neither. I think that I'll stick to the regular organic materials that I have been using like straw, grass clippings, coffee grounds, compost, etc.
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Post by claude on Jul 22, 2015 9:23:15 GMT -5
It's so funny that you posted this..my BIL has been using the crystals in his flower pots for a couple of years..it must break down in some form because it needs to be replenished every couple of years. I just don't like the idea. There are balls about the size of a peppercorn that are colored and swell to marble size for use in vases but they are manufactured inChina...they do not spill the way cut flowers in water will...they just foll out and can be scooped back up..barely dampening the surface where it spills. In my mind, I think of finite water being polluted, plumbing problems, fish eating them...
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