What do you do about poo?

I once asked a Grandma at a baby event if she ever pooed in her bin. The look of shock on her face was a sight to behold and to be honest I did think I’d over-stepped the mark. My question, however, came on the back of her trying to persuade her pregnant daughter not to consider using washable nappies as “she just liked the idea of wrapping it all up and throwing it away.” It hadn’t occurred to her that what that actually meant was putting poo in the bin.

One of the many reasons I like cloth nappies is that the poo is dealt with by the sewerage system. The sewerage system is designed to deal with human faeces and treat it appropriately. Putting poo in the bin, means it ends up in landfill, where any bacteria or viruses can potentially leach into soil and water systems and can cause a health hazard for refuse workers.

Even when using disposable nappies, I still tip the poo into loo before folding it up and putting it in the bin. To me it is just the hygienic thing to do. I have heard it argued that poo is biodegradable and therefore its OK to send it to landfill, it will just biodegrade. However, it is generally wrapped inside a plastic nappy and put inside at least one plastic bag (often more as the nappy is inside a nappy sack, inside a bin bag). The plastic prevents air and light and bacteria necessary for the bio-degradation to take place from reaching the poo. So it fossilizes inside the nappy. In a hundred years time, archaeologists of the future will find bags of preserved dirty nappies in our landfill sites. Delightful!

It doesn’t take much to put the poo down the loo. Whether you choose to reuse or are disposable all the way.

What about you? Do you bin it or flush it?