April 9 2014, Wednesday
Disposables
In the name of hygiene and convenience, we use a lot of disposables.
Call me nostalgic – I am recalling how it was in the good old days! It was not
too long ago. I think before mid-1970s when we recycled everything!
During menstruation, we girls
used cloth napkin fitted with cut toilet sheets. We brought
handkerchiefs and sneezed into them! Unimaginable now!
My son, Vincent, was born in 1974. That makes him 40 this year. When
he was still an infant, we used cloth diapers made from old cotton clothes soft to the
baby’s skin. The soiled diapers would be put in a basin
of water to remove the urine and faeces. This water would be flushed down the toilet.
The diapers would then be washed, rinsed and air-dried. I did not feel
obnoxious at all washing these soiled diapers! See, there was no plastic
involved!
Every now and then, an elderly
man would come and knock on doors asking if we had any tins and cans. We
children were very delighted to see him because in exchange for the 555
cigarette cans, we would be given maltose crackers. In the market, newspapers
were used for wrapping even the fish and tofu and straws for the vegetables.
Brown paper bags used for take-aways and bottles for all the drinks!
In come all the disposables and
convenience and we rejoice until it dawns on us that we are harming our future
generations! Still, it is better late than never! Be reflective and protect our
environment!
If girls want to try making own
sanitary pads, browse this website:
