Since caregivers are so overwhelmingly women, I find this an appropriate opening topic for WOW. And since I care about climate, I have recently been wondering about adult diapers (Mom is bed-bound, so diapers are essential). So I recently found this website, supposedly the most environmentally friendly solution around. Note that disposables are claimed to be actually more environmentally friendly than reusables, after you account for electricity, water, detergent and their containers spent to launder diapers! So these diapers are supposed to hold up to 2.6 Liters of fluid each, and keep that fluid away from skin, so that fewer diapers are used. I ordered my sample packages this week. We will see!
Note also that they mention that the diapers can be burned for energy, and that some communities are trying this for diapers in general, given the heavy load of diapers used by nursing homes etc., and that as the percentage of elderly increase, the use of adult diapers is increasing. Of course, burning diapers for energy does not solve our carbon emissions problems. But they can substitute for other sources of fuel burned for energy until we get to a fully solar/wind energy world. And this keeps them out of landfills.
We also are looking into a “Purewick” type system that will greatly decrease the use of diapers. This is an external catheter that sends liquid into a canister that can be emptied relatively easily. So in addition to keeping Mom drier, diapers will be less soaked and less heavy for me to manage disposal. Most likely, diapers and pads will still be needed, but hopefully many less.
I’ll keep DKos members posted how these options work in real life. Meanwhilst, any other suggestions are greatly appreciated to be added to the comments!