Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 4 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
which can be reused up to one hundred times, decompose in one to six months. Disposable diapers consumer an incredible amount of resources annually, too: 1,265,000 metric tons of wood pulp and 75,000 metric tons of plastic. Manufacturers recommend that people wash out disposable diapers, but only about 5 percent of us do. This means that every year millions of tons of soiled, potentially disease-infected diapers are dumped into “sanitary” landfills. The Environmental Action Organization estimates that because of disposable diapers “three million tons of untreated feces and urine end up in landfills rather than in the sewage system each year.” The biggest potential problem: contamination of groundwater by viruses. The E.A. points out: “More than 100 different intestinal viruses are known to be excreted in human feces, including polio and hepatitis.” Fortunately, no groundwater contamination of this nature has been discovered — yet. Degradable disposable diapers aren’t exactly the answer, either, although because of a cornstarch base that breaks the plastic into small pieces, they do decompose faster, but they still take up the same amount of space and pose the same health risks.
If you have a hard time switching to cloth diapers (and it isn’t surprising as a recent poll showed 87 percent of us prefer disposable diapers), remember it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Alternate. When at home use cloth. When away use disposable. If you’re using cloth diapers, using natural fibers for diapers covers, such as 100 percent wool felt, seems to be the best because if offers “complete breathability” and doesn’t irritate babies. Try it — you won’t go unnoticed! ^ KAREN HATHAWAY
Sperryville
94.2%