Why real nappies are best for the environment (and your pocket)

It is no wonder that more and more people are dumping disposable nappies in favour of re-usables. 'Real nappies' are a no-brainer in environmental terms. Sure, they require a bit more effort as Jen Howze argues on the Alpha Mummy blog; but then so does recycling (all those bottles, cans and newspapers piling up by the front door). And on the nappy front, a small change can make a big difference to the environment and your pocket. Not convinced? Here are 10 reasons why you should think very hard about using real nappies:

The guilt factors

- Your child will use 4,500 nappies before toilet training. That produces the equivalent to 130 black bin-bags full.

- A (very smelly) mountain of 8 million nappies are disposed of DAILY; that's up to 750,000 tonnes of waste a year. For every £1 spent on disposable nappies, there is a cost to the taxpayer of 10p to dispose of them.

- More disposable nappies are found in UK household waste than anything else - they make up about 4 per cent of our rubbish. The majority of them end up in landfill - and space is running out.

- Disposable nappies take 200 to 500 years to decompose and release methane gasses as they do so.

Money talks

- Home-laundered nappies could save parents around £500 per child; more if you re-use them for subsequent offspring.

- There are incentive schemes to encourage parents to convert to real nappies. Check out what's available in your area by searching here 

But I'm too busy

- Consider using a nappy laundering service

- Or what about going the re-usable route part time, say at weekends and evenings?

But laundering re-usable nappies uses lots of energy

- There is no point using cloth nappies if you are going to launder them at 90^oC, tumble dry and iron them. Wash at max 60^oC; hang nappies out to dry; avoid using unnecessary chemicals and use and eco-detergent; NEVER iron them.

I just don't believe the hype

- A study by the Environment Agency assessed the impact of disposable and re-usable nappies and concluded that "there is little or nothing to choose between them". It said that the damage caused by burying disposables in landfill sites was matched by the electricity and greenhouse gases generated by washing and drying cloth nappies. However this report was widely criticised because, amongst other things, it assumed that nappies would be washed at 90^oC and tumble dried.

OK, I'd like to know more...

Babies Nappies - a blog dedicated to eco nappies

The real nappy campaign - resources for parents

The women's environmental network - useful links and facts

Fill-your-pants.com - "more pant fill, less landfill"

How to green your baby from Treehugger

The Netmums guide to nappies

Posted by Lucia Adams

Comments

[Bob!]

Hi!
you batty creases!
you never posted my letter!
i was joining you r debate and you never posted my letter!

anyway,,,
just wanna say,,,
i love nappies they are really comfy i just love sitting in them!
and i dont have to keep going to the toilet all the time! ;)
.x3

[Kiwifern]

My baby has worn fabric nappies since the moment he was born and the only time he's had nappy rash is whilst travelling when we put him in disposables. As he's in fabric I'm extra conscious about potty training and at 7 months is on the potty 3 times a day and we've only had 1 soiled nap in the last month - and yes, we do leave the house during the day. For all you who argue that they're difficult to fit and still think they use safety pins, do some research before you argue a pro-disposable stance - tots bots, motherease, they're just like fitting a disposable. Personally I'm not using fabric for eco reasons, though it's great that there is a positive environmental impact, but it's mainly because I feel they are better for my child as there are is no chemicals against their skin and also they’re also cost-effective as we are planning on having more children. Yes they take more effort, being a good parent in general takes a lot of effort.

[Jose]

Maybe we should let babies sort it by themselves. It's their, uhm, waste, so they must figure a solution when they grow up.

[PS]

I have friends who use cloth nappies and they reckon unless you use a tumble dryer, or buy lots and lots of cloth nappies (which are very expensive) putting them out to dry is not practicle. Especially if its raining.

[JO Carnell]

On the subject of nappy rash, why not use a natural (simple, non chemical ingredients) and concentrated i.e. effective in very small quantity applications, nappy cream, Boudreaux's Butt Paste is such a fantastic product. It's got amazing reviews on the internet and appears to work to prevent nappy rash.

[Frank Upton]

Disposables are useful when travelling but otherwise they are a bit of a nuisance, really, constantly lugging great unwieldy bags of wood pulp. Question: why don't they bring out some better terry nappies, e.g. properly fitting ones?

[Organic-Ally]

A well-known brand of disposables wanted my son to model them for their China market. Imagine the babies in that land of a billion-plus people turning to disposables. I sacked the modelling agency because obviously they could not understand the instruction: "No disposable nappies assignments please." Oil, plastic, gel (I would like to know what this is made of and how it could be safely disposed), landfill issues, toxins when incinerated, discomfort, over-heating, nappy sacks, etc. Just remember there was life before disposables. If we cannot dispense completely with disposables, we could at least try to reduce those.

[Green mummy]

Babies in disposables are still sitting in warm, damp pants - in fact they will be sitting in them longer because parents actually have no idea how much urine the baby has excreted until it's hanging down around their ankles! Not a look I want for my baby - and I certainly don't want her sitting in chemical gels that are in constant contact with her skin!

[MN]

And they say eco-warriors (or should that be eco-worriers!) don’t have a sense of humour. Wow! Can I just suggest that some of you crack open a bottle of Calpol and have a good swig of the good stuff! Now I’m sure a lot might be said in favour of terries versus disposables but, as someone who does not believe we have attained absolute wisdom on all things, I still remain open to the concept that new products and new ideas might also be beneficial. For instance when I was a baby it was received wisdom that mothers should always lay their children to sleep tummy down….oh well as a “childish unintelligent pillock” who just “spouts rubbish” maybe I should just go back to sleep!

[citizen smith]

When I was little I asked my gran what people did before they invented nappies and she said she didn't know. Well the answer is the mother or primary carer learns to read the babies signals and body language and then takes it to an appropriate place to relieve itself, often with a sound cue as well to encourage it to go. Look up "elimination communication" or "nappyfree" on the net. Its a mercy for the Earth that many peoples still use this method. It also helps to understand your child and is nicer for babies not to have to stay wrapped in their own poo. The nappy system trains children to find sitting in their own waste acceptable, modern nappies even more so as they keep the skin dry and discourage continence awareness. 18 months -2 years was the average age for getting out of nappies in the 1970s now its common to see 3 and 4 year olds still in them. Nappies actually began to be used as people became more affluent in the last few hundred years in the west, as people did not want any risk of "accidents" on the new furnishings and carpets they were beginning to fill their houses with. Rediscovering the past is increasingly becoming an obvious way to move forward. The Earth will not survive long otherwise. If you are going to breed in the face of our overpopulation crisis, then the least you can do is limit your consumption any way you can. And you can use elimination communication. And baby won't get nappy rash.

[Another Cloth Nappy Addict]

IMN, you clearly know nothing of modern cloth nappies!! I think it is quite childish to call cloth nappy users "self-righteous, eco-warriors" when the fact of the matter is that we are simply intelligent people with the motivation to think about and research the options. Obviously, you are not!

[Pip]

Another reason:

Kids in cloth nappies get toilet trained faster precisely because of the wet sensation...they're also faster to let you know when they're dirty.

Go half and half...my wife and I did...we use disposables for nighttime so she sleeps through the night and for when she's at daycare. And, by the by, you'll have an endless supply of dusters and cleaning rags when your kids are older--we're still using nappies from when my wife was a kid!!

[Lynzlelou]

MN......terries and diaper pins........how behind the times are you! And as for my baby having a sore bum the ONLY time that has happened so far has been when we used "dispicables" when we went on holiday with no washing facilities. Am sure every baby would much rather be sat in lovely fluffy cloth rather than sweaty, paper and plastic pants. Am 100% positive in 20 years time that my daughter will be proud of me for using cloth nappies on her and making the effort!

[Stephanie]

To MN - assuming you are a woman who has a menstrual cycle, I challenge you to try san-pro made from natural materials and see how comfortable that it compared to nasty plasticky gel filled pads...but of course, that would be "gross" wouldn't it!?
;-)

[SL]

If these disposable nappies cause infertility in males I guess it's a problem that will take care of itself then and we can just stop worrying, eh?

[CNAer]

MN, you are a pillock - there's more to cloth than terries and safety pins.

As for nappy rash, this is mainly caused by over heating in the nappy, not urine, in which case a breathable natural fibre nappy is far better than sweaty plastic.

[Cloth Nappy Addict]

MN, you might want to do your research before you spout rubbish. Studies have shown that cloth nappies are no more likely to cause nappy rash than disposables. Add into that the growing concerns of the effects of disposable nappies - infertility in males, overheating of genitalia due to the non-breathability of dispicables, and the potential harm that the 'supergel' chemicals used in sposies might causel and I think in 20 years time the lawsuits might be against the like of Proctor and Gamble and Kimberly-Clark, not caring parents trying to protect the planet for their childrens' future.

[Cloth Nappy Addict]

In the midst of the current fuel crisis, it's also probably worth knowing that every single disposable nappy uses one WHOLE CUP of crude oil to produce.

Cloth nappies are cheaper, better for the environment, better for babies, absolutely no hassle whatsoever, and look adorable. I struggle to understand why anyone would still clad their kid's behind in nasty paper and plastic, to be honest!

[MN]

And what about the babies? How would you like to have to sit in warm damp pants instead of being kept relatively dry - did the study take into account nappy rash? Mark my words I foresee a spate of claims being made in twenty years time by said babies against their self-righteous eco-warrior parents for abusing their human rights! So I say to the infants of this country: stand up (well ok sit up) now and fight, you only have your terries and safety-pins to lose.