Disposable Nappies v Cloth Nappies.

Are Disposable Nappies Really That Bad?
In a word, yes.
Just to give you some idea:
• Disposables are made mostly of plastic and paper pulp. The plastic is made from non-renewable crude oil; the paper comes from new forests managed with high levels of pesticides and fertilisers.
• 90% of disposable nappies end up in landfill sites. No-one knows how long it takes for a nappy to decompose; estimates suggest between 200-500 years.
• Most disposables contain a layer of super-absorbent gel to draw moisture away from the baby’s skin. There have been no tests in the UK or Europe on the effects of extreme dryness on babies thin skin and genitalia, or on the effects of prolonged exposure to the chemicals in the gel.

What’s So Good About Using Cloth Nappies?
The main advantage is the benefit to the environment:
Ecological ‘footprinting’ is a way of comparing the impact things have on the environment. Taking into account the raw materials and energy required to make both disposable and cloth nappies, the energy taken to transport and use (including washing) the nappies, and the disposal and decomposition of them, the ecological ‘footprint’ of using cloth nappies is smaller than using disposable nappies:

These footprints represent the land required for each baby each year – bear in mind that an average football pitch is 7,500 m2

A second major advantage of using cloth nappies is cost: depending what sort of nappy system you buy, you can save around £500 per child compared to the cost of disposables. The saving increases with each child who wears the nappies, and even when your family have finished with the nappies, they can be sold via the second hand nappy market. While the weekly cost of the nappy laundering service is comparable with that of top brand disposables, babies wearing cloth nappies often potty train earlier, saving you on average 6 months of nappy costs.

Other benefits of cloth nappies include increased comfort for your baby, better absorbency and containment (especially in the early days), and reduced exposure to chemicals.

For more information about the environmental impact of disposable nappies, see the Womens Environmental Network website: www.wen.org.uk, or ask me for a copy of the WEN briefing, ‘Nappies and the Environment’.
For more information about ecological footprints, see the Best Foot Forward website: www.bestfootforward.com.
The illustration quoted here was sourced from the WEN briefing ‘Nappies and the Environment’.