Cloth Vs Disposable - Re: Nappies, the Environment and Convenience

By Charndra Josling

Cloth vs disposable: Re Nappies and Convenience

Cloth Nappies vs Disposable Nappies? This is the question that every new mother is asked at some point.
It is a also a question mums ask themselves when the cost of disposable nappies starts to add up and they think of adding another baby to the family - doubling the cost ... hmm, perhaps it is time to consider cloth nappies again?

Each baby will wear approximately 6000 nappies over 2-3 years. That is a lot of money when each one of them costs 40 - 60c + each, is used briefly then thrown in the bin, to sit there rotting for a long time in the anaerobic conditions in the common landfill.

It may seem a simple choice, a black and white choice - buy disposable nappies each week and throw them in the bin after a few hours, or buy modern cloth nappies, and reuse them over and over. Of course the reality is that you can use BOTH! You can combine the best features of each kind of nappy and tailor your stash to the requirements of your budget, your conscience, your lifestyle, your personal preferences and your baby.
This article looks at the environment as a factor to consider when you think about the cloth vs disposable debate.

What if, rather than 6000 nappies used once, your baby wore perhaps a third of that number, and replaced the other 4000 nappy changes with washable nappies? This is what using modern nappies means when compared with disposable nappies - savings - saving money each week, saving natural resources and helping you feel better about that tiny person who is a huge waste contributor at such a young age!

With advances in their design made by clever mothers designing cloth nappies who have 'been there and done that', modern cloth nappies are a real competitor to disposable nappies now.

Disposable nappies are marketed as 'convenience' nappies. Using disposable nappies means buying large packages every week, racing out when you've run low to buy more at expensive prices late in an evening (yikes!), standing in line at the shops, transporting from the shop to home, storing, then storing a stinky mass in your bin until rubbish day. Each one used for mere hours.

But are cloth nappies so 'inconvenient'? The mums who use them would disagree.

In fact, they find them just as easy to use - put them on, take them off, chuck them in a covered bucket until washing day. Then, pop them in the washing machine, add a tiny bet of detergent, and turn on the machine. Hang on the line as you get a bit of a stretch and moment in the sunlight to think your thoughts. Simple. Studies have shown that using cloth means 5 minutes difference in a day, once all the factors are considered - that is hardly more onerous, AND it is VASTLY more economical!

Environmentally, bulk buying your disposable nappies is the answer - it is pre-cycling, which is preventing sources of waste from coming into your home, in this place lots of smaller numbers of disposable nappies wrapped in packaging - often plastic packaging. This also means less cost, as buying in bulk is cheaper, and there is less running around for you to do.

What is the +1? Build a Hybrid or Mixed Nappy Stash Including Some Biodegradable Disposable Nappies

When considering the cloth vs disposable debate the most important thing to realise is that your nappy choice is not about one or the other - you can use both! It is about which suits you, your budget, your lifestyle and our planet's resources the most. by being flexible, you can reap the benefits of all of their best features and minimise your baby's environmental footprint too.

What if you create a hybrid stash - use disposables, but also buy a pack of environmentally friendly disposable nappies that you can bury in the garden, sprinkle under some bushes or add to a worm farm now and again, you'll start to find out just why so many mums are making the switch to using more cloth nappies these days.
By buying a few modern cloth nappies (they'll save those late night dashes out to an expensive convenience store), and with over 330 nappy makers and retailers in Australia and New Zealand listed at My Green Nappy, shopping for cloth nappies is FUN, and modern nappies are the popular way to nappy your baby while you save money and reduce his or her impact on the environment!

Charndra has created the simple and unique environmental initiative called My Green Nappy, an advocacy site for eco friendly disposable nappies and the modern cloth nappy. It's mission is to encourage all families down under to start with one 'green' nappy for their baby to wear, preventing one single-use disposable from ending up in landfill every time it is worn, whether that is daily, weekly or randomly.

A free online guided tour called 'My Green Nappy Guide' will help you discover everything you need to know about green nappies and using any sort of nappy in a more environmentally friendly way!

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