Nappies to my British friends, Diapers to my American friends. Whatever you call them, this is a big conundrum for those trying to be green.
While I was pregnant, I was inundated with horrifying statistics about the environmental impact of babies. Just in the UK alone, 2.5 billion nappies are thrown away (that’s 7 million a day, or 6,000 per child). That is 2.4% of all household waste. The average baby uses about 4,000 disposable nappies by the time they are potty trained. This is equivalent to half a tonne of carbon dioxide.
If you look at the issue from a waste perspective, the clear choice is to go with reusable nappies. Reusables mean less waste sent to a landfill. It seemed so obvious, all the benefits were there and manufacturers have made them quite easy to use. Even though use of energy involved in cleaning reusable nappies is significant, it could be reduced by air-drying, and still lower than use of fossil fuels needed to produce disposables to begin with. After some initial research (and a LOT of opinions thrown at me), I decided I wanted to go the reusable route.
Fast forward to the day baby was born. It was pure chaos. As a single parental unit living in the city with no extra support, there was no way I could keep up with the laundry requirement. I was absolutely exhausted the first month; My son was feeding every 2-3 hours and somewhere in between I had to sleep, pump, shower, and do other basic things. I just could not afford the time to do the extra laundry. Additionally, in a small apartment, the dirty nappies left a weird “hamster cage” like smell in the bin and my germophobic nature kicked in hard at the mere scent of it. It made me wish I had a bigger home to line dry the nappies. Additionally, my washer/dryer unit is not as big or powerful as the ones I am used to in the US, and it just ended up not being practical for me. Also, I found poop disposal tricky. I had a disposable liner in my nappy, which is supposed to capture poop before it goes through to the nappy. It rarely worked that way for my son, and so I’d always have this fumbling experience of catching the poop, wiping up excess around the nappy and on him, then needing to rush to the toilet to discard, and then put a fresh nappy on him. Heaven help you if your child is sick and he/she has explosive diarrhoea (it is a serious nightmare to clean and those stains don’t leave the nappy unless you can line dry in the sun)! There are YouTube videos that make this look quite easy, but it took me awhile to get it right. All this aside, I didn’t want to give up so I kept going with it, and admittedly it got much easier once he started weaning and had more solid poos.
You may be wondering why didn’t I go with the eco-waste delivery method. If this is the first you’re hearing of it, it’s basically the Amazon Prime of cloth diapering – you get the benefits of using cloth and have a delivery company come pick up your dirty nappies and leave fresh nappies for you. This is a great option and probably preferred – but unfortunately the options available to me were not in my budget.
Since then, I’ve also given eco-disposable/biodegradable nappies a go, but this is an area to tread carefully as well. I felt like I was caving in to the world of disposables, but if I was going to do it, I would want to do it the greener way. There are a lot of brands out there, all of which boast being better for the environment. I’ve tried 5 different brands between the US and UK and on the whole, the following are my observations:
- They are surprisingly absorbent; I changed my son fewer times than I did with normal disposable nappy and a reusable nappy.
- They seem to prevent nappy rashes. My son never got one (fingers crossed) and several others who have shared their feedback said that they seem to do a much better job
- Cost wise, they will run you a bit more than a regular disposable nappy, but for the above benefits, it could end up being a saving
Notice I have not mentioned anything about actual biodegradability. Turns out, they don’t differ all that much from regular disposable nappies. It’s not because of the material, but because of how we discard them.
Biodegradablity is meaningless when 90% of nappies (in the UK) end up in landfills. Landfills are anaerobic (there is no light or air), which is necessary for the decomposition process. The nappies will break down, but very slowly just as regular disposables. What this means is that any nappy that is biodegradable can only break down if its properly composted. Bear in mind, we don’t mean regular old home composting method either! Laws covering landfill sites are aimed at reducing the amount of biodegradable waste in them but it is not always easy to filter the trash, especially when items co-mingle; the greenhouse gases released from the rotting waste is difficult to capture.
Eco-disposables get their name because they are produced according to environmentally-friendly production methods, or that it is chemically friendly to babies. However, it does not make comment on how it affects landfills. There are some eco-disposable brands that have specialist nappy recycling/incinerating services but of course those only exist in more environmentally-progressive countries such as the Netherlands or Sweden.
To flip this essay back to reusables for a moment, I started to dig more deeply into how they are produced and maintained. Most cloth nappies are made of cotton, which is an extremely thirsty crop and requires regular dousing of pesticides, making it very expensive and harsh on the environment. There is also a social dimension to include – cotton fertilisers are greenhouse gas emitters and the trucking of cotton to farms to industrial gins and weavers generates emissions, which is further compounded by the production process. There is also the persistent history of human exploitation, in countries like Uzbekistan, India, China and others where cotton has been linked to forced labour and human trafficking. There is virtually no transparency in the manufacturing chain for reusable or disposable nappies.
Needless to say, I was feeling pretty defeated; there is no true easy and environmentally-friendly alternative or at least not an obvious one from a new mommy and consumer’s point of view.
So after all that, you may be wondering what I chose to do in the end of the day? The first was, I had to stop and accept that right now, there is no perfect solution. Secondly, I found a hybrid approach – a combination of reusable and disposable nappies worked best for me physically, emotionally and financially.
I use disposables (of the eco/biodegradable kind) majority of the time, especially when I am on-the-go, travelling, and for evening changes. I don’t use these for the biodegradability feature, but because they fit my need for convenience, ease, and are produced in an environmentally-friendly way (see Nordic Swan Eco label). However, to save on costs in the long term, and to reduce the amount I discard, I use reusable Bambino Mio Solos during the day when I am at home. I need to do laundry fairly regularly but I am okay with this, especially on days where I stay in town. What is also nice about the Bambino Mio Solo set is they are AIOs (all-in-one) nappies that grow with your baby, so I don’t need to worry about having the right size. I’ve also read from other users that it is a great way to encourage your baby to potty train as they get used to feeling wet or uncomfortable and associate a visit to the restroom with clean and comfort. Let’s hope that happens. This combo approach helps me address two of my concerns; waste (addressed by reusables) and climate change (addressed by disposables). A combo approach is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint.
At the end, I wanted to spend more time with my son, and not get caught up in laundry all the time. Disposables are a convenience of modern day life that our ancestors did not have, and many of us living in the city or by ourselves don’t have the village to help us raise our kids, which is often why we opt for the convenience. I think if I had my village, I would probably be using reusables majority of the time.
Do not feel eco-guilt when pragmatism is needed. Parenting is so hard; it is stressful and you’re tired all the time. But you don’t have to abandon attempts to be green if you use disposables once in awhile, in fact, I’ve learned this is precisely what a lot of reusable nappy users do.
If you’re a new parent trying to do the right thing for the planet, here is what you ought to keep your eyes peeled for:
- Check if your local council offers incentives such as trial packs, laundry services or cash back on reusable nappy kits
- Consider using recycled paper in their products
- Use renewable energy for the production process
- Utilisation of sustainable sources of pulp from managed forests, or other renewable materials
- Investigate technology for recycling/incineration of disposable nappies
- Lower the weight of their products
- Review worker welfare and benefits provided by the company from whom you’re buying and request information about supply chain
In Conclusion
Whichever way you go, it is helpful to make a list of your priorities. In the long run, if cost is your biggest concern, then reusables are the way to go. It’s much cheaper than disposables, even when taking into account cost of electricity/water when washing them. If you want to know the true cost between the two, a simple Google search will tell you. When doing so, be a bit more earth friendly by waiting to have fuller laundry loads and air-dry your nappies. If cost is no issue, go with an eco-waste service so you get the best of both worlds; a company expert in waste disposal and reusable nappies! However, look into the carbon footprint of the pickups/drop offs (is the company using fuel efficient cars?) If you go for disposables, it’s worth doing some math on cost per and your options for disposal. Also research the manufacturer and their policy on sustainable forestry and promoting composting systems. If one day we had systems in place to collect biogas from disposables, there would be a clear winner over reusables in eco-impact. There are a lot of factors that affect the environmental impact of a product, and biodegradability is just one of them. When you are trying to reduce your eco footprint, it is important to look at the entire life cycle of the product you choose, rather than a single factor.
Here’s a summary of my findings between the two “earth-friendly” nappy options. Hope this helps you make the choice right for the planet and your family!
Feature Image (Disposables v Cloth Diapers) Credit
