Green Mum Janey Lee Grace Chooses Cloth Nappies

When it comes to being a ‘greener’ parent there are few subjects more emotive than the whole furore of cloth nappies versus disposables.

From an environmental standpoint, we throw away 8 million nappies every day in Britain alone, making up over four per cent of land-filled domestic waste. Every one of them could take 200–500 years to fully decompose.

In addition to environmental concerns, we know that many chemicals can be absorbed into the body via the skin, and regular disposable nappies contain bleach which can produce the chemical dioxin which is a known carcinogen.  Solvents and other chemicals that are used for super-absorbency have also been associated with health risks.  It’s also well documented that disposables with their wad of stuffing increase the temperature around the testicles which can affect fertility in boys.

First, and let’s be ‘Imperfectly Natural’ here, if you can’t be convinced to try cloth at least look at the more ‘eco-friendly’ disposables such as bleach-free Moltex Oko with reduced chemicals, and no latex, perfumes or antioxidants, available from www.spiritofnature.co.uk  Try also Tushies, filled with non-chlorine bleached wood pulp, from www.greenbaby.co.uk

Better still, give washables a try. Forget the old style safety pins and origami lessons needed to fold nappies. Today there’s a whole industry selling individual styles, bright colours and designs.

Cloth is more comfortable for babies. Anecdotally it encourages earlier toilet training and it will save you money, particularly if you use the nappies for subsequent children. Forget the ‘more energy and water’ argument too, they don’t need boiling and can be ‘dry-pailed’ in a lidded bucket with two drops of tea tree oil until you do your usual washing load. Cloth nappies wash beautifully with eco-friendly laundry detergents (especially soapnuts) which seem to really hold their brightness and colour (don’t use fabric conditioner because it will affect the absorbency of the nappies).

If you want to give cloth nappies a try, some local councils offer trial packs (and even cash incentives for first-time cloth nappy buyers) and of course you can buy nappies second-hand – they’ve been washed – honest !!!

For much more info go to www.thenappylady.com
Also www.teamlollipop.co.uk
Women’s Environmental Network www.wen.org.uk

Janey Lee Grace is the author of ‘Imperfectly Natural Baby and Toddler; (Orion Books) and can currently be heard weekdays on BBC Radio 2’s ‘Steve Wright in the Afternoon’. Her new book, ‘Imperfectly Natural Home’, is in shops now.

Any books purchased via the link on our website benefit The Big Green Idea as Amazon donate part of the proceeds to us.