On average a baby can use between 4.16 nappies disposable nappies a day. This can add up to 3,796 nappies per baby over a two and a half year period. Unfortunately, this amount can be as high as 6,000 nappies, if babies are changed more frequently, or stay in nappies for longer! In the UK, more than 3 billion nappies are thrown away every year (8 million a day!), (Nappy Alliance,2007)
Disposable nappy manufacturers try to convince us that there is no real advantage to using washable ones. In reality, it is becoming increasingly difficult to dispose of them. 95% of disposable nappies are made using plastics and chemicals that cannot be recycled or reused. For every pound we spend in disposable nappies in the UK, it cost 10p for councils to get rid of them by landfill or incineration. Apart from the toxic gases that this produces, this costs the taxpayers £67 million to get rid of the disposable nappies.
Of course washable nappies, like any other piece of clothing, have an impact on the environment when you wash them, but imagine if you put all your clothes in the bin every time you wear them because of the impact on the environment during laundry time! Furthermore, Ecopipo nappies are so durable that you will be able to use them with your subsequent children, or pass them to another baby, which will continue to help the environment by reducing waste.
Only wearing new clothes once and then throwing them away will certainly have a worse effect on the environment rather than washing them many times. If reusable nappies are washed according to the correct guidelines (Ecopipo washing instructions), they will be 40% more efficient than disposable nappies, in terms of use of energy (Which?). Also, WEN the Women’s Environmental Network has stated that by using cloth nappies and laundering them in an energy-efficient washing machine at 60°C, parents could reduce global warming by 24%.
In summary, Ecopipo nappies can help you to reduce their environmental impact by:
• Line drying outside whenever possible.
• Tumble drying as little as possible.
• Choosing more energy efficient appliances (A+ rated machines are preferred).
• Not washing them above 60°C.
• Washing fuller loads.
• Reusing your Ecopipo nappies on other children.
Another question to ask yourself is whether you would like to wear uncomfortable plastic clothes on your own skin 24/7? The two main components of disposable nappies are cellulose fibres from trees and polymers (a type of plastic). Although trees may be considered a renewable raw material, they are already being cut down faster than they are being re-planted.
Around 7 million trees alone are used every year to produce Britain’s disposable nappies. Right now forests are being cut down 3 times faster than they are growing. Every year 13 million hectares of forest are lost worldwide, causing a hugely detrimental effect on the environment. Polymers are made from fossil fuels, which is a non-renewable resource, and they consume a lot of energy in their production.
Disposable nappies manufacturers claim you will damage the environment by using water when washing your nappies; however they fail to say that the materials used in the production of disposable nappies need a lot of water for their production.
Disposable nappies are also embedded with different kinds of active chemicals. Manufacturers do not say how the mix of faeces and urine, combined with these active chemicals can leak into the aquatic and terrestrial systems surrounding landfill sites. They are a dangerous hazard, with harmful consequences both to humans and the environment.
In terms of volume of waste from homes in the UK, more disposable nappies are collected than anything else each week. There is evidence that disposable nappies take a very long time to break down once in a landfill site. We should ask ourselves if the UK can afford to have more landfill sites without compromising the quality of the environment in the future. To help you to see this more clear, according to Climate challenge organisation we throw away the same weight as the equivalent of 70,000 double decker buses every year!
Ecopipo nappies contain no active chemicals and use no non-renewable or unsustainable trees in their manufacture. Using Ecopipo nappies you will be taking a big step in helping your baby, and future generations to enjoy our beautiful world.
You can help your baby’s future today by choosing the kind of world you want to leave for him.
You can read a great deal of interesting information about the impact of disposable nappies in this link BBC: Choosing reusable nappies
At Ecopipo,we want to help you to leave a cleaner, healthier planet for your baby!