Monday, November 1, 2010

Modern Cloth Nappies (Part 2)

Several weeks ago, I blogged about trying out Modern Cloth Nappies. I ended up buying a $20 Peapods and also $5 no-name one off ebay. I was hoping that they would both have the same performance but, as suspected, the Peapods ones didn't leak at night. Its something to do with the cut of the leg holes and how Adrian sleeps at night. They seem to work with no leaks during the day. Now that I know how they work, I got us an additional Peapods for nights and another $5 one for days. (I'm itching to get more because they come in really cute colors). We're 100% reusable now.

Cloth nappies are no more inconvenient than disposable ones. They are both a pain to put on a squirmy baby. Even my old terry toweling squares aren't all that hard to use, they just don't look that nice. The absorbency of the bamboo inserts are as good as the disposable nappies and the fleece top layer keeps the baby feeling just as dry. The one area that I'm not as 'green' on is the fact that I do like to put a nappy liner down to catch any 'solids'. I'm feeling good about ditching the disposable nappies, especially after coming across these figures on the Australian Nappy Network.


1.375 Billion disposable nappies used annually in Australia and New Zealand.

3.75 Million disposable nappies dumped every single day in these 2 nations alone.

3 Million trees felled every year to make disposable nappies for Australia / New Zealand.

100 intestinal viruses leach from untreated human waste at rubbish dumps, contaminating ground water at land fill and creating risks to sanitation workers.

50% of total household waste will be disposable nappies, in a household with 1 baby using disposable nappies full time.

7 times better for the environment, reusable nappies compared to one use nappies.

2 Tonnes of landfill created by each baby in disposable nappies full time.

1 degree hotter the average temperature of a boy's testicles in a disposable nappy - possibly related to increases in infertility and testicular cancer of the last 25 years.

After all the research and excitement about modern cloth nappies, I've sadly been reminded that I'll probably need to start toilet training soon. Nappies are fun now....toilet training? Not so much.

2 comments:

Mike said...

I sure there are worse trash problems that need to be addressed first. Learn what they are and deflect questions with more pressing problems. Then when Adrian is out of nappies become a nappie crusader. It's the way life works.

Wv: ingsh - It's da langage we all speech.

Bilbo said...

You write about nappies, I write about politicians. They're both full of ... uh ... stuff, but at least yours serve a useful purpose, and can be changed more frequently and with less hassle.