Cloth nappies are great. They are kinder to your baby, they save you money and they are better for the environment. On average 4,000-6,000 disposable nappies are used for every baby from birth-to-potty in the UK, that works out as roughly 8 million disposable nappies a day. Which is roughly the same weight as throwing away 17 double decker buses every single day, or 6205 buses a year!
Although no one knows for certain yet (because they simply haven’t been invented long enough), it is estimated that disposable nappies take around 500 years to decompose, which is a scary amount of time considering how long an average nappy gets used for.
This is why cloth nappies are such a great alternative, you can simply use, wash and reuse them. Plus once your young one has outgrown the need for nappies, you can either sell the nappies on to another new parent or put them in the bin, where they will safely biodegrade over a far shorter period of time.
The Benefits of Cloth Nappies
It is estimated that in the average 2 and a half year period from birth through to being potty trained a child will need only 25 reusable nappies. Prices for these vary from tens to hundreds of pounds but the average reusable nappy costs around £16, meaning a total cost of £400 for 25. Comparing to the near £2000 that at least 4000 single use nappies will cost you, that’s roughly £1600 of savings!
Essex County Council also offers a £30 refund on the purchase of any cloth nappies; including new or pre-loved cloth nappies. To find out more and to see how to get your refund, click here.
There is plenty of support online for parents thinking of switching to reusable nappies, from Facebook groups to online forums, one great page to start with is Cloth Bum Mums Facebook group.
Cloth nappies are also kinder to your babies skin. This is because they are made of natural materials as opposed to single use nappies which use super-absorbent chemicals, paper pulp and plastic.
