Why Real Nappies?

So, why might you choose to use real nappies?

Well, for many people the answer is "because they are so lovely"! If you were a baby, would you rather wear scratchy paper knickers, or lovely soft cotton ones? But if you need more reasons... using washable nappies will save you money, is kinder to your baby's skin and will greatly reduce the amount of rubbish you throw away.

Cost benefits

Using washable nappies could save parents hundreds of pounds on the cost of keeping one baby in nappies. Click here for a cost comparison. Further savings can be made if the nappies are re-used on subsequent babies or sold on.

Health benefits

Disposable nappies are made of superabsorbent chemicals, paper pulp, plastics and adhesives. Real nappies are mostly made of natural fabrics. The range of washable nappies available includes organic cotton, hemp and bamboo nappies and organic wool wraps.

If you want to read more, there is a great article written by a mum in the USA who tried to find out what goes into a disposable nappy - see The Diaper Drama.

Waste reduction

Nearly 8 million nappies are thrown away every day in the UK. That’s nearly 3 billion nappies a year! Can you imagine that many nappies?? The vast majority of these end up in landfill sites.

We don't know how long it takes for the plastics in disposable nappies to decompose but it could take hundreds of years. Nappy disposal costs to local authorities run to in hundreds of thousands of pounds per year (paid for by taxpayers). Landfill space is running out.

For the sources of these statistics and more information see the Women's Environmental Network (WEN) and The Real Nappy Campaign websites.