There are an increasing number of parents choosing to use real nappies. Some start as soon as the baby is born. Some change along the way as disposables cause problems or parents see the amount of rubbish they are creating and feel they need to do something about it. 8 million nappies a day are thrown away in the UK alone.

There is no getting away from it, nappies are a big part of a parents life for two and a half years or more. 5000 disposables would be needed in those two and a half years! That’s just for one baby.

If parents wash their own nappies a maximum of 50 will be all that’s needed, and they are likely to be cotton, a material that will biodegrade when it is finished with, leaving no trace, unlike the mountain of disposables which will sit there for hundreds of years.

In some areas of the country there are Real Nappy Projects, which can give you and/ or the parents you come into contact with much more information about Real Nappies. They may come and talk to you or your parents about real nappies. Contact Women’s environment network to find out your local nappy project: www.wen.org.uk Incentive schemes exist in some districts, whereby new parents are given cash on production of a receipt for real nappies or registration with a nappy laundry service. Ask the chair of your council’s ‘environment and waste management committee’ if there is an incentive scheme in your area and if not why not?

The new real nappies have to be seen to be believed. It’s not just Terries, pins and crinkly plastic pants anymore. There are some very fashionable nappies out there, lots of different colours and patterns. Most washable nappies have two parts, an absorbent inner and a waterproof outer, called a wrap. They close with poppers or Velcro and are really easy to use.

Modern machines take all the hard work out of washing, no need to soak, just store the used nappy in a dry bucket and wash at 60 degrees.

If you really don’t have the time (WEN recon it takes half an hour a week) then parents can use a nappy laundry service, this doesn’t save you money but it does help the environment.

So, there is a huge choice of nappies out there, try to get to see these new ‘real nappies’ as I am sure you will be surprised at how user friendly they are. Lots more people are using them theses days, that speaks for itself, Real Nappies are working.

The images used in this feature have been provided by the Bradford Real Nappy Project.

Click Here for previous features

Back to parents home page