Nappies - Diapers

The Impact of Disposables

"Approximately 90-95% of American babies use 27.4 billion single-use, plastic diapers every year. This generates 7.6 billion pounds of garbage each year—enough waste to fill Yankee Stadium 15 times over, or stretch to the moon and back 9 times. Every year.

Disposable diapers are the 3rd largest consumer item in landfills, and represent 30% of non-biodegradable waste. The only other items that outnumber the amount of disposables in landfills are newspapers and beverage and food containers.

Even though it may seem as if an individual child doesn’t contribute much to those numbers, babies do a lot of pooping. In fact, the average baby goes through 6-8 diapers a day. Unless you practice elimination communication, your baby will use between 6,500–10,000 diapers before potty training around 30 months old, creating about 2000 pounds of garbage over that time! That’s literally a ton of toxic waste." - https://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/dangers-of-disposable-diapers 

Meanwhile "With cloth diapering, you wash and re-use the diapers between changes, so the number of diapers you need for the first year will depend a great deal on how often you want to do laundry. You'll be changing the diapers at the same rate as with disposables, but the number you need to buy is much, much lower.

According to Diaper Junction, you'll need about 18 to 24 cloth diapers for the first 18 months of your baby's life.

After that time, you'll only need to keep about 12 diapers in rotation, since your little one will require fewer changes and may be learning potty training.

These figures assume you'll be doing laundry every two days or so. If you plan to go a little longer between laundry days, you'll need to buy more diapers."

- https://elinkrp.kleinisd.net/elinkrp/Students/BasicTransBoundarySearch.aspx

"Even factoring in the water and energy used to launder cloth diapers, in the full-cost accounting, from farm to factory to storefront, compared to cloth diapers, disposables:


Click here to learn more about the environmental and health impacts of disposable nappies/diapers.

Benefits of Cloth Nappies

Calls to Action

Level 1-2

Level 3

Level 4

Tips to Minimize Your Footprint Further

"The biggest environmental impact of cloth nappies happens during their use. You have to use detergents, water and energy for rinsing, washing and drying cloth nappies.

You can reduce the environmental impact of cloth nappies by:

Wet Wipes

Wipes are another major form of pollution. Single use wipes do not break down quickly and are often saturated in chemicals that are not particularly eco-friendly.

Wipes should NEVER be flushed. "Flushable" wipes are not regulated, so the word is nothing but an advertising gimmick which costs communities increasingly high sewage maintenance costs as "fatbergs" made from hygiene products, hair, sewage, and fat block pipes which need to be routinely removed.

Bidets

Bidets can partially or totally replace toilet paper for those who are potty-trained, but they can also be useful for pre-cleaning nappies/diapers before putting them through the laundry.

Some bidets work by arching a stream of water upwards towards the center  of the toilet bowl where a sitting person's gentiles should be, while others come as a hose that hooks near or to the toilet. 

The hose type can easily be used to aid in cleaning the toilet or washing a baby's mess into the toilet, before the nappies are washed like any other laundry.

Educational Resources

Calculators

English

English

German/Deutsch

Elimination Communication

This was suggested as an option to reduce nappy/diaper use either partially or all together. Kids can continue having accidents for many years, especially in their sleep, if they have poor interoception, or developmental problems. There is no shame in how well you or a child takes (or doesn't) to potty training. 

Punishment and shame can actually make such things more stressful for everyone, so be kind on you child and yourself as we all have our own needs, and some of us take longer to learn self care than others. 

If an older child who has been potty trained for years suddenly starts having accidents again, it can be an indication of something more serious like trauma from assault, bullying, or illness, so it's best to remain calm, loving, and try to trouble shoot with them to help deal with the underlying problem.

Natural Infant Potty Training (r/ECers) "A place for everyone trying, succeeded with, or interested in Elimination Communication for their infant. Share stories, ask questions, and give advice. As always, be nice. We can agree to disagree on some things and keep it civil."

Second-Hand Cloth Supplies

We're always big advocates for buying things second hand as this helps other parents recoop their investment cost, and helps keep supplies out of landfills. 

There are however some things you'll want to consider which you can learn about in the link below.

If you can't decide on a specific design of nappy, it could be worth checking the directories further down to see if any organizations near you rent or loan out kits to new parents.

Towards the bottom of this page we also have a listing of nappy libraries, who offer the same kinds of services. Once you are comfortable with the nappies, it'll be easier to find second hand supplies that suit your needs.

Give or Receive Free or Supplies 

This directory also includes vouchers & subsidies, as well as programs where you can take a class to qualify for free cloth nappy kits. 

Some of the classes do cost some money, but the "free kit" is generally worth more than the money paid to take the class.

Cloth Nappy/Diaper Patterns & Guides

If you don't want to use pre-used nappies, or can't find local resources, but you are feeling crafty, you may want to check out the guides in our How To: DIY Diapers/Nappies directory. We've gathered resources including step by step guides with photos, videos, and free, printable patterns in multiple languages. 

Cloth Nappy/Diaper Groups

Europe

France

Oceana

Australia

New Zealand

Nappy Libraries

Nappy libraries generally exist so that parents can temporarily borrow different types of nappies and equipment, while they work out what suits their (and their baby's) needs. These are generally shorter loans than the ones provided by Nappy Charities. We've also included companies that offer nappy hire services as these are virtually the same model as the nappy libraries use.

Please click the Nappy Libraries button to find out about services in your area.

Tips for Running A Library

Top 5 Tips for Running a Library

These tips came from Helen, a volunteer with personal experience, who was interviewed by Baba and Boo

Lending Software

Grants & Funding

Oceana

Australia

Where to Buy Cloth Nappies/Diapers

Asia

India

Cleaning Services

While washing your items at home is great, we understand not everyone has equal access to working laundry machines or may struggle with limited mobility. 

Using a nappy-cleaning service also serves to help promote the types of business that will be needed in a circular economy.

Oceana

Australia

ACT

NSW