I’m sure like many others, my mum has an old terry towel nappy lurking in her cupboards from when my brothers and I were babies. The availability and affordability of disposable nappies back then (late 80’s!) wasn’t as great as it is today.
Disposable nappies are very convenient and apparently this dates back to post war times when women wanted to spend less time washing nappies and spend more time working and travelling. Another good reason to use disposable nappies is that they are highly absorbent and do not use energy for washing and drying like reusables do.
The down side of using disposable nappies include cost and waste. According to Which during the first few months of a child’s life their nappy will need changing around 6 times a day which means roughly 40 a week or 160 a month. A bag of nappies on their own doesn’t cost a lot however over time it can cost a great deal of money.
This large amount of nappies also contributes hugely to landfill waste and they do not biodegrade very well at all. In contrast, reusable nappies do not create as much waste and overall cost much less than using disposable nappies. Another benefit of using reusable nappies includes a huge 40% reduction in carbon emissions.
Research from Ethical Consumer magazine states that “over the two and a half years a baby will be in nappies, the average cost of disposables would therefore be £1,021, and reusable’s £342.85”. Take a look at the research summary in full.
This saving is huge however it isn’t that simple. The initial financial outlay, which can cost around £300 is more than some families can afford in on go. There are also practical issues with using reusable’s and the main problems seem to be time, drying and the money spent associated with drying. We all lead busy lives and realistically it is hard to always find time to do lots of washing. In the winter drying is an issue meaning more energy is used to tumble dry the nappies or heaters need to be on to dry them.
But it doesn’t have to be one or the other; even using one reusable nappy in every four changes not only saves money but also helps parents cut carbon emissions by 10%. Disposable nappies are convenient in a busy world but long term reusable’s can help save parents a lot of money and reduce environmental impact.
At Fuzzi we offer both options, disposable and reusable. The disposable nappies we have in stock are made by Bambo which are more biodegradable than nappies such as Pampers and Huggies. They are also chemical and chlorine free to ensure they do not irritate the skin on little bottoms. The NCT website has some positive reviews from mums and we have them in stock after they were recommended by a local mum. Give them a go and let us know what you think.
We do not keep reusable nappies in stock as everyone has different needs and it can take time to decide what the best option is for you. However we can easily source reusables for customers and currently have samples of the Totsbots range in the shop. More information will be online soon however until then please feel free to pop in to the shop to discuss or give us a call or email.
