Environmentally Friendly Nappies Vs Disposable?

[MsPoppins]

Am thinking of changing from disposables to cotton nappies and live in Kent. Anyone belong to a nappy Laundry service they could reccomend?

Hi,

this thread is triggering guilt... I used Cotton Bottoms laundry service for dd1 and for dd2 for about 15 months. Now we use the Nature boy/girl disposables - but I still find they won't do a full night. I still have cotton leanings but neither dh or childminder really like them. dh is one of those who's not convinced that the environmental argument takes everything into account(eg washing/detergent and the fact that if you're mean (like us) you can get away with 4 or even sometims 3 disposables in 24 hours)Does anyone know of any truly independent studies that might convince him? I also found that as they got older CB prefolds leaked and just didn't last very long- anyone found something really good for toddlers?

Bobsmum - where do you get Moltex from? are they the "best" of the disposables?

Hatter - I've previously got Moltex from Smilechild.co.uk and Beamingbaby.co.uk. They do them in single packs of about 50 or in boxes of three packs (about 150 nappies).

They are a little more expensive than ordinary disposables but then I don't use them all the time. But when I do, my conscience is pretty clean

Since my last order (I've still got a couple of packs left) I've now come across NatureBotts who sell Moltex much cheaper and they sell the biodegradable nappy sacks too. Because there's no point in using compostable disposables if they're going to be sealed in a non-biodegradable plastic sack!! Kind of defeats the object!!

Moltex will do a nights-worth with ds (18 mths). We use Totsbots shaped nappies with Motherease wraps and have never ever had a leak - have made myself hoarse before trying to get people to use Tots!!

Try the Womens Environmental Network for some links and studies about the environmental impact of disposables. The manufacturing process of them alone is enough to put people off them, never mind the disposal nightmare.

hope youdon't mind me answering your question Bobsmum... but i get moltex from
Naturebotts

cheapest moltex on the web as far as i can see, plus very very speedy service!

Bea
A Fuzzi Bunz and occasional Moltex Girl(dd! not me! )

hey Bobsmum! we clashed and great minds think alike!!!

Hi

Laundering your own is really easy and means you have more choice over what kind you use. Babies seem to have different requirements - my first had skinny legs and I tried sister-in-law's kooshies but they were not a good fit. a friend swears by motherease. We used imse vimse - folded insert and velcro outer. We are now using them for baby number 2 so that's a lot of money saved. You can use 2 inners and a thicker outer at night. There can be the occasional leak, but you can get that with pampers too! Also i think you get less nappy rash as bots don't get so hot!

I use motherease one size nappies and I've never had any problems with them.

And Moltex disp for the odd occasion. I get mine from littlegreenearthlets, 25p more than Naturebotts. So not much in it!

Tots Bots are brilliant for a toddler, very absorbant, we only do three or four changes a day and my DS2 drinks loads.

I tried a couple of types of cloth nappies without much success, lots of leakage and a soaked baby in the mornings. Maybe I could have persevered but I now use MOLOTEX and they are fantastic. Not only biodegradable - they seem to let the skin breathe better. If I ever run out & use "conventional" disposables my daughter's skin is never as good, like its been under a plaster. For those in Leeds the cheapest place is the Leeds Church Fund Fair Trade shop on Vicar Lane, £8.99 for 44, about 20.5p a nappy. Cheaper than Totsbotts website.

Would add to check with your local council - some offer cash if you use real nappies. Not huge amounts but it all helps.

Definitely best to buy trial packs and see what works best for you before splurging on a full set. I tried totsbots - really cute, no leaks but my dd looked like a weeble in them and couldn't get her clothes to fit her. Switched to a combination of various ones. Mio wraps and fitted boosters inside with fleecy liners.

Must confess still use disposables if out and about and at night time but like the look of the Naturebotts website - shall give that a go.

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Ms Poppins, fyi if you live in Kent they give you a grant to use washables, the Nappy Lady will be able to fill you in on the details

Just to add to the points Bloss made... the Proctor and Gamble-sponsored studies that seemed to point to disps being no worse environmentally than cloth -- they left out disposal costs, and some manufacturing costs.
On manufacturing: This is important because whilst a cup of crude oil goes into each disp (ooh, yick!), cotton is the most pesticide-intensive crop on the planet . And both need lots of water and other chemicals (bleach on most cotton, silicon crystals into disps...) So how do you compare? The thing about a cloth nappy is that it can be used again and again for many children until it falls apart; the P+G study only examined usage costs for one child. So even if the disps were shown to be slightly lower on manufacturing costs for a single child, that's not the case if you use 2nd hand nappies, or use them for multiple children, or sell them on.
Disposal: you can throw the cotton (or wool, or hemp, but admittedly not fleece) nappy on your compost heap when it finally does degrade to threads; disps will effectively never degrade, will always use up landfill space.

ps: when I said "costs" I meant environmental costs, btw, which type of exercise is fraught with assumptions, anyway, speaking as a part-time environmental economist!

By the way, whilst Moltex are great (I use them when we're travelling) they are only biodegradable when put in a very large worm-composter (lobby your council to collect compost!). When buried in a landfill site they aren't guaranteed to biodegrade, even when in a biodegradable nappy sack (more chance than Pampers though).

Nature Boy/Girl are 70% biodegradable. But aparently the production process is the most damaging thing about disposables, so Moltex are still the most environmentally friendly, according to some German study or other.

And Totsbots are fluffier. Bloss, totally agree with you on environment not being the main issue! Am fed up with being told I'm "so good" for using cloth. My baby smells nicer in cloth...

MsPoppins - I live on the Kent border and use Cotton Bottoms laundry service - I love them - v reliable and I get on well with the nappies!

Hi Bloss, thanks for the response. We do use a front loading machine, and I recycle our house grey water for watering potplants and newly planted things. We never leave taps running while cleaning teeth or washing up and have recently purchased a dishwasher that uses only 14 Litres for an entire wash, which is less than filling up our kitchen sink! There are some of us who are very conscious about our water usage but you are right, on the whole most of us aren't (ie the people in urban areas complaining because they can't fill up their swimming pools or water their lawns in the middle of the day or wash their cars with the hose running down the drain).

Thanks also for your later postings about the types of cloth nappies you used. I certainly had no success with cloth nappies (either washing wise or leak wise!) but am not opposed to trying them if we some day have a third baby.

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Those of you who use moltex biodegradable nappies occasionally--how do you dispose of them? We use them when we go away and when we occasionally get behind with washing the cloth ones. But I always just throw them in the bin, which means their biodegradability is probably not relevant as they are just going in landfill.

Does anyone actually dispose of them via a wormery? Sounds like a good idea but you'd surely need a huge wormery.

Tushies are great and 100% cotton disposables - no gel or other chemicals. I have used them almost exclusively for my 2, after trying a nappy service and not getting on with it. As I understand it, biodegradability means they will decompose in a landfill site in a reasonable time without causing any environmental harm (apart from the space taken up obviously). When possible I tip the poo down the loo before putting the nappy in the bin, so it goes into the sewage system rather than into landfill.

We use Moltex. 2 reasons - the environment and, most importantly no chemicals! They've never leaked, they hold out all night and we've NEVER had nappy rash!
I think an Australian company has just come up with a more environmentally friendly option though but we haven't looked into it yet.
We also use chemical free wipes (or just water) and body wash, moisturiser etc

We used terry nappies folded into oblongs into Elliepants. If you put in a (biodegradable) nappy liner, this catches the poo and you flush it down the loo. If they're only wet, you put the liners in the nappy bucket with water & Nappyfresh environmentally friendly soak. We did use disposables at night, tho', but cloth nappies now seem to come in higher absorbencies to cope with this. Only changed maybe max 4x daily, but never had a problem with nappy rash, & used cotton wool & warm water to wipe bottom when changing. Did have to get new motor on washing machine (I think), but machine second hand & so quite cheap in the first place (£40, if I remember correctly - several years ago now!).