Devon & Cornwall – Home of Dirty Nappies
New report shows parents can reduce carbon emissions by 40% by using real nappies.
A new report published by the Environment Agency confirms that by using real nappies, parents can reduce their carbon emissions by 40%. Incredibly, disposable nappies account for half of household rubbish if you have a child in nappies. Over 28 million are sent to landfill in Devon each year, costing the taxpayer £500,000 annually and taking hundreds of years to rot down. With the recent closure of Chelson Meadow, refuse lorries now make a 40 mile round trip to deliver them to the nearest landfill site in Cornwall.
Tracy Dixon of Green Mums in Plymouth suggests parents follow these simple steps to reduce their impact on the environment:
- Wash nappies at either 40 or 60 degrees
- Dry on the washing line when possible – alternatively dry in a warm room
- Keep your nappies for subsequent children
- Wash using a full load – nappies can also be washed with other laundry
- Use an energy efficient washing machine
- Tumble dry as little as possible
- Don’t iron them – they don’t need it!
Environmental factors are not the only reasons why people are choosing to use cloth instead of disposables. Choosing cloth will save parents around £500 per child – this figure can be even greater if you keep nappies for second or third children.
You can even sell your real nappies once your child is potty trained and get back around 50% of the original purchase price. Potty training is usually achieved an average of 6 months earlier by children who wear real nappies – another benefit to parents. Cloth is also a natural, breathable product against your baby’s skin – they do not contain any of the chemicals and gels found in disposables. Modern cloth nappies are fun, funky and comfortable, do not involve folding and there is no need for safety pins!
Plymouth parents wishing to try real nappies are able to do so for free by using a cloth nappy trial kit for one month. So far, parents have been very positive about these kits, which are funded by the Devon Authorities Recycling Partnership. They contain everything you need to try real nappies on your baby for one month.
Tracy Dixon from Green Mums has been offering these kits alongside her own real nappy trial scheme since March this year. She has found that 84% of people who try real nappies go on to use them on their babies, rather than disposables.
For more information on real nappies, or for a no obligation demonstration, please contact Tracy Dixon on 01752 661835 or email info@greenmums.co.uk. To view the latest nappies on the market have a look at Tracy’s website.
