Cloth nappies and the environment

Cloth nappies and the environment


9 million disposable nappies are thrown away in Britain
every day! Over two and a half years, 6,000 disposable
nappies will be used by one baby as opposed to re-using
the same 24-50 "real" nappies

The UK deals with approximately 3 billion used nappies
every year at a cost of 40 million. Every £1 spent
on single use nappies costs the Council Tax payer 10p
to dispose of them. (The Environment Agency Website)

Disposables use 90 times more non-renewable material,
for example, one cup of crude oil is needed to make
one disposable nappy. To keep one baby in disposable
nappies for two and a half years, four and a half
trees will be cut down to produce the nappies

Re-usable nappies are soft, cotton and breathable, which
helps to prevent nappy rash.

Disposable nappies contain gels and chemicals which are
not subject to governmental controls or independent testing

A disposable nappy takes 3.5 times as much energy to
manufacture as renewable cloth nappies and the
same amount of energy as it takes to wash a renewable
nappy 400 times. (Environment Agency website)

For more information visit www.wen.org.uk