SE06 EP08: Which nappies are the most eco-friendly?

Sustainably Influenced

During a child’s first few years of life they go through an obscene number of nappies. It’s estimated that nearly 3 billion nappies are thrown away in the UK every year – that’s roughly 8 million nappies a day.

The Environment Agency estimates that some components of disposable nappies can take up to 500 years to biodegrade. On the market today, there is no disposable nappy that is 100% biodegradable. Even most biodegradable brands only claim to be made of 60 % to 80% biodegradable material. The most environmentally friendly choice would be to go for reusable nappies.

A baby goes through around 5,000 disposable nappies before being potty trained, if they made the switch to reusable, they’d only need around 20 to 30 reusable nappies. Even if just used part-time as little as two changes a day – that’s about 700 nappies a year you’re not sending to landfill.

Sources

• https://mossy.earth/guides/lifestyle/reusable-nappies-vs-disposable
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45732371
• https://www.madeformums.com/news/reusable-nappies-not-catching-on-suggests-new-research/

Special thanks to Imriel Morgan for providing a comment in today's episode. You can follow us over on @sustainablyinfluenced and email [e-mail] with questions, feedback and guest suggestions.

You can also catch us weekly on The Gadget Show on Channel 5 @7pm (GMT).

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