New DEFRA report shows that real nappies are 40% better for the environment
This is an expanded article of a posting made on our main site in November 2008.
Reports published this month finally put the lie to the misinformation that has been circulating about whether cloth nappies or disposables are better for the environment.
In 2005, DEFRA published a report which claimed to show that real nappies actually increased your carbon footprint instead of decreasing it. We have already discussed at length the flaws of the survey - a full article is available in a post I wrote last year.
Due to pressure from environmental campaigners, DEFRA has, during the last couple of years, been redoing the survey and the good news is that real nappies, when laundered as recommended, use up to 200kg less than the 550kg of carbon dioxide equivalents for which disposables are responsible.
The report still showed that if nappies were laundered at a higher temperature, and sometimes tumble dried, and if they weren’t passed on for re-use between siblings, the carbon footprint would be higher than for disposables, but we are delighted about these findings - because we believe that people who make the choice to use real nappies are already making a responsible decision, and are therefore much more likely to make informed decisions when laundering their nappies.
The best practice, which is recommended by DEFRA, includes line drying nappies, and not washing above 60°C. So the good news is that if, like us, you use a machine at 40°C, then you could reduce your environmental impact even further.
The survey uses shaped cotton nappies and prefolds for its analysis - and nowhere does it mention the lower-impact nappies made out of bamboo - so we can surmise that even greater benefits are to be had for parents using more modern fabrics. It is also worth noting that based on our experience, the percentage of prefold nappies used now is far lower than the ratio suggested by the report (which takes a snapshot as at 2006 - and things have moved on enormously since then), and our feedback and research shows that prefolds warrant far more changes than shaped nappies, and so therefore the laundry and care statistics will have changed to show a lower carbon load with real nappies since this data was collected.
The survey is keen to point out that the main benefit of real nappies is that parents can choose, having purchased their nappies, how to care for them, and thus to ensure that their environmental impact is kept to a minimum, and we’re are just delighted to see that if green-thinking parents do follow best practice, they will be saving up to 40% of the carbon dioxide equivalents of using disposables. if they use even better fabrics and care methods, the potential benefits are even more. So give yourself a pat on the back for doing your bit for the environment!
Hi Esma!
Yes I agree - putting the parent back in control of the waste, and potty-training, is vital. Somehow parenting has become this major-spend commoditisation, with all these ‘time-saver’, ‘get-your-life-back’ products advertised only showing the benefits of the product, not the downside, which in this particular instance is that the effort-saving you’ll gain by using disposables is that you’ll be using them for double the amount of time - perhaps longer!
Two things puzzle me since reading your email, which I wonder if you can clarify. Firstly, I have been washing my nappies at 60degrees - can I drop this down to 40 and still be assured of a clean and hazard-free load when I hang my nappies up to dry? And secondly, what about the benefits of ecoballs? I presume that the carbon footprint is mainly made up of soap suds - is this true? Because otherwise I don’t understand where the carbon footprint could be: unless it counts as the waste which any normal human would pass on any normal day? I have been using ecoballs on my nappies since August, jumping in at the deep end with a full pail of nappies of various dirty degrees, and I’ve never been happier with my choice to use cloth nappies because I know the soap isn’t being washed into the sea, and also that it isn’t on her skin all day in and out. Not to mention the cost saving in not having to buy powder every second week…
Please let me know,
All the best,
Jo
Hi Jo, and thanks for your comments.
We recommend 40 degrees for washing nappies, although it is worth noting that Official Department of Health recommendations are 60. However, because modern washing machines are so efficient, we find that 40 degrees is usually ample, and indeed some nappies and wraps are only supposed to be washed at 40 based on manufacturers recommendations. If you’re worried that they need an extra clean, we recommend an occassional 60 degree to get that a thorough clean.
With the eco-balls, yes, that would help take down the environmental impact - although the carbon footprint does come from a range of different places - from the manufacture of the nappies, and most importantly, from the energy and water used in washing and drying them. This is why it’s so important that the survey shows that it’s down to the parents to decide how green they want to be after purchase - because just by cutting out tumble drying altogether, you’re making it a greener and much cheaper option. When you start factoring in re-use between siblings, washing them on lower temperature settings etc, it becomes even better.