A baby uses thousands of disposable nappies, each with a plastic outer and absorbent core; reusables cut that to a single set of cloth nappies.
- Swap out
- Disposable nappies
- Swap in
- Washable cloth nappies
- Impact
- 5 / 5
- Cost
- 3 / 3
- Effort
- 3 / 3
- Grams of plastic avoided per person per year
- 24000
- Break-even
- A A$400 to 600 set pays back within a year against A$800 or more a year on disposables, and can be reused for a second child
- Watch out for
- Washing at 60 degrees uses energy and water, so the climate benefit depends on line drying and reusing the nappies for a second child. Cloth nappies also contain plastic: polyester and PUL, a waterproof polyurethane layer.
Use modern cloth nappies with washable inserts, either full time or part time (at home and at night). Nappy libraries in many towns lend trial kits, and second-hand sets are common.
A disposable nappy contains around 12 g of plastic in its outer, tapes and absorbent gel; at 2,000 nappies a year that is about 24 kg of plastic per baby. Even swapping half the week saves 12 kg.
The catch: washing at 60 degrees uses water and energy, so the climate benefit depends on line drying and full loads; cloth nappies are themselves often polyester and PUL, so this is a durability swap that also works for a second child.
