Disposable nappies are terrible for the environment. They are also the only sane choice when parenting is hard.
This is the balanced approach that currently works for us:
(1) Use cloth nappies when parenting is easy, e.g. weekends or when one parent is home. Establish a laundry routine that minimises work.
We have 5 PeaPods shells and a big stack of inserts. We use bamboo liners and double inserts, this keeps the shell clean and lets you go longer between nappy changes. We follow this laundry routine.
(2) Choose the most eco-friendly disposable nappies you can reasonably afford and use these when life is a juggle, e.g. when both parents are working.
We are currently using Ecoriginals – the best we have found so far. They are 93% compostable (everything but the tape) and break down in 4 months. Biodegradable nappies are only as good as your waste system. In Sydney, you cannot put them in organic waste bins. We could set our own compost or find a community one at ShareWaste but it’s too hard for now. So they’re going in landfill, which is crap, because they’ll take much longer to break down, but it’s still miles better than flushing microplastic into the ocean.
Notes on cost:
- For a 3 month olds, Ecoriginals are 59c/nappy including delivery (first order 44c/nappy). For reference, we were previously using Huggies Ultra Dry which retail at 37c/ nappy if you buy in bulk. The cheapest brand at Woolworths is 15c.
- Being responsible costs money.
- Remember to quantify the benefit of a subscription, i.e. never having to stock up on nappies and never having to think about it.
- The extra cost of a eco-disposables is offset by using cloth nappies some days.
(3) Have a small supply of the most reliable nappies you can find when life is really hard, e.g. diarrhea or when travelling. For us this is Huggies Ultra Dry.
(4) Be pragmatic. The most important thing is to keep the trains running on time. If anything is too hard, e.g. family illness, work surge, travel, default to disposables. That includes the entire newborn phase, however long you define it.
This is what our week looks like as of May 2021
Wed – disposable (B at school)
Thu – disposable (B at school)
Fri – disposable (B at school)
Sat – cloth
Sun – cloth | in evening: rinse and store in a bucket
Mon – cloth (B with parent)
Tue – cloth (B with parent) | in evening: rinse Mon & Tue and wash combined with Sun night load