The carbon Footprints of Nappies!

[binxyboo]

Taken from the book 'How Bad Are Bananas?', I thought you guys might be interested in the estimated carbon footprint of nappies!

(disclaimer - these are not my viewpoints - I merely found it an interesting article)

89g of CO2 - reusable, line-dried, washed at 60 in a large load, passed on to a second child.
145g CO2 - disposable
280g CO2 - reusable, washed at 90 and tumbledried.

There is usually no carbon advantage to be had from reusable nappies. On average, they come out slightly worse, at 570kg per child compared with 550kg for disposables. And if you wash them very hot and tumble dry them, reusables can be the worse option of all. However, if you put your mind to it you can make reusables the lowest carbon option. To do this, pass them on from child to child (so that the emissions embedded in the cotton are spread out more), wash them at a lower temperature (60), hang them out to dry on the line and wash them in large loads.

For a disposable, most of the footprint comes from its production. But about 15% arises from the methane emitted as its contents rot down in landfill (contrary to the myth that if you wrap them up in a plastic bag they will never rot at all).

The study that the figures are based on assumes that the average child stays in anppies for about two and half years, and is changed just over 4 times a day. On this basis, in the UK, nappies account for something like one two-thousandth of toatl greenhouse gas emissions - or more like half a percent for homes with babies.

What does this mean to the carbon-conscious family? If you have two children and stick to non-tumbledried reusables throughout, you might be able to save nearlt half a tonne of CO2. you will also cut out landfill. Its a significant efficiency, but (her's the catch) you need to know your own minds before you start out because if you give up, revert to disposables and bin the reusables, it could end up being the option with the highest footprint of all.
But try to keep all this in perspective: if you take just one family holiday by plane you will undo the carbon savings of perfect nappy practice many times over.

 

[poppy fields]

The study that the figures are based on assumes that the average child stays in anppies for about two and half years, and is changed just over 4 times a day

[/QUOTE]

Interesting. But don't think DD got the memo about 4 nappies a day!!!

 

[LittlePants]

I think these statistics come from an original report done about 4 years ago. When the results were public=shed, it was immediately spotted that the figures were based on a number of false assumptions, including the assumption that washable nappies were always pre-soaked, washed at 95, tumble dried and ironed (Yes ironed!!!!) and were not passed on to be re-used after one baby, but went to landfill. The amount of water and chemicals used in the manufacture of disposables was also not taken into account. Within a very short time of the original report being published, it was disproved, and the research was done again. The second report said that if nappies were laundered in a sensible way, that there was a significant benefit to the environment.
Landfill issues were not taken into account with either report, but the CO2 produced by disposables in landfill must be considerable!

 

[Eala]

If my baby had only needed changed 4 times a day when she was younger, we'd probably still be using disposables

 

[lynnikins]

lol my toddler gets more changes than that even in sposies lol

 

[littlepne]

I wash at 40 but do a rinse cycle first. I do wash every day though because I only have just enough nappies (can't decide what I want to buy!). I'd go longer if I had more nappies. I will be using them with any other children but will also probably have to buy more when velcro wears out or I decide I can't put a boy in a pink nappy! I've only tumbled once when I only had one clean nappy left but I'll have to wait till winter to fully know if I can do without the dryer.

I don't use them because of CO2 emissions though. To me they're a cheaper alternative and I hate buying things just to throw away. I also find it easier, mainly because I don't drive and if I ran out of sposies I'd be pretty screwed.

 

[binxyboo]

I use them for the cost aspect rather than the green aspect too.

 

[littlestar]

when they sum up this farce they fail to factor in the landfill element, the collection and disposal of refuse and the long term impact of the waste being in the ground.

Also many washable nappies end up on far more bottoms than they could factor for. I've brought and sold many pre-loved nappies that were preloved before i got them iykwim.

so for me costs are paramount to use of cloth nappies!!

 

[lynnikins]

yeah cost aspect and lack of bin space are our main reasons for using cloth