why use CLOTH?
cloth is cuter
With the array of colours and designs it is undeniable, cloth is cuter! Booty Crawl stock nappies that are simply too gorgeous to throw away.
cloth is better for your baby
Cloth means natural fibres against your baby’s skin rather than the chemicals found in disposables and a cooler and more breathable environment for your baby’s booty. Would you prefer that gorgeous bottom to be snuggled up in organic bamboo or wrapped in plastic?
cloth is better for your wallet
Even by purchasing the most expensive reusable cloth nappies on the market, you will still save thousands of dollars per child over using disposable nappies.
Child 1
4 months of 10 changes per day at 42 cents and 26 months of 6 changes per day at 57.65 cents (average) = $3202.02*
nappy wrapper system - $54.95 (cassette) + 12 cents per nappy (x 5000) = $654.95**
total savings = $2906.97 ($3856.97 - $950 for a 'deluxe' tailored nappy package)
Child 2
No more outlay! You save the whole $3856.97 for this baby plus $3206.37 you've already saved.
Child 3
You get the picture... savings are over the $11 000 mark and the cost of disposables has probably gone up!
Child 4
Way to go!!! You'll save heaps and can afford to upgrade your car to the mini-van you're going to need!
cloth is better for the environment
It's not the main objective of our business to convince you that reusable cloth nappies are better for the environment; we’re sure you have an inkling if you’ve already started looking around at reusable cloth nappies. But maybe you want to be reassured that they are, before you start your nappy stash?
There is still some debate around the extent of the environmental benefits of reusable cloth nappies. Some people have heard of the 2005 study conducted by the UK’s Environment Agency which concluded that there wasn’t that much of a benefit!?! Understandably, there was lots (and lots) of criticism of this study by lots (and lots) of people.
One major criticism was that they used the equivalent of a circa-1985 ‘vintage’ washing machine for their energy consumption tests. Since the 80’s, both fashion and washing machine efficiency have dramatically improved. The measurement on fashion progress might be subjective, but the energy consumption of washing machines can be tested – it has almost halved, and water consumption is down to a third on average! Their 2006 update conceded that the global warming effect of reusable cloth nappies would only be higher than disposables if you never washed your nappies in a full load of washing, never line dried them, washed them at 90 degrees (you should never wash your nappies higher than 60 degrees) and didn’t use them on a second child (or sell them second-hand or give them to someone). You can read that update here.
Another major criticism of the original study was that it failed to take into account the impact of waste, or the energy that goes into the manufacture of disposable (and cloth) nappies. The New Parent's Guide estimates that disposable nappies generate around 5 million tonnes of untreated waste, and 2 billion tonnes of urine, faeces, plastic and paper in landfill each year. And, it takes about 80,000 pounds of plastic and 200,000 trees each year to make disposable nappies just for the babies in the USA alone.
I know babies don’t come with a manual, but somewhere along the line, someone forgot to remind us that when babies start eating real food, they do real poos, and that the toilet, not the rubbish bin is the best place for those (whether you use cloth or disposable nappies). Some people even think that there is a risk that untreated waste placed in landfill could be a danger to contaminating ground water in the future.
Just remember that it takes centuries for a disposable nappy to break down which means that every disposable nappy which has ever been used is still here today. Even if you only substituted a couple of nappy changes per day to reusable cloth nappies, you would still save hundreds of kilograms of waste from ending up in landfill (and save yourself hundreds of dollars to boot!).
cloth is easy to use
Gone are the days of soaking, folding and pinning using terry squares and plastic pilchers. Modern reusable cloth nappies are as easy to put on your baby as a disposable and as easy to wash as throwing in a dry bucket and loading into your washing machine every 2 days.
Believe it or not, some children do enjoy the simple task of heading out to the washing line on a sunny day and handing you the pegs, or chatting to you from their bouncy chair. A trip to the Sulo just isn’t as pleasurable.
I want to check out some facts and figures>>
I want to check out another resource on cloth nappies>>
* taken from www.colesonline.com.au (42 cents per newborn nappy - up to 5kg) and remaining time in nappies using a weighted average - made up of 3 months at 47 cents per nappy (4-8kg), 10 months at 50 cents per nappy (6-11kg) and the remaining 13 months at 66 cents per nappy (13-18kg).
** taken from www.pharmacydirect.com.au
