We have long been warned of the environmental impact of disposable nappies - indeed the statistics are quite frightening: 8 million nappies enter landfill in the UK every day, they take up to 500 years to break down, and the quantity of raw materials and energy required to make them are staggering.  However, government research in 2008 found that the overall environmental impact of manufacturing and washing reusable cloth nappies may actually be worse than for disposable nappies.

One of the concerns of disposable nappies in landfill is for the amount of methane that they release as a result of the excrement inside.  This is a moot point as the same quantity of methane will still be released from reusable nappies, just not from a single landfill site.

There is far less energy used in the production of reusable cloth nappies when compared to the much more artificial disposable nappies, but this can easily be outweighed by the additional energy required to launder cloth nappies over their useful life cycle.  Indeed, the environmental impact of using reusable cloth nappies can be twice as damaging as disposables if certain measures aren't taken.  If you want to be a true eco-warrior then use reusable cloth nappies, but also make sure that you:-

• Wash them at a lower temperature (60 degrees is adequate rather than a 90 degree wash)
• Use an energy efficient (ideally A+ rated) washing machine
• Avoid tumble drying the nappies, line dry them whenever possible
• Use them for siblings and not just one child
• Wash them alongside other garments on fuller loads, don't just run a wash for a few nappies alone

In recent years it has become even more popular to provide cloth nappies for babies and toddlers rather than disposables.  We hear about mountains of undecomposed nappy material littering the land fill sites and causing ecological dangers.  But, why should it matter what we wrap around our babies?  After all, it's only for a few years before they're potty-trained and surely there are more important ecological matters that deserve more attention?

Before you make a decision about cloth or disposable nappies, here are a few facts that are worth looking at.

• In the UK each year, 3 billion nappies are wasted.  You may be contributing just 3 or 4 a day, but there are lots of other babies out there!
• In the UK each day, 8 million nappies are thrown into bins which translates to 8 tons of nappy, every hour!

Disadvantages of Disposables

1. They are expensive!  It costs about £700 per child per year on average.
2. To create all those nappies, it takes about 7 million trees which need to be felled and transformed using valuable resources.
3. Who actually knows the effects of all the chemicals that we use in the nappies and what they do to our babies skin?
4. They can irritate eczema and cause sore nappy rash.
5. The nappies NEVER break down in land-fill sites.

Advantages of cloth nappies

1. Unlike the old fashioned terry-towel nappies, they are comfortable to wear and soft to touch.
2. They are made of cotton and therefore are gentle on babies' skin.
3. They are hygienic as the liners just flush down the toilet.
4. They are attractive to wear and come in various styles and colours.
5. They are not difficult to maintain - just pop in the washing machine!  There's no soaking or bleaching or long-winded routine to wash them.
6. Safety pins and fancy nappy folding is not required - they are very easy to use and wear.
7. They can be put away and re-used a few years later for your next child.
8. It reduces landfill.
9. Cloth nappy babies are potty-trained sooner than those in disposables.
10. Some local governments actually offer grants for parents choosing to use cloth nappies and refund some of the cost of buying cloth nappies and using washing services.  Check with your local council.

It's pretty convincing and you'll be doing another little bit for the environment that those babies running and crawling around in those cloth nappies will actually inherit one day!