Hello green baby!

Exciting news - nephew Dylan has arrived! Momma Loz and Poppa Ren have a fine wee nipper in residence.

So in honour of L'il Dylan, I've done some green baby research on his behalf, as I'm sure he'll grow up to be a lion of an ecologist - his pop is a fab green researcher and mum recycles everything she can.

Let's start with...nappies (aka diapers)
Our worst landfill contributions happen before we can even walk - yes, the nappy debacle. I just read that almost 8 million disposable nappies are thrown away in the UK each day. That's something like 1.5 billion a year in the UK alone. Should we putting our infants in litter boxes?

Of course, there are alternatives to the typical gel filled, non-bio degradable nappied which flood the shelves.

I had a peek in Green Baby off of Portobello to see what I could find yesterday as Momma Loz has her hands full on the homefront. I have to say I was overwhelmed by the collection of washable nappy options, so I picked up a catalogue with info instead. It looks like the biggest thing to overcome with reusable nappies is the constant washing and drying and the initial cost, though over time the options are probably cost-effective.

The Ecologist article from last year is quite illuminating on the whole topic.

+The Ecologist on reusable nappies

For a real life view of trying to convert to reuasble nappies, an old episode of There's No Waste Like Home had a mother of 3 take on the reusable nappy challenge and, despite a shaky start and nappies drying on every available heater, she got on quite well with it. I can't find more info on that one episode, by the TV show website does include a link to The Real Nappy Campaign, full of useful info.

One of the stores that I found with a full range of washable nappies is Green Baby, the very crunchy baby shop.

+ Green Baby Washable Nappy Info

And the less effective but still noble, eco-disposables are gel free and 100% cotton apart from the plastic fasteners, which are not bio-degradable. It looks like Tushies has cornered the market.



+Eco-disposables

Moms, we want to hear from you. What works and what doesn't?