Did you know that a child uses on average 5000 disposable nappies? And that only 24 cloth nappies could replace all of them?

So say Annelotte Baas-Jehan and Judith Hooker, who have created a community for parents interested in trying a more sustainable alternative to disposable nappies. In this article, they introduce themselves, their group, and the benefits of opting for washable cloth nappies.

The benefits

There are many benefits to cloth nappies. Using cloth nappies, the environmental impact can be significantly decreased compared to using disposables. It is complicated to display the real impact in numbers and figures because there are many aspects to consider (e.g. water, CO2, toxics). But the great thing about using cloth nappies is that the user is in charge of the environmental impact. For example, by buying them second-hand, re-using them for multiple children, and/or repairing them if needed, the environmental impact will only decrease further. Other benefits are that cloth nappies are cheaper than disposables, if you can resist buying all the colorful prints at least! The cloth material is more bum-friendly. And generally less blow-outs occur.

There are many different cloth nappy systems, fabrics and brands on the market. In general there are two systems: a one-part system and a two-part system. The one-part system (also called All-In-One) is a cloth nappy that consists of both the absorbent layer (the cloth) and a watertight cover. The two-part system comes in many different varieties, of which the most common ones are pocket nappies (a PUL cover with a pocket in which you can place a cloth), fitted nappies (an absorbent nappy + cover) or a cotton nappy (an absorbent cotton cloth such as a muslin + cover). Then there are different fabrics to consider. A cover consists generally of PUL (polyurethane laminate) which is a type of plastic. A natural alternative is wool, which can be made watertight with lanoline (a natural wax) through a process called lanolising. For the absorbent part there is cotton, bamboo, hemp and microfiber. Each has their own unique characteristics in terms of absorbency and water capacity.

The community

We, Annelotte Baas-Jehan and Judith Hooker, are enthusiastic cloth nappy users who have a mission to help other parents in Luxembourg with their cloth nappy journey. We created a group ‘Cloth Nappies Luxembourg’ on Facebook in December last year. As part of this growing community, with now 225 members, parents, parents-to-be and anyone else with an interest in cloth nappies can share experiences and ask for advice.

We believe that for every parent and child there is a type of cloth nappy out there that suits their needs and lifestyle. As part of our Facebook community we offer trial boxes with several different types of cloth nappies that parents can borrow for free. This way parents can try out cloth nappies first in order to decide which cloth nappies they prefer.

If one child uses 1 cloth nappy a day instead of a disposable nappy, ±1000 disposable nappies per child can be saved from the landfill until the child is potty trained!

Want to join the community? Then click here! Do you have a community you would like to spotlight? Send us an e-mail via contenttoday (at) rtl (dot) lu!