Cloth nappies bad for environment..?!
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Topic: Cloth nappies bad for environment..?!
Posted By: arohanui
Subject: Cloth nappies bad for environment..?!
Date Posted: 04 July 2007 at 10:12am
I'm not convinced 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=465727&in_page_id=1770 - The great real nappy myth - they are just as bad for the environment as disposables, admits Minister For years it was drilled into parents that disposable nappies were environmentally unsound. They could show their green credentials, they were told, by jumping back a generation or two and using the washable towelling version. Those who didn't were made to feel they were putting convenience before the future of the planet. But after a three-year campaign that has cost taxpayers at least £30million, it has been decided that the two types have the same impact on the environment. As a result, ministers at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have quietly dropped the lavishly-financed Real Nappy Campaign. The decision follows a four-year research project which found that the impact of burying disposable nappies in landfill sites was matched by the energy consumed and greenhouse gases generated by washing reusables or transporting them to laundries. Former waste minister Ben Bradshaw confirmed the end of the nappy campaign in a Commons answer delivered last week. It went unnoticed in the midst of the new Prime Minister's reshuffle, which saw Mr Bradshaw move to the Health Department. Mr Bradshaw said: "Reusable nappies may reduce demands on landfill but they still impact on the environment in other ways, such as the water and energy used in washing and drying them." The Environment Agency report, he said, "concluded that there was no significant difference between any of the environmental impacts of the disposable, home use reusable and commercial laundry systems that were assessed". He added: "None of the systems studied were more or less environmentally preferable." The admission brought accusations from opposition MPs and pressure groups that huge sums of money are being wasted under the pretence of improving the environment. Conservative MP Sir Paul Beresford, a former local government minister who is now part of a Commons Communities Select Committee inquiry into household waste, said: "This seems to have been put out without anybody noticing. "The main success of the Real Nappy Campaign seems to have been to give those of us who are mildly politically incorrect a tremendous horse-laugh." Corin Taylor, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "This farcical waste of taxpayers' money shows how politicians are unable to run anything properly. "It will only stop when politicians realise that they should never try to manage every aspect of our lives in the first place. "Unfortunately, the green agenda means that we will see many more examples of this sort of madness." Most of the spending on "real nappies" has been directed through a quango linked to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs called the Waste and Resources Action Programme. The nappy campaign formed a major part of WRAP's "waste minimisation" programme, which has soaked up more than £82million over the past three years. WRAP said that the nappy campaign had cost £2.3million over the three years. However, this figure appears not to include grants of around £100,000 a time paid by the Treasury to local councils to encourage their own real nappy promotions. Other published figures show that, in WRAP's own terms, the campaign was a failure. The organisation aimed to save 35,000 tons of landfill every year by persuading mothers to use and wash towel nappies. In fact, it has saved less than 8,000 tons of landfill a year. This amounts to less than a twentieth of one per cent of household rubbish sent to landfill each year. A spokesman for WRAP said: "We do want to cut waste going to landfill. The campaign raised awareness and has helped people to find their own solutions." Mr Bradshaw delivered a speech to WRAP workers last year in which he said the Environment Agency had found no "strong argument in favour of reusable nappies' and that this was 'anathema to real nappy fans". He said that in future it might be possible to get rid of nappies by leaving them in garden compost bins. It is estimated that at least three billion disposable nappies are thrown away every year in the UK, creating a waste mountain which is costing local authorities more than £40million a year to treat. ------------- Mama to DS1 (5 years), DS2 (3 years) and... http://alterna-tickers.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Replies:
Posted By: Paws
Date Posted: 04 July 2007 at 11:14am
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A similar study has already been dismissed in the UK as being incorrect.
They talk about the environmental cost of washing old style cloth nappies but they have not talked about the environmental cost of manufacturing disposables which uses up tons and tons of water. Heck the orginal report was a joke, it even took into account the environmental impact of ironing the cloth nappies. WTF????? It's a bollocks argument that has been tried and failed already. I'm surprised that they are trying again. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 04 July 2007 at 11:36am
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yeah - what paws said... ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: caraMel
Date Posted: 04 July 2007 at 11:46am
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Also, I don't really do any extra washing with my clothies.
Since I started using them 7 months ago I've been able to chuck the 4-5 nappies into the daily load I was going to do anyway. I suppose there is a minimal amount of 'extra' water used for rinsing them but I can't imagine that would impact the environment as much as 4-5 stinking nappies added to landfill? ------------- Mel, Mummy to E: 6, B: 4 and: 
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Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 04 July 2007 at 11:58am
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as with any "study" the results will always be made to fit the desired outcome... ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">
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Posted By: Lulu
Date Posted: 04 July 2007 at 12:35pm
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Yep I agree gandt - and it's the same for those who want to believe that cloth nappies are better for the environment I guess. Who knows what the truth is??? ------------- Lou http://www.babysfirstsite.com"> 
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Posted By: lizzle
Date Posted: 04 July 2007 at 1:03pm
| the environment be dammed! they are much better for my wallet! studies have been confirmed |
Posted By: Bumble
Date Posted: 04 July 2007 at 1:11pm
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I second on being better for the wallet!!! nd we only have two that we use at night!
Agree with gandt: The study will always be skewed to get the desired outcome.... ------------- formerly known as "Bee" Ethan ~ March 2003 Big 6 year old school boy! Micah ~ Aug 2008 ~ Smiley pants who loves telephones! |
Posted By: nikkitheknitter
Date Posted: 04 July 2007 at 6:35pm
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Yep, that study definitely didn't take into account the manufacturing of the disposables.
And the rest of it is off set by washing with cold water... using eco-friendly powders... line drying... not soaking with nappisan etc. My Dad's next door neighbour is a rep for a disposable nappy company and tried to pull that crap on me when he came over to visit when my dad had just moved in. I was fuming!!! (But yeah, I'm also with Liz, better for the wallet!) |
Posted By: Beanz
Date Posted: 11 July 2007 at 9:21am
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/4123294a19716.html - More to the "study" by British researchers
Just found this on the stuff website - just adds another writers view on the subject but IMHO - It is along the same lines as the original article that was submitted. Do people not have better things to do with their time?! - I must admit tho the couple they talk about "composting" nappies might be onto something... 
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Posted By: Kels
Date Posted: 11 July 2007 at 10:37am
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Comfirmed here too Lizzle ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
Busy mum to Miss 15yrs, Miss 10yrs and Master 4yrs |
lizzle wrote:Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 11 July 2007 at 11:13am
i dont know about composting disposables. like i said in konagirls thread - if i didnt want those chemicals next to my bubs bum why would i want them in my garden.? and how do you compost plastic?------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">
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Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 11 July 2007 at 1:47pm
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Its not just the chemicals and plastic that gross me out thinking about composting them - what about all the poo? ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 11 July 2007 at 3:37pm
hopefully it would have been flushed like it was supposed to be.!!! ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">
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Posted By: nikkitheknitter
Date Posted: 11 July 2007 at 7:37pm
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Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 11 July 2007 at 7:40pm
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Hopefully, but unlikely! ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: littlejo
Date Posted: 12 July 2007 at 12:32pm
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I'd have to have an awfully large compost bin to deal with 30-odd nappies a week! And even worse for those with more than one bubba in nappies!
------------- Jo Jo http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Paws
Date Posted: 12 July 2007 at 3:36pm
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http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0707/S00116.htm - Rebuttal ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: jaz
Date Posted: 19 July 2007 at 2:27pm
| The study is full of flaws. They assume you are washing the nappies in 90 degree water and ironing them??? Interesting when you read the posts, nobody talks about MCN's. I posted a rant on their site. |
Posted By: marielb
Date Posted: 24 July 2007 at 8:05pm
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hmmmm, I take this 'research' with a grain of salt!
I feel like I am doing my bit for the environment by using cloth nappies :) 
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