I know that in Israel we do not yet celebrate this joyous week, but coming from blighty and being a big old fan of cloth nappies I am going to throw down the gauntlet for us sometimes slow-to catch-up Israelis.
England is celebrating Real Nappy Week from the 21st to the 28th of April: It’s the 12th annual event coordinated by The Real Nappy Campaign. This year they are concentrating on how using real nappies can help fight climate change.
With simple guidelines for cloth nappy use, parents can really make a difference to the effect disposable nappies have on our environment by reducing waste (some 6,000 nappies per child) and greenhouse gases (from methane gas at the landfill).
So here are some tips for your real nappy care that help keep your nappy footprint small.
1. There is no need for 90º washes for soiled nappies, 60º is enough.
2. If you are buying a new washing machine, look for an A rated machine, this means it is the most energy efficient available.
3. Wet nappies can be put in a regular laundry load at 40º.
4. Covers need not be washed after every use, air dry or rinse under the tap. Also try to use cloth liners instead of disposable, let’s cut down our waste as much as possible even if it is biodegradable.
5. Use an ecological wash powder; Ecover and EcoFriend are available in nearly all the supermarkets. An even better option that is truly 100% natural and really works are soap nuts from the Himalayan Mountains. Another option is to add the SoapMax magnet to your washing machine, which reduces the amount of soap needed per was by 90%.
Green Prophet related :: Cloth Nappies Reign (Where to Buy Guide) ::Environmental Hazards of Non-Cloth Diapers :: How to Grow a Diaper Free Baby
Hi James
First I do think it is good news, recycling is a solution to solving part of the problem but ideally we still need to move away from disposable products.
I actually contacted Knowaste a year ago about options here in Israel for such a recycling plant, believe it or not Israel had a representative here (past tense as I tried to contact him again and received no reply), one of the biggest challenges here to recycling is the cost of tipping rubbish – here they are very low 50 NIS per ton as opposed to 100 Euro per ton in Europe (last year’s figures), making it so much cheaper to throw your rubbish away instead of recycling.
I also believe, considering the profits the compaines making disposable products make, that they themselves should be providing recycling options, but alas that is still a dream!
Eco-mum – some great news from our very own Guardian….
Canadian & British collaberation to recycle nappies into roof cladding!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/24/recycling.waste
Happy Earth Day!
James