The Truth Behind Disposable Nappies

Things You Should Know About Disposable Nappies
Disposable nappies were introduced by Procter & Gamble in 1961. First used as an occasional convenient substitute for cloth nappies, their popularity has since exploded. A disposable nappy consist of an absorbent pad squeezed in between two sheets of non-woven material. The pad is specially designed to absorb and retain body fluids, and the non-woven material gives the nappy a comfortable shape and helps prevent leakage.

This type of nappy is used widely used across the country and according to statistics from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and disposable nappy manufacturer Kimberly-Clark, almost 800 million plastic nappies are used in Australia every year totalling 111,220 tonnes of solid waste. Those 800 million nappies add up to tons of plastic a year and tons of wood pulp. Each nappy has an outer layer of waterproof polypropylene and an inner layer of fluff made from wood pulp plus super-slurper sodium polyacrylate that can hold a hundred times its weight in water.

Some plastic nappies are advertised as biodegradable and claim to pose less of a solid-waste problem than regular nappies. Their waterproof cover contains a cornstarch derivative that decomposes into water and carbon dioxide when exposed to water and air. Unfortunately, modern landfills are airtight and little, if any, degradation occurs. Biodegradable nappies, therefore, are not significantly different from other disposables.

How To Minimize The Impact Of Plastic Nappies?

• Only use these nappies if situation calls for it such as on travel or away from home, you are so busy that you don't have enough time to change cloth nappies every now and then, or any situations where you can use disposables instead of cloth nappies.
  
  
• Use cloth baby wipes and throw them with your nappies in the wash.
  
  
• Purchase nappies which are made from fabric such as hemp, bamboo and organic cotton. Apart from being environment-friendly, these have good benefits for your baby.

Reasons To Use This Type Of Nappy
One of the first decisions you'll make as a new parent, is what type of nappies you are going to use with your baby. Your little one will be in nappies around the clock for up to two years. This type of nappy has been around since the sixties. The popularity has grown over the years, and they have seen many changes. The common reasons to use them are as follows:

• It is a throw-away, easy to use, a good time-saver; it can be thrown away once used, unlike cloth nappies which will need to be laundered.
  
  
• Easy to use. It is an all-in-one product, with less bother than cloth.
  
  
• You can use disposables when baby is suffering from nappy rash. This nappy is intended to wick away as much liquid as possible from the surface of your baby's skin, while containing solid waste as best as possible through a snug fit, cuffs and a cinched waistband fitted with adjustable tabs.
  
  
• Disposable nappies tend to leak less than cloth. They are very absorbent, tight and snug fit.