Ditch the disposables and help save the environment, says a Doncaster family

From birth to potty training, the average baby will go through 4,000 to 6,000 disposable nappies which cost hundreds of pounds and take hundreds of years to decompose.

Now more and more parents are taking the plunge and ditching the plastic in favour of real nappies which can be washed and used over and over again.

Providing sensible steps are taken to reduce the environmental impact of washing and drying them, the Environment Agency have found that re-usable nappies can be 40 per cent better for the environment than disposables.

A nd real nappies can save parents more than £500 over two-and-a-half years for their first baby and even more if used for subsequent children.

The re-usable nappies campaign is the latest in a monthly re-use campaign by the Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (BDR) Waste Partnership and Renewi, the firm behind the waste treatment facility at Manvers.

Other targets have been clothing, plastic bottles, cutlery and straws, tea bags and carrier bags.

Community Education Liaison Officer, Abi Cox, who is based at Manvers, said she realised that using disposable nappies was a major step to take, but the benefits to the environment were enormous.

New parents Kay and Kristian decided they wanted to do their bit for the environment when baby Grace was born and offer this advice to other parents thinking of following suit.

“We tried both types of re-usable nappies available – the all-in-one and the shell plus liners - and preferred the all-in-ones.

"We even bought them second hand from a Facebook selling site.

“This horrified some people, but the ones we got were brand new or used once and disliked. We simply washed them with an antibacterial agent and we never had any issues,” said Kay.

“I’d advise anyone thinking of doing this to give it a go. It does have a few challenges, but you get the hang of it really quickly.”

For anyone interested but unsure where to start, there are nappy libraries where they can hire a selection of nappies to try at home and see what works for them.

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.