Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle III

NAPPIES, WASTE and EC

I am a hoarder.  Since my parents were both children during WWII and grew up in the ensuing era of frugality, we (my brother and I) have always had it drilled into us: "Waste not, want not!"  Hoarding is both a blessing and a curse for me.  I feel strongly about the issue of consumption and waste, and feel proud to care.  And, having children has only heightened my concerns about waste.  However, I often face frustration at the continual battle for space in a house occupied by many almost redundant items.  (One of these days, I'm going to get a cupboard, put it all in, and call it the Everything Cupboard.)  One battle I am prepared to put up with for now, however, is the issue of nappies. 

When William was born, my main aims for using cloth nappies were waste reduction, energy conservation and cost savings, as well as better for baby's skin.  We have an A+AA rated washing machine, sanitise at 40 degrees and no tumble dryer, so I knew we would be able to reduce our environmental impact.  Also, a general dislike and distrust of corporate giants has steered me clear of the bigger brands of disposable nappies (corporate responsibility?).  We do occasionally use eco-disposable nappies, which seem to be continually improving, even in the short time between my 2 babies.  However, as they ultimately end up in landfill, their biodegradability is going to be dictated by local conditions, usually anaerobic, and so is likely to be delayed considerably from the optimum.  (I'm still working on persuading Raj that we could put these on our compost heap at the allotment.)

If only we had one of these in Liverpool....

Maishima Waste Incineration Plant, Osaka, Japan

Built by Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Generates 32,000KW electricity.  Beautiful.

Since having Aruna, I have considered the use of cloth in more detail, and now wonder about the many types of cloth nappies available and what their individual merits are, from an environmental perspective.  I like to try out new things so I have many different cloth nappies, rather than one particular system in use.  (This will be the subject of a further blog post soon.)

The most exciting way we are able to achieve a considerable reduction in nappy use is with the practice Elimination Communication (EC).  I found out about this when William was tiny and we got going with it, achieving a reasonable degree of success.  I say 'found out' because prior to my babies, it never occurred to me that babies were already equipped to tell us about their elimination needs - something that people in other (non-Western) parts of the world take for granted.  EC is just a fancy term for listening/watching for baby's cues about their wees and poos.  Babies are born with an instinct to not want to soil themselves. (Anyone noticed a newborn suddenly weeing when you take their nappy off?)  Sadly, for our convenience however, we wrap them up in paper and cloth and train them out of this.

I started EC with Aruna when she was 3 days old because it was soon obvious she disliked the feeling of being in a wet nappy and even seemed to dislike the sensation of passing water.  This was going to mean a whole lot more nappy changes.  She really took off with it and, although in our cold English climate, she doesn't go nappy-free so much, I am able to understand her cues most of the time and a large number of wees and poos end up in the bowl (then down the loo) rather than in the nappy.

Two great books on the subject are "The Diaper-Free Baby" by Christine Gross-Loh and "Infant Potty Training" by Laurie Boucke.