Nappies are a major problem for developed countries. Such large numbers are used that the authorities are now faced with the huge problem of disposing of them. In the UK alone eight million disposable nappies are used every day.
At present the majority are being placed in landfill sites. However, they are being filled so quickly that they are running out of space, and sites for new ones are simply not available.
Understandably, no one wants to live near a landfill site and yet we don't mind sending our rubbish to where other people live. London, for example, sends 71% of its waste to the countryside.
Disposable nappies when soiled are so heavy that rubbish collectors know straight away which houses have babies and the ones that don't. In Kent, for example, nappy waste accounts for 4% of the total waste, when only 10% of families have babies. Kent County Council spends £2 million a year disposing of this waste in landfill sites. It is like burying £2 million that could be spent in education and health. And the problem doesn't end here. Disposable nappies biodegrade so slowly, they can stay in the landfill for the next 500 years.
With cloth nappies, faeces go where they are supposed to go, into the sewage system. Here the waste water will be treated to reduce the environmental impact before it is released back into the environment. Cloth nappies can be used again and again, so the energy used to make them (energy, water, etc) is completely justified.
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