Canberra parents doing it naturally
Posted on May 25, 2009 by by emd
The growing trend for natural parenting means lots of Canberra families are getting into cloth nappies and babywearing as ways to reduce their environmental footprint, and keep their babies happy and healthy. Nappycinos and sling flings are fun, informal ways to find out more about modern cloth nappies and babywearing – and they’re happening in the city over the next week.
Come along to the nappycino for coffee and a chat about cloth nappies, at Brindabella Baby shop on Monday 1 June at 10am. The shop has every style of modern cloth nappy to check out, but do please bring along your latest fluffy mail so we can all admire it. As the organiser, I’m always keen to see new nappy brands and fabrics. Tea, coffee and organic fair trade chocolate provided. I was in Little Owl (next building down from me) last week and they’ve just got in some lovely handknit overalls and pants that would make gorgeous woollies to cover a cloth nappy.
For those who are more into baby slings, the Canberra Babywearers Group meets at the Brindabella Baby shop on Thursday 28 May at 10am. Sling meets are generally more chaotic than nappycinos, with kids and carriers everywhere, so BYO tea/coffee but be mindful of keeping it out of reach of curious children. The Canberra Babywearers are all very friendly and keen to help other parents use what they’ve got rather than convincing them to go buy more stuff – so grab that hand-me-down sling and find out how to use it! They also love to see new ways of tying a baby onto your body, or fabulous new fabrics to do it with.
14 Comments to “Canberra parents doing it naturally”
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Would you care to cite your sources for the claim that cloth nappies reduce the environmental footprint?
A recent Government study in the UK would possibly suggest otherwise:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4969413.ece
“The report found that while disposable nappies used over 2½ years would have a global warming , impact of 550kg of CO2 reusable nappies produced 570kg of CO2 on average. But if parents used tumble dryers and washed the reusable nappies at 90C, the impact could spiral to . 993kg of CO2 A Defra spokesman said the government was shelving plans for future research on nappies.”
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not that I agree or disagree with you JR, but wouldnt the people in the UK NEED to use dryers etc? since they have a lack of what we call sunshine?
when alot of people here could just hang them outside to dry?
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A friend of mine, while working for the EPA, did a study on this issue. In a nutshell, cloth nappies are worse for the Australian environment because their enviromental impact is largely in the dirtying of clean water. Whereas the disposables have their principal impact in landfill usage.
But Australia, unlike Europe, is big. With lots of spots to put landfill sites. And, also unlike Europe, water is much scarcer. So the conditions here are better suited to disposable nappies, rather than cloth ones.
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It’s hard to find reliable independent research on the environmental impact of cloth nappies. Check out the facts at http://www.nappynetwork.org.au if you want to read more. The short version is that research costs money, so usually the only organisations that have both an interest in the research and can afford to pay for it are disposable nappy manufacturers. Some of the research done by independent organisations hasn’t been realistic about how cloth is used either – one study even included ironing the nappies. Seriously, who irons something a baby is going to poo on?
There have been studies that show it takes 3.5L of water to manufacture a disposable nappy, but takes only 1L of water to wash a reusable nappy. Cloth nappies are not what they used to be. In the 1970′s, people used white cotton towelling squares. Many nappies are now made from more eco-friendly fibres like hemp, bamboo, and organic cotton. These fibres require less water and pesticide to grow, don’t stain as easily. Modern cloth nappies are also much more absorbent, so you don’t have to change any more often than you would with a disposable. Polar fleece liners, modern washing machines, and better laundry powder mean we don’t need to soak nappies before washing as was done in the UK study. Responsible parents don’t tumble dry either – we have this wonderful invention called the Hills Hoist, it dries your clothes and helps fade stains at the same time. Or you can put them on a rack in front of the heater during a Canberra winter.
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at least 1m away, don’t want any fires, now, do we?
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and i am a bit disappointed with the title and the article, not what i expected to read with a title like that…
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I’m still not convinced that cloth nappies do anything to reduce the carbon footprint… but at least I’ve learned that babies get to experience an extended warm feeling when they wet themselves due to use of polar fleece.
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Now I have to think about what type of nappies to get in the future.
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peterh, don’t know what you expected. If you watched the ABC thing on raising babies that compared different styles of parenting, the continuum concept style is sometimes referred to as natural, intuitive, gentle, or attachment parenting. While there’s a lot of variation within any one parenting style, some of the differentiation between this style and the 1960′s Spock style include cloth nappies (or no nappies), babywearing, breastfeeding, and co-sleeping. While it is easy to find out about disposable nappies and formula (go to any parenting expo and you’ll see what I mean), it can be harder for people to find out about things that don’t generate profit for multi-nationals – like using less expensive and no-return-business products.
Jonathon: polar fleece works by not holding moisture. It goes straight through to whatever absorbent material is underneath, and baby’s skin stays dry (and hopefully rash-free). Just like with a disposable. Except you’re not throwing away money and creating landfill waste each time your baby does a wee. Some people prefer to go no liner, so baby learns from the wet feeling. There is research showing that babies toilet train on average 6 months sooner when in cloth nappies.
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Emd, I watched that show and I can’t believe the 60′s method of putting the baby out in the cold to get some fresh air while the parents were in the nice warm house.. wt? it was the 60′s right?
I was told once water crystals from disposable nappies are good for your lawn. Is this right?
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The one putting the baby outside for hours was the 1920′s method whose guru was later discredited as having no qualifications in child care.
The water crystals in most disposable nappies are a polymer called sodium polyacrylate – CH2 CH(CO2Na) and you can buy this at garden shops. There are valid concerns over whether these are safe next to baby’s skin for long periods of time – there’s not enough quality research yet to really know. This is why some disposable nappy users prefer brands that don’t include this polymer and just use unbleached paper fluff pulp for absorbency.
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>The one putting the baby outside for hours was the 1920’s method whose guru was later discredited as having no qualifications in child care.
It was all a bit weird.
Tks for the water crystals info. cheers
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@emd
Sodium polyacrylate has been associated with “toxic shock syndrome” and I thought no longer used in feminine hygiene products for that reason.
local resource:
http://www.toxicshock.org.au/
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Jonathon, feminine hygiene products are subject to different regulations than baby nappies. Largely because some types of feminine hygiene products are used internally, where the risk of infection etc are much greater. And thanks for the link, this is exactly the kind of issue that people do worry about.
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