Real Nappy Week (24-30 April)

is intended to raise awareness of the benefits of using cloth nappies on babies and infants. Every year 575 million 'disposable' nappies make their way to New Zealand’s landfills - that's approx 2000kg per child.
These nappies may take up to 500 years to biodegrade. The purpose of Real Nappy Week is to ensure people are aware that cloth nappies can reduce household waste. Cloth nappies can be reused 100’s, even 1000’s of times. It takes one cup of crude oil to make the plastic for each 'disposable' nappy.

found here

The main reason that most parents choose washables is the overwhelming cost savings. Even with the cost of laundering, most parents will save between $500 - $1000 in just the first year of their baby's life. If you are having two children then you can save up to $6000! That is the equivalent of all new kitchen appliances, five months of full-time childcare or mum working part-time for 8 months.
Parents are also concerned about baby's delicate skin. Using washables means baby's skin can be chemical free.
And we all know that 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle' helps the environment. Washables do all three and make a major impact in the amount of rubbish you put out each week.
found on the nappy network site

okay how about us (how much has it cost us)

i made lucy's fitted cloth nappies (and wipes) for $100
i estimate it cost us $2 on ecostore lundry powder a week
and $2 on electricity

so $4 x (90weeks) plus $100

so all up its cost $460 total

i used/reused a total of 20 nappies and have only ever used 1 disposable
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okay we could have done this option

disposables (to be honest i don't know how much they cost)
but at 40 cents each
going through 5 nappies a day (i have heard of people changing thier bubs only 4 times a day)
so thats 35 nappies at 40cents

equals $14 a week
plus half a rubbish bag space is .60c
plus cost of wipes maybe $1.50 a week

so $14 X 90weeks = $1260 plus
.60c X 90 = $ 54
$1.50 X90 = $ 135
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= $1449 (cost so far with lucy aged 20mths)




okay let make this clearer if we were conventional (in potty training and such) this is the costs in total from birth to toliet training at 2.5 years are

$1775 spent on disposables (4445 nappies used )
$ 76 spent on rubbish bags (63 rubbish bags full)
$ 190 spent on wipes
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$2041 for disposable (not including enviromental costs)

$ 608 for cloth

what to do with the $1433 of extra money 3 (yes 3 return airfares to Melbournes or a trip to Tahiti