Possible “nappy tax” on disposables

"It is not what is being done now, it is the cumulative effect of the past as well" of course it is, has anyone said differently? That doesn't alter the fact that changes have to be made and with the amount going into landfill, using alternatives to disposable nappies is one of those changes.

Exactly!

Global warming has been in the making for many decades and we all can help, not just diapers.

It is not what it is being done now, it is the cumulative effect of the past as well

hithere your post is very judgy- but the plain fact is we are in a climate / environmental crisis which cannot be reversed but can be slowed down - it means the powers that be and we as individuals have to make changes to our lifestyles which may be less convenient for ourselves and make less money for the shareholders of big businesses. Whether it’s changing our eating habits, switching fuels, banning disposable plastic inessentials it has to be done quickly. It’s not just up to us to decide what’s convenient what we can and can’t afford- measures have to be put in place , not just stick but carrots could be used - subsiding eco friendly alternatives, nappy washing services or whatever, people will get used to alternatives just as we have in the past.

"Back off and stop judging" perhaps you should take notice of your own 'advice' Hithere. GN is a forum for discussion and debate which is what's happening on this thread.

It is very condescending to say that young mothers need to be told to use cloth instead of disposables, for several reasons:
1. Young or old, parents (mother and father) made the decisions for the kids
Yes, fathers do also change diapers now (gasp)

2. Disposables are not new. They have been available for decades and some posters have used them

3. Posters who are no longer active parents of kids on diapers have 0 input on what other parents do
You do not know their lifestyle, budget, etc.
Mind your own business
Live and let live

4. I adooooooore cloth diapers.
I do versions of cloth for everything I can at home

However, it is NOT cheap.
Cloth diapers are a HUGE investment up front and it is not for everyone
Disposables are so cheap nowadays that reusing cloth over and over again is no longer financially sound

Some parents are not willing to scrape the poop out of the cloth diapers before washing them - and it's ok!
Toleraring poopy hands daily is an skill.

Cloth diapers are also frowned upon these days as "unsanitary", been told that several times

UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the country - why not worry about formula, baby bottle waste, etc.

Bottom line - you parented your way with the resources available at your disposal.
Parents now do the same
Back off and stop judging

Weren’t invented.p

When I had my babies in 1947 and 1949 I had no choice but to use terry and muslin nappies. We lived in an attic flat with only a kitchen sink with a cold tap. Detergents were invented so I had to boil the nappies in a buck on the gas stove after rubbing them on a washboard with a bar of Sunlight soap.
Then wring them by hand a nd dry on a ceiling airer.
When I was a teenager they’re were no menstrual pads just terry squares which had to be washed.

In the sixties when my two were babies I used a white enamel bucket on the stove to boil the terry nappies no washing machine how time has changed

It's a sad fact that the use of pull-on disposable nappy is driven purely by capitalism that produces these items with no thought to the environment and every enticement to mothers (and fathers) to avail themselves of 'user-friendly' means in the nappy department. It's also a definite fact that children brought up with disposable nappies remain 'wet' for longer and that the numbers of children arriving at school still wearing disposable nappies has increased because of this practice. There's little encouragement for a child to make the effort as the disposables are often comfortable and there's no wet feeling as the urine passes through into the 'containing' fibres of the nappy. There are various alternatives and cloth nappies can be managed easily as many parents who just give that a chance know. We need to protect the planet for those children and we shouldn't be turning a blind eye to the environmental destruction that billions of disposable nappies cause just because we think that mums have it tough and need their lives making easier. Likewise with sanitary and incontinence protection. Incontinence pads are collected by local authorities but they go with other clinical waste for incineration and that in itself has an environment impact but it's considerably less.

I worked in nurseries for over 20 years from the 1970’s. We always used terry nappies so you can imagine how many we went through in a day! Can’t begin to imagine the expense and waste had we used disposables. I raised my own three using terry towelling nappies tied with a large pin! Saved me a fortune and as terry’s lasted for years I either passed them on to other family members/friends with newborns or used them for hand towels or when they began to wear out they made terrific dish cloths etc!. Not only are re-usable cloth nappies better for the environment and better for your purse, I found that little ones would become toilet trained at a much earlier age than they do today because they didn’t like the uncomfortable feeling of a soggy nappy! Unfortunately because disposables are so good at what they are designed to do, it is not uncommon these days for many 3 year olds to turn up for their first day at nursery school still wearing nappies leaving the poor teachers to do the parenting job of toilet training them.
As for “nappy tax” although it may be a good idea in theory, I can’t see it making a whole lot of difference: people will always pay more for convenience. It’s education people need not punishment

I had twelve months between my two boys, in their 50's now. There were no disposable nappies then. I had an old Goblin washing machine that didn't heat the water, So pans had to boil on the stove, with a ringer attached and no spin dryer. The inner nappies were muslin and easy to wash. I only had one dozen of each, so it was a hard slog for two years. The nappies would soak in Napisan for a few hors before washng. I have often wondered where all these disposable nappies end up and can't imagine what they must be doing to the environment.

My grandson who is 10 months old usually wears reusables during the day but disposables at night as they are less prone to leaking. I recently went camping with him and his parents and it was disposables all the time! I used disposables for my two, but reusables were still the old fashioned terry squares. The new style reusables are much better and more user friendly. I imagine they are more comfortable too.

Galaxy

Yes always the wonens job to save the planet.

You're right. Maybe she could be chained to the kitchen sink as well. The majority of mum's are working outside of the home and have been for a good many years. Soaking and washing nappies is very time consuming. The constant need for the washing to be done hardly helps the planet does it, along with all the detergent plus electricity required.

There are just as many Pads/pullups used for incontinence, we used to have a brilliant service from the council, but that was stopped years ago. No more yellow bags nor kerb collections any longer.

yet again, the consumer, be it male or female, left with the manufacturers/designers mess up!

the manufacturers/designers should be accountable, to design and make nappies that are disposable. ie. not the consumers fault/problem that they take millions of years to rot down!

to me , this is stating the obvious!

My d in l lives in a 2nd floor flat and had no tumble drier. Using cloth nappies would be a nightmare and the clothes horse would be constantly filled with wet nappies or they would have to dry on
The radiators. And that’s not good either.

when i had my son in 1986, the staff nurse or sister who wore high heeled white shoes and a shorter than usual uniform dress said to me ....you are not going to be one of them mums who use towel nappies and handed me a packet of pampers, when i got home i tried to use the cloth ones but after a month of having no place to dry them and endless nappies filled with green sludge (had a milk allergy) i went back to pampers...lol

I thought about it for ds. But due to his disabilities and medical issues he had permanent diarrhoea and vomiting - coping with the constant changes of clothes and bedding was more than enough laundry without nappies as well. It didn't sit easily with me, but rubbish here is incinerated so at least the disposables are gone and not in a landfill somewhere.

Surely, Galaxy, men are just as capable of turning on a washing-machine as women are? And of steeping dirty nappies?

If they aren't, becoming a father would be the right time to learn!

My physio friend has asked me to recommend www.squeezyapp.com
She wants everyone to know you don’t have to put up with incontinence if you are prepared to do something about it.

The disposable nappy was marketed in the early 70s, not an era when most Mums worked full time. Does any GN have a mum who worked during the 30s and 40s a time when women basically replaced men in factories etc.? No disposable nappies, no washing machines never mind automatic ones, no tumble dryers. How on earth did they manage with the cotton nappies. Disposable nappies are like many items considered to be essential for modern life and are marketed solely for profit. Perhaps if children weren't so comfortable in disposable nappies not so many would still be wearing them at 3/4 years old. I am all for a massive tax on disposables to try to reduce the landfill. After all those landfill tips generate gasses that have to be dealt with and controlled. Motorists are having to pay a heavy price for ozone control why nit nappies when there is an alternative.

My daughter uses washable nappies with her 2 year old and has for the last 18 months. They are vastly different from the Terry nappies we used with my children.

grandtanteJE65 can you point to the research that says that not changing nappies leads to the chronic inflammation of the bladder later on? I'm not sure how that computes as we now know that a stretchy bladder which doesn't empty as often as it should because we don't get the signals is problematic and leads to chronic inflammation. Anybody who has lax joints (used to be known as double jointed) is more likely to suffer that could be prone to that. They also wouldn't need their nappy changed as often as it wouldn't be wet but then it would flood as the bladder released its very full contents. Those little girls (and boys) would possibly suffer regular UTI's because of the bacteria which would inflame the bladder. Changing the nappies more frequently would do nothing to help nappy rash or stop bladder problems.

I totally agree with a tax and it should be high as disposable nappies are clogging up rivers and will take years to bio degrade. It is possible to cloth nappy shaped nappies with velcro so there is no need for disposable nappies.
I had 3 sons and took pride in my white nappies hanging on the line and were better than disposable as they used to leak.

Surely it is still cheaper to wash nappies than to use disposable ones? They cost the earth, these days.

Even in the 1970's when we were new mums, it was cheaper to buy a washing-machine, four or five dozen cloth nappies and washing powder for a whole year than to use paper nappies.

Same applies to hand-knitted sanitary towels, as well.

Perhaps we need to tell young mothers, that you have to change nappies more frequently, if you use cloth ones, but that does help to prevent nappy rash and may well reduce the number of young women with chronic inflammation of the bladder later on, or boys with adhesions of the foreskin.

There are doctors who attribute the rise in both these conditions to children being left in wet nappies for far too long at a time.

Still using, as hand towels in the car for sticky fingers, terry nappies that I had for my daughter and she has just celebrated her 65th birthday!!