With a growing national conscience about the environment more and more people are becoming aware of the need to recycle and live a little more eco friendly. One area where people are looking at to reduce the waste they dispose of is resorting to washable nappies – doing away with the environmentally damaging disposable nappies.

Even in the service sector, such as nurseries and care facilities, there has been a return of the washable nappy, either through requests by the customer, or by the organisations themselves making an effort to reduce waste and be friendlier to the environment.

Washable nappies are often thought of as difficult to use and troublesome to empty and wash, but this is not necessarily the case. Washable nappies are no more difficult to or time consuming to use than disposable nappies and as long as you have the right equipment – changing, storing and washing nappies can be easy.

65l nappy bin

Requirements

Along with the usual moisturisers and baby powders, the only other requirements in using washable or Terry’s nappies are safety pins (although some modern washable nappies have reusable straps) and a good nappy bin.

The nappy bin is a vital part of the process as this is where the soiled nappies are kept until they are washed and ensuring you have the right nappy bin is a key part of the process.

Requirements of a nappy bin

A good nappy bin needs to have just two requirements. It has to be large enough to contain the nappies that have to be stored in there until they are washed. This can be problematic for some people in the care sector as traditionally nappy bins have only been manufactured for home use; however, as more and more people return to washable nappies there is now more choice and it is possible to get 50 litre and even 65 litre nappy bins.

The second requirement for any good nappy bin is that it has to be able to retain smells. A good lid and a good quality bin are the key to this area. Always choose a good quality nappy bin otherwise smells will leak out.

Having a child can be the most joyous of occasions but it can also be one of the most hectic and expensive. We are more fortunate than our parents and theirs before them in that we have some great technological advancements that make parenting a lot easier.

Washing machines, powdered milk, designer push chairs and baby monitors can make parenting far less of a chore than what our parent had to endure. However, some technologies and advancements come with a price.

Disposable nappies may save us bundles of time and hassle when it comes to changing babies but they are quite expensive products and are environmentally damaging too. Disposable nappies account for nearly five percent of all household waste and as they can’t be recycle and take ages to degraded they linger around in land fills for years. They are very expensive too with the cost of nappies for a new born baby can reach easily be in excess of several thousand pounds.

However, is going back to using washable nappies really as troublesome as we may imagine? Well disposable nappies need not be any more hassle than disposables – the baby still has to be changed and as the washing machine does most of the hard work it is really just a case of storing the dirty nappies in a nappy bin until it’s time to wash them.

A good quality nappy bin is essential for this. Not only can dirty nappies be extremely unsightly they can of course smell so a good sized nappy bin – and the size will depend on how often you get round to washing them – with a decent lid will ensure the nappies are kept out of sight and smell, until they are washed.

There is no need to wash the nappies from the nappy bin at extreme temperatures either. Even soiled nappy will get clean at normal wash temperatures, especially with modern machines and washing powders.

By returning to washable nappies not only can you help reduce waste on the environment but you may also save a packet too – as the only outlay is a good quality nappy bin.