Plastic gets bum rap from green moms
IT’S time to change baby’s nappy. So say new mothers across the globe who will meet this Saturday at 11am local time in venues around the world to ditch disposables and go back to cloth nappies.
This will be the sixth international Great Cloth Diaper Change.
It was conceived and organised as an Earth Day event by a group of cloth-diaper enthusiasts in the US to prove that cloth is better for the planet as well as the pocket.
The idea went viral — at the first event in 2011 a Guinness world record was set for the most cloth nappies changed simultaneously, with 5 026 participants at 127 locations in five countries.
This year’s attempt — including events in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town — will aim to break the current world record of 8 459 nappies changed at one time around the world.
Angeliqueca Roux, mother of 10-month-old twins, says reusable cloth nappies are experiencing a well-deserved resurgence in popularity.
Roux, the co-ordinator of the Cape Town event, began motherhood using disposable nappies. “By the time they were three months old I had heard enough about disposables to feel I needed to research my options.”
She spoke to grannies and great-grannies, and became involved in the South African Cloth Nappy Users group.
“I haven’t looked back. Disposables are costly and bad for the environment.”
Since then she has founded a cloth-nappy group in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, which holds monthly support meetings to introduce newer moms to the world of cloth.
But for many mothers convenience is the ultimate determinant. Durban-based Ruana Mugnai’s 10-month-old son goes through about 150 disposable nappies a month — and she only uses premium products.
“I spend up to R900 a month because I’m fastidious. I don’t want to use anything that is cheap and nasty or that will leak.”
Mugnai said she worried that with cloth her baby would be more prone to bum rashes and seepage.
“My mother used cloth nappies on my baby brother and all I remember is the dreadful smell of Milton and poo,” she said.
While cloth advocates argue that disposables are bad for baby’s bum, Durban paediatrician Dr Andre Botha said he had seen no long-term epidemiological research to support this.
“Modern disposable nappies are very hi-tech and protect baby from chafing and nappy rash,” he said.
“They contain super-absorbent gels that suck up fluid, unlike traditional cloth nappies. And with cloth nappies, if the mom is not diligent, you run the risk of ammonia burn and thrush.”
But, Botha added: “There is a mound of plastic in each [disposable] nappy, from the fancy rubber lining to the other hitech conveniences. None of this is biodegradable and that’s the scary thing.”
❛ There is a mound of plastic in each nappy. None of this is biodegradable