What a load of rubbish

I recently got my 50 council rubbish bags delivered, so tried to shove them in the drawer, but there was no room.  I still have all of last year’s ones, and some from 2006.

I’m going ask the Council to take their plastic bags back for a refund, as it should be part of their zero waste policy.  Our household fills about one bag a month, a disappointing amount when I know it’s possible to live without creating rubbish at all.

There’s a fairly ordinary couple living in Christchurch who are blogging their experiences of being rubbish free.  You can find all the inspirational tips and hints you need on their rubbish free guide. 

My stock of bags gets a hammering every time my brother and his family come to stay.  With two children in disposable nappies they can fill a rubbish bag in a day.  I put out six bags following a short visit once.

It’s so unnecessary.  When our baby was born my midwife gave me a promotional sample pack of eight disposable nappies.  We gave three away to guests whose visiting babies embarrassed themselves and we used just four on our baby over the entire year; he has out-grown the last one.

For my first baby I roamed salvation army shops, trademe, and even my mother’s cupboard for old fashioned square cloth nappies (were those once mine?).  I asked for another two dozen as a present.  This collection has lasted for both of my children. 

My total spend on nappies was $100.  I bought five second-hand ‘bummies’ overnaps, which are simply the best invention ever with their better than Velcro fasteners and breathable waterproof miracle fabric.  From trademe I got five kushies all-in-one nappies in XL for night-time use, up to four years old.

And that’s it.  There’s no need to do fancy origami when you have overnaps, just fold until they are a rectangle pad.  Disposable nappies cost about $30 to $40 a month, every month until the child is toilet trained, which could be three to five years. You could easily pay off a nice economical washing machine with the money saved.

In the UK a few years ago there was a comparison done claiming not much difference to the environment between making disposables and washing cloth nappies.  This was dismissed soon after when people realised they were comparing only the power and water consumption, without considering any long term effects of the hundreds of years it takes for nappies to break down in landfill while releasing harmful methane into the atmosphere.

What made the comparison laughable was that they assumed that every load would be washed on a hot cycle and then put into a clothes dryer and then, wait for it, individually ironed!  What nonsense.

We wash at 60 degrees for the first 3 months when Baby’s immune system is lower.  Then ever after that it’s a cold cycle.  I wash and hang out a load of nappies every other day, even if it’s raining.  Even in the depths of winter I have never run out of dry nappies.  In Opotiki our changeable weather is a blessing, the nappies get a second rinse then are dry the following day.