Eradicating the 'ick' factor
- Alysia
- Oct 25, 2021
- 8 min read
Being a mum is hard. So is being eco-friendly. But Imogen Vasey decided to tackle both at once.
Disclaimer: no links in this article are affiliate. All information is correct at time of publication.
In September 2020, Imogen and her husband had just had a baby, were in the thick of moving into and renovating their new home, all in the midst of the global pandemic. But rather than shying away from any further challenges, Imogen decided she wanted to raise her child with an awareness of the environment too.
An awareness that started, typically for a baby, with nappies.
“I could talk for hours on nappies,” Imogen informed me as we spoke earlier in the summer over a video call. Her husband at work while she remained on maternity leave, Imogen spoke to me from her home in Surrey. Distant gurgles and cries from her baby were heard off screen as Imogen’s mother looked after him while we chatted about nappies, washing, and the difficulties of finding trustworthy advice, even in an age where information is at our disposal.
“I’ve spent a lot of time researching how to clean nappies, and nappies themselves,” she laughed. “It’s all I think about!”
From scientific studies and research into biodegradable products, to comparisons of laundry detergents, Imogen has covered every area you could think of to help find the right solution for her baby. But it wasn’t always easy.
“I feel more and more, that the more I know, the less I realise I know,” she laughed again, reflecting on how little she knew before becoming a mother, and as a result how little others in her position are aware of.
With the UK government recently denying claims of plans to place a higher tax on disposable nappies in an attempt to shift parents towards reusable products, consumers are currently in a limbo situation; pay less for more disposable nappies, or pay more for less reusable ones?
“At the moment as things stand it’s much cheaper to buy five hundred pounds worth of reusable nappies, and that be it, you don’t have to buy any more, even if you have subsequent children, that’s it, you’ve got them now,” Imogen explained. “Whereas you might end up spending four times that amount, per child, if you’re buying disposables.”
But Imogen is aware that many new parents can’t afford the initial outlay of reusable nappies, and informs me of a voucher scheme a number of councils have signed up to, which encourages parents to invest in reusables by offering cash back to help with costs.
“I think that’s really nice to think local councils are trying to be encouraging, but I just think not many people know about that incentive scheme. So that to me is a positive that the higher ups, the people in councils and in the government are really trying.”
Imogen decided to use reusable nappies after discovering brands who were not only preventing disposables from landfill, but other items too.
“I think some people felt it was a rather odd decision to make because it felt like I was taking a step backwards in terms of progress. But the kind of things I have been looking into are reusable nappies where the shells are made from two plastic bottles. So that in itself is brilliant, and to me is a reason to go for them in the first place, you know saving things from landfill. And then of course it’s reusable so I’m not contributing to landfill either.”
Imogen was referring to is TotsBots, a Scottish company who are the only reusable nappy brand in the world to make a waterproof fabric out of plastic waste. And with a number of different styles, fabrics and sizes on offer, it seems the product is entering a more fashionable era.
“These modern cloth nappies that I’ve got, they have beautiful patterns on them, and they keep sending me adverts saying ‘the latest patterns are available’, or you know ‘this one has snowmen on them for winter or love hearts for Valentine’s Day’, so it’s a big industry just in that respect.”
Introducing seasonal fabrics can lead to consumers buying more than they necessarily need, which can have a negative impact on the planet. And with the reasonably fast growth rate of babies, it does make you wonder, what do you do with the nappies when your baby no longer needs them?
“Oh well, people sell them on,” Imogen revealed. “One of the benefits of having second hand nappies is that the more friction that has been applied to the inside insert, the more little fibres come up, and it makes it more absorbent.”
She does admit that passing them on aside, she’s not quite sure what happens to the materials when the nappies are thrown away. “I suppose if one had got natural fabrics like cotton and bamboo, which most people have a lot of, I’d like to think they would degrade. But all those made out of microfibre and plastic, I don’t know.”
Imogen is right to be unsure. Recycle Now simply advise people to pass them on, while in a TotsBots blog, consumers are encouraged to turn them into cleaning cloths, keep them for future children, ask your local council if they can be donated to refuge centres, or as a last resort, recycle them at a local textile recycling centre.
Simply put, reusables are not yet the simplest thing to dispose of, because they are not designed to be. But eventually parents will no longer need them, and while passing them on is ideal, if businesses continue to manufacture new products, there will be a surplus of nappies that aren’t the easiest item to donate to people who may need them.
Biodegradable or compostable nappies could be the answer, since they can magically disintegrate over time and should in theory be easy to dispose of.
But that's not always the case.
Which? spoke to two experts on the subject in an article that concluded biodegradable nappies may not be as eco-friendly as you would think. It could be they need oxygen to degrade, so if they end up in landfill, they will remain there for years. It could be that biodegradable nappies may still contain non-biodegradable materials, or natural fibres which release toxic chemicals when dissolving into the Earth. Or it could be that the production of these nappies is unsustainable, placing more pressure on the planet than regular disposables.
And with all these complications surrounding biodegradable options, reusable nappies are currently the eco-friendly option of choice. Yet so many still avoid them for what Imogen calls the “ick factor”.
“I think the more we normalise it, the easier it will become for everyone,” she explains. And speaking of easy, I wondered if washing the nappies has added any extra stress or chaos to looking after a baby.
“It is extra effort because you do have to wash them, but if you have a baby, they get poo on clothes, they get food on clothes, they get mud on clothes. So you’re already washing stuff.”
Imogen said she found it “shocking” some parents would rather throw mucky clothes away rather than wash them, but continued, “assuming the majority of parents would just clean the clothes, it’s not a big step.”
Explaining her nappy-washing routine, which involves a bucket, two washes and a five day rota, it did sound like a finely tuned system Imogen has under control, and once in that system doesn’t feel any more stressful.
“I think a lot of people consider that a lot of work, but it’s, chuck in the washing machine, press start. I mean we’re not in the days of using a scrubbing board, you know it’s not a big deal. And if you just incorporate it into your routine of what you do in the day, it’s really not any extra effort at all.”
But Imogen has put effort into every part of the process, from researching which nappies she wants to use on her new baby, to which washing powder is kindest on their skin. “I have to really consider making sure I’ve got the most effective, most efficient item for what I need, I want to try and be environmentally friendly, but ultimately I want it to work for the sake of my baby.”
From discovering the very slight difference between bio and non-bio washing powders due to modern-day washing machines, to supposedly more eco-friendly washing methods like eco-eggs or soap nuts, Imogen discovered that the most effective and safest options are traditional, standard washing powders. She even contacted a German professor after finding his research on these alternative methods’ washing abilities in comparison to washing powders, to be sure that she understood his findings correctly. Interestingly, they revealed little to no difference between washing with eco eggs or soap nuts, and washing with pure water.
“It’s a real shame isn’t it, because we think we’re doing the right thing but what we’re really doing is buying into consumerism, and actually there’s no benefit whatsoever if you’re using a washing machine anyway.” Imogen had even bought an eco-egg one year for a family member before delving deeper into the research, which suggests these products are only worthwhile if you’re washing by hand.
"It's reduce, reuse, recyle, and I want to reduce and reuse"
This opens up the door to greenwashing, which simply describes products that make consumers believe they are more environmentally friendly than they really are. With all of us knowing we need to do better, greenwashing has become a bigger problem over recent years, and is something Imogen has had to fight her way through when trying to find the best solutions for her baby.
“It’s very difficult, and to be honest I don’t think I’ve uncovered all of the greenwashing,” she laughs. “The reality is if you’re buying something branded ‘eco’, it probably is ‘eco', but it might just not do the job.
“I think that part of the problem is there’s such a willingness to do the right thing by the consumer that there’s just not enough information, accurate information, out there about the effectiveness of these items. And we’re therefore relying on outdated research, outdated anecdotes like the use of soap nuts, which, as I said, would probably help if you’re beating your clothes on a rock in a stream, but probably wouldn’t help if you’re using a washing machine already.”
Imogen sighs and laughs as we both feel the weight of the problem we’re discussing. Throughout our conversation she brings up old wives’ tales she has come across for how to naturally wash nappies. From hoping sunlight will remove stains entirely, to letting the rain wash them for free, as surprising as they sound, many are still believed.
“There are a lot of people out there who are very reluctant to hear that they may be doing harm. People get defensive, and you understand, you know they think they’re doing the right thing for their child and they don’t like to think they might be wrong.”
It’s not so much that they are wrong, but rather have been told through people passing these methods down through generations that they work. And that, on top of not having easy access to how modern reusable nappies should be cleaned, can lead to confusion on the parents' part, and infections on the baby.
“I find it really heartbreaking,” Imogen tells me. “Because I know these children are liable to getting ammonia burns, let alone damage to the nappies as well.”
While talking to Imogen, the main reason why people are still unsure of reusable nappies dawns on me, and is one Imogen brings up too. Despite becoming a mainstream option, consumers don’t really know where to start. How to clean them. How many they might need. What to do with them afterwards. Even the voucher and cash-back schemes are not made as public as they could be.
Imogen is just one “cloth bum mum”, as she calls herself. But if the others have had to spend as much time researching as she has to figure out what is best for their children, then is it not obvious that more needs to be done as a whole society?
Disposables may be easy compared to the responsibility that comes with reusables. But when you consider your baby, and their future, surely the responsibility is worth it.
“I feel like I’ve made a good start, and this is the path that I’m on now, because I’m not going to replace things. It’s reduce, reuse, recycle isn’t it, and I want to try and reduce and reuse.” Imogen has the right idea, and hopes that there will be more ‘cloth bum mums’ in the future.
“I hope there will be more advocates, and it will become more normalised in society. And I’m hoping that will therefore lead to better education, and just more people talking and sharing their experiences of good practice. And I think if more people just had these discussions, and therefore better education, better advice, it would be better for everyone.”
With people like Imogen raising the next generation, it seems the future is looking just that little bit brighter.
Comments