The municipality of Sant Cugat del Vallés (Barcelona) has proposed an initiative that begins with a pilot test at the Gargot nursery, it is about replace single-use diapers with traditional cotton diapers.
This test does not involve parents, nor is it an inconvenience for educators, since diapers are sanitized in a laundry. Of the 35 parents who have their children in this nursery, only five prefer that their babies continue to use disposable diapers, instead, there are already two families that are happy with the initiative and their babies already use reusable diapers too at home.
According to the source of the news, a baby spends between 5,000 and 6,000 diapers, which means an outlay of 1,800 euros. The use of cotton diapers would reduce this cost to 400 euros, although we do not know if they have assessed the costs of detergents, electricity and time spent on the hygiene of these diapers. In principle, the nursery of Sant Cugat in which they serve about 30 babies, plans to save in just four months of 15,000 diapers.
But not only monetary motivation exists, the ecological one (and as the planet is) is also a good currency. The diapers amount to 3% in garbage of a municipality, and thanks to their synthetic materials with which they are manufactured, they contribute to pollution, global warming according to and everything that leads to climate change.
On the other hand, is the cost of detergents, electricity, etc. valued? Surely the damage is minor, but we would like to be shown concrete data.
Now, the intention is to convince parents and educators and if the result is positive, extend the use of cotton diapers to all municipal nurseries.
There are many debates that may arise, what is your opinion about this initiative? What diapers do you prefer your baby to use?
