A sustainable baby box for all new parents in Wales

A sustainable baby box would reduce waste, save money and create jobs, boosting the green economy in Wales. 

The baby box could include, for example, reusable nappies, the opportunity to benefit from an associated new affordable nappy laundering service and with the sustainable products ideally being sourced from Welsh companies thereby helping create even more jobs.   

Disposable nappies take 500 years to decompose and they emit noxious methane gas into the environment. By the time a baby is potty trained they could have used 4,000 to 6,000 disposable nappies.  

An estimated 200 million disposable nappies are used in Wales each year, making up 10% of black bag waste. If all these stinking nappies end up in landfill, it would result in 26343.52 tons of waste, costing Welsh councils around £2.4 M in landfill tax. 

Disposable nappies are expensive with parents spending around £800 – £1000 on disposable nappies over a child’s lifetime and upwards of £250 on related products such as baby wipes, nappy bags and nappy bins.

Switching to reusable nappies has been estimated to save around £150 a year. 

If parents choose the least expensive renewable brands, they could save up to £800 a year. 

Becky Harford, Activism and Community Campaigns Officer, said: 

'Every year a staggering amount of dirty nappies end up in landfill or being incinerated. 

'If we're serious about becoming a zero waste society in Wales, we must solve the nappy problem. Reusables need to become the norm, not the exception and a sustainable baby box is the first step towards achieving this. 

'Because helping parents make the switch to reusables will vastly reduce the growing mountain of nappy waste.  

'Having a baby is costly on the pocket and on the environment. A sustainable baby box would help out new parents with the cost of having a child while supporting them to use reusable nappies.' 

Please contact Becky Harford if you are interested in getting involved in this campaign.