There are endless rows of lines on a piece of paper. Leonie Borg (38) from Groningen keeps track of exactly how many disposable diapers she has already saved by putting washable diapers on her two-year-old son. The standings: more than 2000 pieces.
Son Céas (2) has some video time when Leonie Borg explains exactly how washable diapers work. She has been doing this as a diaper consultant for over a year now supplier Nappy’s which advertises itself as a provider of the largest range of washable diapers in Europe.
“I always show all systems,” says Leonie. Illustratively, she takes a selection from her basket of all kinds of brands. The all-in-one (“Very easy, but little absorption”), the pocket diapers (“You fold them together”) and Snap-in-One (“Nicely slim, but leaks more quickly on the sides”). “Here you have Elskbar. That is an expensive brand, the Rolls Royce of washable diapers. They are of good quality, with a double layer in the overpants. And the prints are really contemporary.”
By the way, she herself does not get rich from such consultations: 25 euros per time. Interested parties can register Contact Leonie for information without obligation . Her most important tip: look carefully at how much a washable diaper absorbs. Specimens that can handle little urine are not recommended. At each appointment, Leonie spends an hour and a half sitting around the table with interested parties. “I do this because I really believe in this.”
More and more common
Cloth diapers have been around for a while. But they are becoming more and more ‘normal’. Also at large chains such as Kruidvat and Hema they have recently been sold. And that is not for nothing.
Cloth diapers are no longer complicated folding projects involving safety pins and cotton rags. Rinsing out buckets full of cotton cloths is an image from grandmother’s time. Modern cloth diapers consist of absorbent pants. The inserts catch the ‘number 2’ and can be thrown in the trash. The rest of the wet diaper goes – once again – into the washing machine.
Bins full of waste
Using cloth diapers saves a lot of waste. According to Milieu Centraal Baby diapers generate more than 100 million kilos of waste every year. On average, a child wears more than 5,000 diapers before being toilet trained. The plastics from disposable diapers require a lot of oil to make and generate significant CO2 emissions. Diaper use is increasing due to an aging population.
Journalist Michel Robles wrote for the Belgian scientific magazine EOS that in the Netherlands alone, 5 to 8 percent of our residual waste consists of disposable diapers. On those numbers there is something to be negotiated wrote NRC Handelsblad but his figures match reasonably well with samples of waste from 2012.
Sustainability is therefore an argument, although there are two minor comments. First of all: cotton also has to be made. This involves a lot of chemicals, water use and shady working conditions. And secondly: ecological detergent is not powerful enough to clean dirty cloth diapers properly: you need something more aggressive.
Nevertheless, washable diapers – as well as washable panty liners or menstrual underwear – fit better into the circular and ‘bio-based’ economy that the Netherlands wants to be.
More advantages: cheaper and more likely to be potty trained
And there are more benefits. Washable diapers are cheaper in the long run than disposable diapers. You make a one-off purchase of around 700 euros and then only spend some money on detergent. Especially with multiple children, it becomes much cheaper.
And yes, the diapers look cheerful with all the fun prints and are comfortable for the child. In addition, children become toilet-trained earlier thanks to these diapers. This is because children feel better when they pee in their diaper, because the material remains wet. This effect is further enhanced by the fact that parents are more motivated to encourage the switch to the potty, because washable diapers simply involve a little more work.
Love-hate relationship
What a hymn, huh? But a journalist must be honest. I personally have a love-hate relationship with cloth diapers. I also use them for my youngest daughter of 8 months and used them for my son who is now 3 years old and toilet trained.
I still support that. But when a gurgling sound escapes my youngest, between hope and fear I take her out of the diapers. Would everything have remained on the cotton insert or will it have to be rinsed again? I have to be extra alert all day long: washable diapers are usually saturated earlier, which means you have to change them more often.
Another disadvantage? My daughter’s nursery sometimes smells like an uncleaned rabbit hutch. The wet pee diapers are in a bucket, but it is sometimes full or open. And if I have to be honest, I don’t think my baby will grow a charmingly big butt in those wash diapers.
The biggest disadvantage is: washable diapers require a bit more work. They have to go in the washing machine and take quite a while to dry on the washing line.
Poop leaks and diaper rash
But Leonie Borg wouldn’t have it any other way. “I am really pro-washable diapers. It’s so much nicer.” Because she is so convinced, she signed up as a consultant, in addition to her 32-hour job. Parents who visit are often expecting their first child. They come from all over the province and have often heard about the wash diapers through the grapevine. Leonie herself was also convinced during a consultation. “If you look at a website, you see so many systems. Then you can no longer see the forest for the trees.”
Not everyone is immediately convinced. “Sometimes couples come and the woman has already read up on everything. Then she still has to persuade her husband.” Leonie’s friend was not immediately convinced at the beginning. “But in the end I said: just try it. When he did that it was like ‘oh, is this it?’ Then it was over.”
Thanks to use, son Céas suffers less from diaper rash and less frequent poop leaks on his back (something that regularly occurs with disposable ones). However, the less waste argument remains the most important for Leonie. “It is really a missed opportunity that more municipalities do not provide subsidies for this,” says Leonie.
There are hardly any subsidies
Speaking of which. This summer, a majority of the municipal council in Groningen left know that they want to promote washable diapers and reusable menstrual products more often . This way, the municipality can be waste-free from 2030. Still, some were skeptical. SP member Daan Brandenbarg condemned washable diapers as “a hobbyism for people who have some space in their house, with an extra room where the diapers can hang to dry all day.”
But municipalities such as Rheden and Aalten operate much more far-reaching than a promotional campaign. They provide subsidies for the use of diapers. The municipality of Heerenveen has also recently decided to provide a subsidy on washable diapers with the ‘lucky scheme’. Yet the lion’s share of society has stubbornly clung to throwaway items since Procter & Gamble presented the first Pampers in 1961.
While that research agency Tauw commissioned by Rijkswaterstaat in 2021, investigated how the waste stream of diapers could be better collected and recycled. One of the suggestions that researchers make is the use of washable diapers.
“When I look around me, I see few people who choose this,” says Leonie. “I wonder how that is possible. Do people think it’s dirty? Or too much work?” As far as the 38-year-old from Groningen is concerned, young parents must get over those prejudices. “It is more sustainable and nicer.
“And you know?” She laughs a little. “With all those cheerful prints, I think this is the most fun to fold and hang up.”