Eenee's Zero Waste Eco Nappies
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 12. 6.06
Here at TreeHugger we’ve talked a lot about the war between washable, biodegradable or disposable nappies/diapers, but one Eco-Mum would like to tell us about her favourite eco-nappy, that helps to put poop in its place….down the toilet! Please welcome guest writer Jo Lambert and get to know Eenee’s Zero Waste Eco Nappies.
I use Eenees Pouch pants for my baby girl, and have found them to be the best option so far, and much more versatile and less bulky than other washables. Eenees have three simple parts to them:
1. cotton pant with elastic waist which fixes with Velcro (washable)
2. a waterproof pouch which poppers inside the cotton pant. (washable)
3. either…
a. Eenees compostable pads which flush down the toilet or go in the compost
or…
b. Eenees Microfiber Superabsorbent Cloth Nappies (washable)
or…
c. basic folded nappies or terries (washable)
The Calvin Kleins of Baby Nappies
The pouch pants are much more comfortable looking and allow for much more freedom of movement than other bulky plasticky nappy wraps…and their design has proved that even babies can look dashing in their Calvin Klein style pants!
I have found that they cause much less or no sore red marks like most other nappies, and the fact that they also fasten with velcro at the back which is very handy for Mums of little ones who like to get their kit off!
Compostable Option
Using the pouch pants with the compostable pads means that if you don’t fancy the idea of smelly nappy soaking buckets and doing more laundry, the compostable option is for you….you tear up the compostable pad and then just flush it down the toilet, then the pants, which stay mostly dry and clean, can be washed with the rest of the laundry.
There is an advantage of this way of disposing of biodegradable waste, because as we’ve heard before, even biodegradable disposables that go to landfill don’t degrade as they should. But with this system, the compostable pad, which does NOT contain any Velcro fastenings, elastic or other materials, goes with the other ‘biodegradable materials’ down to the sewage treatment works, where it has the possibility to degrade properly and be treated hygienically with other similar waste, as it should be.
The Eenees website provides tips on the best ways to flush, and also a visual set of results on degradation of Eenees compostables compared to other biodegradables.
Washable Option
I find that the fully washable option, using foldable absorbent nappies inside the pouch pants is a great ‘everyday at home’ option, and I love the fact that the pouch pant stays mostly dry and clean, so you only need wash them every few uses, not every single use (greatly reducing washloads). I’ve tried all kinds of other washables, and none of them are as versatile, comfortable, parent-and-eco-friendly as Eenees pouch pants! ::Eenee
[by Jo Lambert]
More nappies on TreeHugger:
gDiapers, Bamboo nappies, Nature Nappy, Mothercare
cloth or disposable?
nappy eco tips
how to make (green) babies
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- TreeHugger Deals: Shop Gaiam and Play ConcentratiOm
- Cutting the Crap on Mount Everest
- Strawberry Earth Puts Your Party Money to Work to Produce an Eco-Bar
- GreenBuild: I Have Seen the Future and it Flushes
I believe that gDiaper evolved from this product, which is also one of the first high-volume products to get Cradle-to-Cradle certification. I don't have any babies, but I like the diapers!
These do sound an awful lot like gDiapers, however, I was wondering how the experience (specifically fit and containment) compares to gDaipers, as we have had occasional issues with gDaipers in these two areas (of course, we still love gDiapers)..?
One option we've been considering is the fuzzi bunz diaper covers. A coworker uses the gDiapers inserts with these covers and says he likes them better than the gDiapers covers.
I'm curious about the cotton — is organic cotton available for these? Cotton is generally produced with tons of ag chemicals. What about that bamboo fiber?
Hi, This is Sue from Eenee Designs. I invented these nappies originally for my 2nd daughter (now 17 years old) and have been making and marketing them in Australia and some overseas countries since then. gDiapers have licenced this product from me for markets outside Aus and NZ and are doing a fantastic job at making them available across the USA so far.
It has been great to see the progress made over the last decade with composting and reuse of biosolids from waste water treatment plants for land application. There is a growing demand for this resource (yes it is finally being seen as a resource instead of waste), and in Australia Sydney Water now process 185,000 tonnes of biosolids annually which are beneficially used in agriculture, composting and land rehabilitation. Even better still is they don't have enough to meet the demand, so our flushed disposable pads are providing a positive contribution to this growing demand instead of sitting as useless waste in landfill.
In Australia we are facing increasing water shortages and many residents are on tank water, so washing nappies (diapers) is not an option for them. The Eenee nappy system provides the best of both worlds so that parents can alternate between our flushable/compostable pads and reusable rectangular folded cloth nappies depending on what suits their lifestyle and location. I have absolutely minimized the resources used in the disposable absorbent pads and made sure that they are completely compostable in one short compost cycle. If Councils progress to allowing these into green waste curbside collection, then the wet ones (soiled ones should be flushed for hygienic reasons) are ready to be included, unlike all other disposable nappies available (even the eco labeled ones) which still contain contaminating plastic waste.
My brother and sister in law use fuzzi bunz and LOVE them. Same concept it seems, and they love putting the little one in all the bright colors that they come in too.