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• Baby
• Nappies
• The environment
• TV3's WA$TED show

• print

TV3’s “Wa$ted” Show

Kimberly-Clark (the makers of Huggies nappies) applauds the producers of TV3’s eco show WA$TED for raising awareness of the impacts which we all have on the environment every time we go shopping, travel to work or manage our households.

We have put much effort into researching and improving our Huggies nappies to provide parents with the best possible products while we continually try to minimize their environmental impacts. The bulk of a disposable nappy has reduced by more than 50% over the past five years through improved product design. We have implemented leading edge manufacturing processes to improve our sustainability and we only use the waste from renewable pine plantations to make our nappies. Our focus is on providing parents with the best nappy to keep babies dry, comfortable and happy with the minimum impact on the environment.

The show rightly points out that both disposable nappies and reusable nappies have their environmental impacts and according to a recent study by the UK Government Environment Agency, cloth has no environmental advantage over disposable nappies. Using cloth nappies uses more water, energy and detergents whilst disposable nappies contribute more solid waste to landfill – as highlighted by the show. The show acknowledges this by asking parents to wash nappies in cold water without using chemicals and to not use dryers: however for many people this will not be a practical solution.

It is also worth remembering that disposable nappies account for only 1.9% of waste to landfill – in New Zealand compared with food and green waste for example which represents almost a quarter of waste to landfill. The show provides participants and viewers with options for reducing their environmental impacts. It’s not an all or nothing in the same way that going on a diet does not mean giving up all food!

We believe that ultimately parents will make choices about the type of nappies for their baby based on a whole range of criteria. But as 96% of all nappy changes in New Zealand are with disposable nappies, parents do prefer the comfort and the convenience of disposable nappies for their babies. 1 in 3 mums with a baby less than 1 year old goes back to work and disposable nappies are more convenient because they are quicker to change and do not require laundering.

Moreover parents value the benefits of disposable nappies in terms of skin care, dryness and leakage protection and this was also highlighted in the show with mum choosing to use disposables for this reason even whilst participating in the trial. Medical experts say that the reduced incidence of severe nappy rash over the past 15 years is due to the benefits of disposable nappies.

WA$TED is an excellent wake up call for us all but we do not believe parents should be made to feel guilty about which type of nappy they choose to buy on environmental grounds because waste to landfill is just one small part of the story.