The components of these nappies take at least 50 years to breakdown and give off harmful greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. However, reusable nappies are more gentle on babies' skin. Most disposable nappy users over-rely on the very high absorbency of the nappy and change their baby less often than is good for their skin. This leads to the baby's skin being in contact with harmful irritants such as ammonia and bacteria and can cause nappy rash.
Reusable nappies allow the baby's skin to breathe and prevents harmful heat retention.
Reusable nappies can be either washed at home or through a local nappy washing service. Ealing's first local nappy laundering service, NappyCare , serves all Ealing and neighbouring boroughs. Run by Ealing local, Christina Martin, NappyCare rents to customers a bin, bin liners, deodorising disc and nappies, with customers buying their own synthetic breathable nappy covers, and biodegradable nappy liners. Once a week NappyCare collect dirty nappies for laundering and leave clean nappies for the week ahead. Christina says that the costs of NappyCare's service is comparable to using disposable nappies.