Elizabeta Žust

Disposable nappies represent most of the residual waste of a nursery. By introducing cloth nappies, Vrhnika Nursery halved the amount of residual waste and reduced costs.

If you take a look at the residuals bin of a nursery, you’ll see that disposable nappies represent most of the waste. As suggested by Ecologists without Borders Association, the Kindergarten Vrhnika conducted a survey among parents of toddlers (1-3 years). 70% of parents supported the idea of introducing reusable nappies, so we started the project in 2014.  After a year and a half, results are better than expected. The amount of used disposable nappies was almost halved from 54.000 to 28.000 and collection runs of residual waste fell from 140 to 70 per year. Child caretakers observe less cases of nappy rash and also use less barrier cream. Last but not least, transition from nappies to underwear happens earlier. We saved 5000 € due to reduced amount of waste and 6000 € due to halved amount of disposable nappies. After one year, reusable nappies are still in good condition which means we will be saving money that would otherwise be spent on disposable nappies.