Pampered Babies
‘I HAVE broken many promises in my lifetime, but few betrayals have felt as faithless as my failure to keep my son Arthur in reusable nappies. So says Ruth Gledhill in the Times.
| Mr Hartigan is once again threatened with the naughty step |
The case of reusable nappies has yet to reach the level of the fur debate, and we doubt that as Gledhill dines at a swanky eatery with her pampered son a masked intruder will toss a heavily soiled nappy onto her plate.
But debate still rages, and giving the counter argument to reusables is Elizabeth Hartigan.
Stopping just short of saying how her baby would rather go naked than wear disposables, Hartigan begins her appeal with the delightful: Why should parents still use cloth nappies? Because they are lovely.
She goes on to enthuse about the fact that cloth nappies are easy to launder, look and feel great, and come in a huge variety of shapes and styles, patterns and colours, so that anyone can find a range to suit their personal style and budget.
To Hartigan, nappies are not simple strips of cloth for catching poo and wee, but articles of high fashion. They are nothing less than pashminas for bums.
But why are Gledhill and Hartigan telling us, you cry? Sure, it is desperately interesting stuff, and Britains community of nappy fetishists are split down the middle on this core issue. But why now?
Well, for the answer to that we must turn to the Telegraph and learn that after four years of selfless study, the Environment Agency has deduced that traditional nappies are no more environmentally friendly than disposables.
Youre right to gasp and hold you nose. To may peoples minds, this stinks. People like Melinda de Montfort, the waste reduction officer at Kent County Council.
She heads a team which offers a £30 gift token for all converts who switch from disposables to reusables. She is astounded at the news.
But others are delighted. Like Tracy Stewart, the director-general of the powerful and shadowy Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacturers Association, who says: We have been waiting for this day for too long.
We have sat and taken such a hammering from campaign groups and parents who are really beating themselves up about using disposables.
But now the burning issue of our times, the one thats occupied a Government Agency and our finest hacks, can be put to bed where it will remain as dry as little Arthurs bottom…’
Posted: 19th, May 2005 | In: Uncategorized Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
