Finally - a 100% Biodegradable Diaper!
In the US alone, over 18 billion diapers are thrown away each year. Each one of these diapers take 300 years to fully biodegrade! That means that not one diaper has ever naturally biodegraded yet.
When you consider the damage this must be doing to our environment, you’d think that someone might be doing something about it wouldn’t you? I mean, with all the technology we have these days and we can’t even make a 100% biodegradable diaper (well, at least one that can biodegrade within a reasonable time frame!).
Well, I’m happy to announce that all this has changed.
Safeties Nature Nappy is the worlds first 100% biodegradable diaper. The Nature Nappy can biodegrade within 6 months (depending on the soil). Senevens (the company that invented the Nature Nappy), has revolutionized the way diapers are made. They hold many patents on the design of the diaper, as well as the machinery that makes the diapers.
If you’re not from Australia you might be wondering why it’s called Nature Nappy? Well, Senevens is an Australian company and in Australia a “diaper” is called “nappy”. So, call them “diapers” or call them “nappies” - they do the same thing! Of course, Senevens’ nappies do much more for the environment than normal nappies/diapers.
Senevens has just recently listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (under the code SVN) and they are keen to penetrate the nappy/diaper market around the world. They are already selling the Nature Nappy in Australia and New Zealand. I’m hoping the public take notice of this one.
Also see:
- Article on the benefits of biodegradable diapers
- Article on the Nature Nappy
Tags: biodegradable diapers, landfill, nappies, nature nappy, senevens diapers, senevens nappies
July 28th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
This company has since withdrawn its products from the australian market, ostensibly due to problems with manufacturers and suppliers, but in reality they are being investigated by the ACCC (Australian Consumer and Compition Commision) as the nappies are actually only 70% biodegradable. In other words, no different from your run of the mill Huggies. The nappies contain polyethelene as well as other plastics. I have one in my compost that has been there for a year and has not degraded any more than the stock standard nappies I put in at the same time. My compost does work - I know because the eenee pads I put in (gDiapers to ppl in the US) composted in the time frame advertised on thier website - http://www.eenee.com
July 29th, 2008 at 1:09 am
Yes, those eenee pads sound promising.
And. that’s definitely unfortunate news for Senevens. Although a recent ASX market update (http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20080516/pdf/3194y09s390ys0.pdf) indicated that independent testing showed that the Nature Nappy would biodegrade by approximately 80% in 6 months. Still, 100% would be better and it doesn’t sound like the product will return to Australian shelves until that has been achieved.
I’d be interested to see where you got the info regarding polyethelene and other plastics?
August 4th, 2008 at 4:22 am
Through observation, and basic testing you can do at home. Plastics will melt and curl when you hold a match to them, natural materials (which they claim to use) would burn and catch fire.
80% in 6 months sounds good, but that is in optimal conditions, so sounds a lot better than it is. In landfill they wouldn’t go anywhere (even newspaper doesn’t biodegrade in most landfills) and the 20% left is the plastics.
In the prospectus released when they launched on the stock market they also stated that certain parts of the nappy needed to be removed before it could completely biodegrade, contradicting what they had claimed (100% biodegradability) on all packaging and advertising before and since.
The eenee pads have been proven both in the market place (for the las 18 years) and in independent testing, which can be seen in the FAQ section of the website.
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:26 pm
We too did some testing in regards to the Safeties nature nappy and it’s claim to be 100% bio degradeable. In around 7-8 months there was next to nothing of the product remaining( the product was burried in the back yard) & not in any compost bin.
Futhermore our daughter’s nappy rash whilst using Huggies pretty much vanished when we changed over to Safeties. I am no expert in the field but my husband & I try to be eco friendly when ever we can. I hope the Safeties nappy comes available again soon after all this bureaucratic noncence as it’s a fantastic eco & baby freindly product which I myself have tested on our child.
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:07 am
After doing some research on the topic it’s clear that Safeties nature nappy is a full nappy and a the eenee “pad” is around 10% in size compared to the safeties nappy . Isn’t it also a fact that the eenee pad is placed in a cloth nappy which needs to be washed in detergent which in turn is not so eco friendly. I don’t think one can even compare the two products and it’s features as in my opinion the safeties nature nappy is by far a true eco friendly product.