Climate change is the biggest challenge facing us today. The way we act now will change all our tomorrows.

Even the Pitter Patter of tiny feet leaves a carbon footprint. Fortunately parents can help by choosing products for their children that are both ethically and environmentally responsible. Maybe you haven't given much thought about how you can help but you can make your everyday nappy changing greener by using cloth nappies. It's the perfect way to ensure we take care of the environment, as well as your money and your child's future.

Ecological footprinting shows that currently disposable nappies are over two and a half times worse for the environment than service laundered nappies and nearly twice as bad a home laundered nappies. Approximately 8 million disposable nappies are thrown away in the UK every day and no-one knows how long it takes for the plastic part of a disposable nappy to break down in a landfill site. As disposable nappies have only been around for 30 years this means that part of every disposable nappy put into landfill is probably still there.

There is an environmental impact in using real nappies but if you choose to use them you can minimise this by your actions eg. avoid tumble drying, always wash a full load of laundry, never more than 40°C. Try using a more environmentally friendly non-bio washing powder like Ecover and bio-degradeable nappy sacks and wipes.

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE AN ALL OR NOTHING DECISION.

In response to a growing awareness of environmental issues around disposable nappies a growing number of parents are choosing to use modern real nappies, either for home washing or using a local laundry service. People choosing to use real nappies are still a small minority but a fastly growing group. Even if you decide only to use real nappies part of the time you can still make a difference.

There are no right or wrong choices and Pitter Patter Baby is not here to tell you what to do but just give you some advice. It's your right to make an informed decision, so don't be swayed by all those cute adverts for the best nappies in the world..... only you can be the judge of that!!