Cloth nappies cost between

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• Cloth nappies cost between 100-400 as opposed
  to disposable at 800-1,200 for the 2.5 years of
  normal nappy use.
• 3 billion nappies are thrown away in the UK each
  year with 90 going to landfill. They can take
  up to 500 years to decompose.
• Disposables make up 4 of total household waste
  and up to 50 of that of families with one baby
• Disposable nappies use up to 5 times more energy
  to produce than cotton ones that's including
  the washing process .
• Seven million trees are felled every year in
  Canada and Scandinavia to supply the pulp for
  disposables sold in the UK.

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One of the Surprising Properties of Polymers
Nappies use a type of polymer in their lining.
Sodium poly(acrylate) absorbs 500 times its own
mass of water.
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Chemical Background
Sodium polyacrylate is a polymer with a molecular
weight of over one million! Groups called sodium
carboxylate are attached along the backbone.
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