The numbers associated with disposable nappies

Figures

• 1.375 Billion disposable nappies are used annually in Australia and New Zealand.
• 3.75 Million disposable nappies are dumped every single day in these two nations alone.
• 3 Million trees are felled every year to make disposable nappies for Australia and New Zealand.
• 100 intestinal viruses leach from untreated human waste at rubbish dumps, contaminating ground water at land fill and creating risks to sanitation workers.
• 50% of total household waste will be disposable nappies, in a household with one baby using disposable nappies full time.
• 2 Tonnes of landfill are created by each baby in disposable nappies full time.
• The average temperature of a boy's testicles in a disposable nappy is 1 degree hotter – possibly related to increases in infertility and testicular cancer of the last 25 years.
• It takes as much energy to produce one throw away nappy as it does to wash one reusable nappy 200 times.

Figures from the Zero Waste New Zealand website.

Every disposable nappy ever used still exists today as they take centuries to break down. To put it into perspective, if King Henry VIII was put in disposable nappies, they would only just be breaking down now.