In a move against throwaway culture, a growing number of parents across Scotland are embracing reusable nappies.

Every year, around 57,000 tonnes of nappies from Scottish household waste ends up in landfill.

This is about 3.2% of all non-recyclable waste in the home, according to Zero Waste Scotland. And, once nappies get to landfill, each disposable will take several hundred years to degrade.

Armed with these facts, some parents have turned away from the disposables, and the concept of 'nappy libraries' has been growing.

Most are run by volunteers, who have chosen to use reusable nappies - which are also called cloth or real nappies, with the libraries designed to give people a chance to share their experiences. Many also run free nappy trials.

The nappy library volunteers

Laura Graham hadn't considered the types of nappies she would use until her bin began filling up with disposables.

"The nappy mound slightly horrified me," she says.

Seeking information from the Dumfries and Galloway Nappy Library, she found it difficult getting the right fit for her baby at first, and admits she would have found it tough to continue without the support from the library.

Amy Moore decided to open a nappy library after realising her own experience of using cloth nappies could have been a lot easier If she had more peer-to-peer support.

"It was quite a minefield of information," says the founder of West Lothian Real Nappy Library. "The more I tried to learn, the more information I seemed to find.

"I started to think back to what I was doing at the very start and how much I had learned over the course of the year of using the nappy.

"If you are not really familiar with how the nappies work, how often you should be changing them and the different materials that you can get to boost absorbency, then you can get leaks.

"Had I known then what I know now then things might have been a bit easier."

Laura Nicholson found that going back to basics and encouraging conversations between local parents was helpful against the barrage of information they face when their first child is born.

"Even when a parent does decide to research cloth nappies, there is so much information online, that it can be very hard to know where to start," Laura, who volunteers at the Fife Real Nappy Library, says.

"A short nappy demo by a nappy library can make all the difference. Just showing the nappies and explaining how they work and having the options to try cloth nappies through a hire scheme, it's a great way to try them out.

Sarah Mollins was so thankful for the help she got from a library with her first child that she now volunteers with Perth Nappies and Slings.

All three of her sons have been in reusable nappies. "We try to reduce our impact by recycling so using cloth helps us in that goal of sending less to landfill," she says.

Turning a passion into a business

It's not just the volunteers of these libraries who are passionate about cloth nappies.

When Fiona Smyth had her first son 21 years ago, there was very little choice of cloth nappies options, and so she opted for disposables.

But the decision played on her mind and when she was pregnant with her second child three years later, she decided to do further research.

"I felt quite guilty using the disposables on my son," Fiona says. "My conscience wouldn't allow me to stick with them."

Kitted with an old towel and a sewing machine, Fiona designed the first TotsBots nappy from her kitchen table.

Eighteen years on, the Glasgow company now sells in over 30 countries worldwide but it is only more recently that Fiona says she has felt public awareness building.

"We have been talking about this for such a long time," she says. "Even four or five years ago, we would say it was quite disheartening that people still didn't know anything about cloth nappies.

"There is definitely a wave now and I don't think it is going to go back.

"The biggest barrier to people going down the cloth nappy route is information and actually finding out that they are available."

The baby box, she adds, would have been the perfect mouthpiece for giving more parents information.

The baby box

Launched in 2017, the baby box was based upon a Finnish model. However, unlike the Finnish box, the Scottish version did not include a reusable nappy.

This is something the Scottish Government say they are considering, with a government spokesperson confirming they are looking at the possibility of including a redeemable voucher for these nappies in future baby boxes.

Add to this, The Scottish Government's ambitious target to try and reduce all waste by 15% and recycle 70% by 2025, mother Eva Groeneveld says she thinks this sort of awareness promotion would be a "no brainer".

She is especially in favour of using a voucher as an opt in system rather than a nappy in each box to help parents with the initial upfront costs of reusable nappies.

"I spent £100 on nappies and the set is being used for my second child so I am saving a fortune," Eva says.

"So it helps people on limited budgets, but the upfront cost is high so a voucher would help people reduce that upfront cost.

"Landfill costs are so high so if people throw away fewer nappies then council budgets are spared. You can put more teachers in schools and things like that. It is kind of a no brainer for a lot of people."

The history of the disposable

Disposable nappies first came on the scene in 1947 when mother-of-six Valerie Hunter Gordon created PADDI, inspired by the fact that she found washing nappies a laborious job.

They remained popular until the 1960s and with the arrival of American brand Pampers and the concept of the all-in-one nappies.

Today, most supermarkets stock a variety of disposable brands and types. In the future, mother Nikky Ginns would like to see more reusable nappies on the shelves.

"The fact that cloth nappies are not readily available in most high street shops means people can't have a look at them, feel the material or get an idea of how they work," Nikki, a volunteer at the Ayrshire Sling Library says.

"Being able to access the library and see first-hand how to use them really helps people to understand how to get them working for their family."

The preconceptions

When Falkirk Real Library volunteer Ruth Paulton Gliori decided to try reusable nappies, she remembers the quizzical looks she received.

"My mother actually thought I was a bit crazy to try reusable nappies because she remembers how she struggled with terry nappies and buckets of bleach," Ruth says.

"The top question is always 'but what do you do with the poo?' to which I tell them exactly what we do - shake it out or rinse it in the toilet."

Ruth says their own routine only requires an extra two or three washes a week, an effort she feels is worth it when driving past a local landfill and smelling the rubbish lying within it.

After hearing of these preconceptions, Kate Faith's own positive experience motivated her to set up East Dunbartonshire Cloth Nappies and chat to other parents about the concept.

"Using real nappies is a lot like other elements of parenting," she says. "It seems overwhelming when it's new but with a little guidance and support, people find their way."

"Many people hear 'real nappy' and think of the terry squares and pins that grandparents would have used.

"In reality, modern cloth nappies are very different - they are easy to put on, easy to wash, reliable and convenient."

A choice

From April 23 to April 29, many of the libraries across Scotland will be joining in the nationwide Real Nappy Week campaign with the aim of spreading the word about cloth nappies.

While Jen Marshall would love to see more babies wearing them, the mother-of-two says it is also really important that parents don't feel pressured into a decision.

Co-running the Lanarkshire Real Nappy project, she welcomes anyone interested to come to their library, or one near them, even if they then decide to use disposable or opt for a combination of both.

"It very much doesn't have to be everything or nothing," she says.

"For me, reusable nappies are my thing to try and help the planet a bit more so that there is still a nice green planet for my children."