Tinkle ECO Biodegradable Bamboo Nappies & Pants – disposables that go easy on our planet, made from sustainable, hypoallergenic and plant-based materials.

 

The Breakdown

Tinkle ECO biodegradable nappies & pants are plant-based, sustainably harvested and free of nasties. Independent testing has shown that they will break down so much faster than traditional disposable nappies, as they are as biodegradable as it’s possible for a nappy to be.

After use, Tinkle ECO biodegradable nappies & pants will start breaking down almost straight away – so even if you just throw them in the bin they will already be starting to degrade by the time they get to landfill. And although landfill doesn’t naturally promote biodegradability (it is densely packed and lacking in natural microbes, oxygen and light), once they have been exposed to light and air the compostable elements of the nappies will continue to break down. Most of the nappy will have biodegraded within a couple of years – around the same speed as a banana peel!
This is so much quicker than the 400-500 years required to break down a traditional disposable nappy, or the decades-to-centuries required to break down polyester, spandex and PUL-lined cloth nappy covers.

This means that in landfill Tinkle ECO biodegradable nappies & pants will still do their biodegrading thing without any extra help. And if you don’t want to send them to landfill, you can compost them (under certain conditions – see more below) to speed up the process and put your used nappies to work in your garden.

The packaging is certified compostable also – each batch of nappies is freshly made to order for us, packed into compostable bags and then protected by cardboard outer boxes, all printed with plant-based inks.

 

What’s in Tinkle ECO biodegradable nappies and pants?

The materials contained in our nappies are simple:

100% Bamboo Fibre
Fluff Pulp (Chlorine-Free Pine Cellulose)
SAP (Super Absorbent Polymer)
Elastic Waistband & Cuffs
Velcro Tabs.

100% Bamboo Fibre

This is the stuff that makes up the body of the nappy with its top and bottom sheets – practically everything you touch and see on the outside is made of this 100% biodegradable bamboo fibre.
Our bamboo is sustainably sourced, fast growing, requires no fertiliser, self-regenerating, and uses much less water to grow than cotton. There was no deforestation required to set up space for our bamboo to grow in, and there are no herbicides or pesticides needed to enhance its quality.

Fluff Pulp (Total Chlorine Free & FSC approved)

This is plant-based (pine cellulose), 100% biodegradable, and is the stuff that quickly absorbs most of the ‘liquid output’ (urine, or wee) that your child will produce, in order to keep their skin dry. It lives in the absorbent core of the nappy.

  • Our fluff pulp is produced using Total Chlorine Free bleaching technologies (oxygen, hydrogen peroxide and ozone). This means that it meets the safety regulations for food and hygiene industries, is better for our environment, and contains no chlorine compound residues.
  • The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) approval shows that it comes from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits for everyone involved.

Sumitomo SAP (Super Absorbent Polymer)

This is a polymer resin that is present in all disposable nappies, as it has the ability to quickly absorb and retain large volumes of liquid. When the water absorption reaches saturation, it changes from a powder or granular state to a hydrogel state. Our manufacturer is working to find an effective biodegradable SAP, so watch this space!

  • SAP is non-toxic, and allows the nappy to feel dryer against baby’s skin. It’s also so effective that there’s only about ½ a teaspoon of SAP in each nappy! This is much less than you’ll find in standard disposable nappies.
  • If you home-compost our nappies it is great in the garden, especially around ornamental trees and plants that are in dry areas or need extra water.

Elastic Waistband & Cuffs and Velcro Tabs

These are fairly self-explanatory – elastic for stretchiness around the waistband and leg cuffs, and velcro pinch tabs to secure the nappies.

  • These are the other small part of our nappies which are not biodegradable – yet! However our manufacturers are already working on how to make bamboo-based velcro plus natural glues that will break down along with the rest of the nappy. We need it to work just as well as the standard velcro works, before we can start using it on our nappies – but we are hopeful that they will succeed soon.

 

Disposing of Tinkle ECO biodegradable bamboo nappies and pants

Option 1: Most people simply dispose of our nappies along with their general household waste, knowing that the compostable parts will biodegrade within a couple of years in landfill. By doing this we are significantly reducing the burden on our planet by minimising the amount of disposable nappies sitting in landfill.

Option 2: If you have access to a commercial composting system, this is the quickest way to biodegrade our nappies. Unfortunately most commercial compost facilities in NZ don’t accept human waste. It would be great if everyone could put pressure on their local councils to start investing in commercial composting facilities which can deal with biodegradable nappies!

Option 3: Knowing that they are biodegradable, some people want to compost their used nappies at home – yay! Cold home compost systems aren’t suitable for composting used nappies, but it can be done under hot compost conditions.
If you do choose to compost nappies yourself, please keep in mind that you should only home-compost wet nappies, and not nappies that contain solid waste (poos). This is because, unlike commercial composters, even hot home composters don’t get hot enough to kill the pathogens that may be found in solid waste. We recommend that you dispose of nappies containing solid waste with the rest of your general household rubbish (remembering that they will still break down centuries faster than other disposable nappies in landfill) and only compost urine-filled nappies at home. This will safely allow the resulting compost to be used around the non-edible, ornamental plants in your garden – to avoid potential pathgens, please do not use compost made with home-composted nappies on food gardens.

If you’ve never heard of hot composting, this is one of the simplest guides we’ve found to creating a hot compost system at home: https://www.growveg.com.au/guides/hot-composting-made-simple/

To compost biodegradable nappies and pants at home:

  1. Remove the waistband and tabs and dispose of these in your general waste.
  2. Cut the nappy in half down the middle to expose the inner core.
  3. Be sure to add a good mix with it to your composter to aid in biodegradation, eg brown dried leaves, fresh cut grass and fruit & vegetable kitchen waste.
  4. Turn the compost every 2-3 weeks to oxygenate the pile.
  5. Use the finished compost for grass, shrubs, flowers and other non-edible, ornamental plants. To avoid potential pathgens, please do not use compost made with home-composted nappies on food gardens.