The Environment Agency has issued a report comparing the environmental effects of disposable, home laundered cloth nappies and commercially laundered cloth nappies. It found that ‘there is no substantial difference between the environmental impacts of the three systems studied’. The agency, which compared every element of production for both cloth and disposables as well as the method of disposal, said that the effects of a child wearing any kind of nappy for the first two and a half years of its life had the same impact as ‘driving a car between 1300 and 2200 miles.’ However, it did offer advice on reducing the environmental impact of each method. For example, parents using cloth nappies could wash them at a lower temperature in a larger load.