Councils encourage parents to get real!
Oxfordshire councils, through Oxfordshire Waste Partnership (OWP), are launching a nappy trial kit for Real Nappy Week 2009 (27 April - 3 May) to encourage parents to 'get real'.
OWP has provided funding for real nappy trial kits to be located throughout the county. New parents who would like to give real nappies a try, but are apprehensive about paying for a full set of nappies, can now try them out completely free of charge.
Each kit contains at least ten of the most modern styles and brands of nappies, with all the necessary accessories. The kits will be supplied by existing nappy sellers in Oxfordshire, who will explain how each nappy works before the trial starts.
Sophie Garner and Sally Eccleston are mothers who have used real nappies on their children and are helping to run the scheme through their roles as nappy advisors for Lollipop. Sophie says "It's great that we can offer parents a free test run with real nappies. There are so many nappies available and by taking a free trial parents will get a test run to see which type suits their circumstances and baby." Sally adds, "As well as giving information about how to use the nappies, we’ll be offering help and support as we’ve used the nappies ourselves."
Parents will be able to use the nappies for up to two weeks and if they decide to use them instead of disposables could save themselves over £1000 for the time their baby is in nappies.
In addition to saving parents money, real nappies save the council tax payer too. Each baby in washable nappies saves about a tonne of disposable nappies which if sent to the landfill site would ultimately cost the council.
Cllr John Tanner, OWP chair was amazed by the wide range of modern re-useable nappies. He says: "When our kids were young we used reusable cloth nappies mainly because of cost. I hope parents will give real nappies a try because it's much cheaper and much better for the environment. We hope these new kits will highlight the convenience and cost benefits of using (real) reusable nappies. Parents wanting to have a real nappy trial should call our recycling helpline on 08450 50 45 50."
To further support real nappies OWP is sponsoring two Real Nappy Fairs in the county this year. The events will bring real nappy users, sellers and experts together with health care professionals to show just how easy and cost effective a 21st century real nappy can be.
Mother of four, Christine McRitchie of Plush Pants Cloth Nappies has run real nappy fairs before. She says, "It's great that OWP are helping us with these events. In the past we've been able to offer help and advice to parents and soon to be parents who just didn’t know a thing about real nappies. I've noticed more interest in real nappies in the last few months, with parents quoting saving money alongside reducing waste as their main reasons for choosing washable nappies. We hope that these events and the trial kits will enable us to show more people that modern real nappies are so much easier to use."
The first Real Nappy Fair will take place at Clifton Hampden Village Hall on Saturday 11 July between 10am and 12pm.
