Women's Environmental Network
Real Nappy Schemes -
Promoting Waste Prevention Through Partnership

This index has been compiled with the generous co-operation of the many organisations involved in real nappy partnerships. WEN would like to thank everyone who participated in its creation. The information published has been provided by the 'partnerships' and there are not yet any national standard methods for information gathering and calculations. Publication here does not imply endorsement by WEN of any particular methodology.

If you are actively promoting real nappies in partnership with another organisation and would like your scheme to be included in our index please e-mail nappies@wen.org.uk

 Funded by

Bum Deal, St Helens
Areas Served St Helens
Type of Scheme Anti-poverty
Start Year 2003
End Year 2006

New Real Nappy Users 40
No. of Temporary Jobs 0
No. of Permanent Jobs 1
Waste Prevented (tonnes) 60.8
Money Saved on Expenditure
Money Saved on Disposal 

Partners
St Helen's Metropolitan Borough Council Contact: Linda Stevenson Tel: 01744 456 442 Email: lindastevenson@sthelens.gov.uk

Government Office NorthWest

Merseyside hospitals/clinics

Tops for Bottoms

Sure Start Groups, Merseyside

St Helen's Metropolitan Borough Council

Notes
Funding:

The Bum Deal Project received £13,650.00 from the Health Action Zone (HAZ) which funded 20 places on a subsidised Nappy Laundry Scheme. It also received £18,250 from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF), which funded a further 20 places with the condition that the money would be used to assist lower income families in the area.

Aims:
  • To give parents in the St Helens area a viable alternative to disposable nappies.

  • To subsidise a laundry service to make it accessible to lower income families.

  • To widely publicise the benefits of real nappies from an environmental perspective, as a healthy option for baby and as a money saver for parents.

  • To reduce the tonnage of disposable nappies that are being sent to landfill.

  • To promote frequent nappy changing as an important health issue for parents.

  • To create a core of parents who use real nappies and can pass on the benefits to friends and family and make a sustainable contribution.
Scheme History:

St Helens Council has worked in partnership with Tops for Bottoms Laundry Service since April 2002 to offer a subsidised cotton nappy laundering service to St Helens residents. The scheme, known as ‘Bum Deal’, paid 40 registration fees to the nappy laundry service (four week free trial) and reduced the cost of using cotton nappies by subsidising the weekly laundry charge from £7 to £3.50 per week. The Bum Deal Scheme was the first real nappy scheme to be subsided by a local authority in Merseyside.

Funded by the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) and the St Helens Health Partnership (HAZ) the scheme provided cotton nappies, wraps, bio liners, a bin and deodorisers, collected soiled nappies for laundering and delivered clean nappies to the door. Since the start of the project in April 2002 it is estimated that 182,480 disposable nappies have been diverted from landfill. The project aimed to make cotton nappies accessible to lower income families whilst minimising waste. However, the NRF funding finished in March 2004 and the HAZ funding will stop in March 2005. As a Council there is a commitment to waste minimisation and the scheme continues to seek funding to extend the positive work of this minimisation scheme.

Scheme:

Parents that have heard of the Bum Deal scheme through advertisements, health professionals or friends and family can contact the council department for information and to arrange a home visit. Home visits are conducted with a representative from the Council and Tops for Bottoms Laundry Service. During the visit the laundry service is fully explained, the nappies are demonstrated and any questions answered. If the parents are happy with the scheme they can sign up to a month’s free trial of the laundry service (subsidised from the Council funding). The scheme provides all equipment: nappies, wraps, bio liners and four weeks of the laundry service collection and delivery. After the month they can sign up to the scheme and the Bum Deal funding reduces the weekly laundry costs from £7 to £3.50, it also offers new wraps at a reduced rate. The client pays the reduced rate to Tops for Bottoms weekly either in cash or by standing order direct from their bank. Tops for Bottoms then send monthly invoices to the Council to pay for the service.

Promotion:
  • The Council Website contains information on the scheme and related press releases. The majority of Council employees are aware of the Bum Deal Scheme. Notices are posted on the Council Intranet. Articles are also written in the “Council@Work” Magazine. Importantly the Contact Centre which deals with borough wide customer service phone calls are fully aware of the scheme. Residents who request additional refuse bins because they find their bin fills quickly with disposable nappies from their young children are often referred to the Bum Deal scheme by the Contact Centre as a method of waste minimisation.

  • ‘Pick me up’ newsletter often contains articles relating to the Bum Deal scheme which is posted quarterly to the 400 members of the Community Action Network in St Helens.

  • Baby Groe Magazine advertisements.

  • GP Surgeries magazine advertisement.

  • St Helens Show nappy demonstrations.

  • Health Partnership events.

  • Publicity materials and displays have been available to residents at over 30 different events and environmental talks that the department has attended over the last year.

  • Newspaper articles, particularly a Guardian Newspaper article for Real Nappy Week and local newspaper articles. Along with press releases which were generated from covering the Town Hall steps with bin bags (which signified the number of disposable nappies a baby uses in a year) for Real Nappy Week.

  • Application for and success in the 2004 Merseyside Local Agenda 21 Awards.
Scheme Monitoring:

For the first month parents on the scheme are asked to keep a diary of problems that they may have encountered whilst using the nappies and laundry service. Common problems are identified from these written accounts and assistance given to overcome issues. Comprehensive questionnaires are sent to all clients to contribute to the annual report figures and those who drop out after the first month trial are asked to complete a questionnaire giving reasons for not continuing.

Achievements:
  • The scheme has provided 40 full time places with a nappy laundry service. An additional waiting list has been compiled, the majority of which went directly to Tops for Bottoms to sign up to the full price scheme.

  • Since the scheme began 182,480 disposable nappies have been diverted from landfill.

  • The scheme has achieved a greater level of awareness of real nappy options in St Helens.

  • Links have been created with nurseries and Sure Start groups who have decided to use cotton nappies from information gathered from the Bum Deal Scheme.

  • The level of awareness of the scheme is measured by monitoring the number of people who visited the displays at the various events.

  • It is also evaluated by the number of people who took part in the ‘Real Nappy Challenge’ at the ‘Waste Not Want Not’ event in the town centre at the end of March 2004.

  • We also record the number of promotional leaflets that are distributed, the number of referrals recorded by Tops for Bottoms and the number of calls registered by the Councils Contact Centre.
Benefits of the Scheme for partners involved:
  • St Helens Council and Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority benefit from the potentially reduced landfill costs by diverting182,480 disposable nappies from landfill.

  • Sure Start Nursery Groups feel that by offering cotton nappies as an option to parents they are providing a greater level of service, whilst reducing their trade waste costs.

  • Tops for Bottoms, have a secure market for their service with a guaranteed number of clients and promotional support of their business.

  • Support and publicity for other real nappy related companies such as Cut 4 Cloth who produce clothes to fit babies wearing cotton nappies.

  • Health Partnerships are able to address parenting and health issues in the community through promoting the scheme.

  • Social benefits of assisting parents in lower income families, providing access to a service they may usually be unable to afford. Encourages frequent baby changing and allows them to make an environmentally conscious choice for their child.

  • Bum Deal has also proven to be a great financial help to parents with multiple children; four families with twins, one family with triplets and two foster families have been on the scheme.

  • Midwives have become interested in the scheme and have passed on contact information to expectant parents.

  • Local Authority support for cotton nappies has ensured a market for the local laundry service, Tops for Bottoms. Providing places has guaranteed customers for the company and has enabled them to expand the business with the knowledge of a steady income. The running of the project has been undertaken by the Environmental Protection Department, however an Environmental Assistant has been employed by the Council to run various projects including the Bum Deal Scheme on a full time basis for 2 years.
Environmental Impact:

Laundry Service uses environmentally friendly detergents, monitors water usage, and uses 100% cotton nappies and biodegradable liners.

Home visits are arranged in blocks to avoid unnecessary travelling. Deliveries are also coordinated by areas so that mileage is kept to a minimum.

Future Plans:
To remove the weekly subsidy and pay for the full registration fee which will enable the project to be available to a larger number of people. To provide resources for residents to wash their own cotton nappies at home, in the form of a full birth to potty pack at a reduced price. To employ a dedicated project coordinator on a part time basis to conduct home visits, attend antenatal clinics, speak to health professionals and identify new products. To work more closely with health professionals to increase awareness of options available to parents. To become part of a Merseyside Real Nappy Network with the five other local authorities and Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority to provide consistency of service provision across the region.

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