Notes
Funding:
Falkirk Council £6,114
Stirling Council £4,558
Clackmannanshire Council £40
Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) £3,665
Total project cost £7,330
N.B. this does not reflect contributions in kind e.g. high level of staff
time contributed by all partners.
Aims:
Assess the current level of awareness and interest in the use of real
nappies across the Forth Valley (three council) area.
Raise the level of awareness and use of real nappies across the Forth
Valley area.
Reduce the amount of disposable nappies sent to landfill.
Stimulate and support a selection of sustainable real nappy business ventures.
Objectives:
Run a series of pilot projects over a 12 month period, distributing free
real nappy packs to families of varying socio-economic backgrounds in
order to find out what kind of service local people require and to raise
the level of awareness of various real nappy options.
Through a series of before and after questionnaires along with regular
feedback sessions, gather information about the practices of parents using
disposable nappies and later real nappies. Focus on cost, waste generated
and attitudes.
Run a rural pilot project, focusing on allowing parents in rural areas
and on low incomes to trial a wide variety of real nappies on a two week
free trial basis (before making a financial commitment).
Run a publicity campaign to recruit volunteers to take part and to encourage
the wider community to follow their progress.
Scheme History:
The project started as an article in the Falkirk Council in-house newsletter
offering a complete real nappy pack to one volunteer employee. Due to
the overwhelming response from employees coupled with a steadily building
level of enquiries from the public, it was decided that two pilot projects
be run to assess the level of interest and needs of those working and
living in Falkirk. An employee only pilot project was run first, to allow
any problems to be recognised and addressed on a manageable scale before
opening the scheme up to the public. Two months later, a publicity programme
called for residents of the area to volunteer for a similar project. This
was timed to coincide with Real Nappy Week in March 2004. Nearly 80 volunteers
came forward, with 23 being selected to take part in the pilot project.
Three local authorities play a lead role in the Forth Valley Real Nappy
Network and all three were keen to share experience and replicate where
possible. Stirling Council watched the Falkirk experience closely and
shortly afterwards launched a similar scheme which incorporated lessons
learnt. Again the response to the publicity was great, with 85 families
showing an interest in the project. Of those, 40 attended the introductory
sessions, and the number of sample packs available was increased to allow
all families who came forward to receive a pack of some sort. In recognition
of the rural nature of the area, the main pilot project was complemented
with the rural nappy library kit project, Nicer Nappies.
Clackmannanshire Council is much smaller and much more restricted in terms
of funds, however, it played a major role by focusing on awareness raising
and by supporting development of the Forth Valley’s first nappy
laundry service, Cotton Bottoms.
Six months on, a series of feedback sessions have been run with the three
councils working closely to pool results, replicating good practice where
possible. A special meeting of the Forth Valley Real Nappy Network in
October will examine results to date to decide:
i. Is there the demand for a Forth Valley wide real nappy project?
ii. What are the needs of parents?
iii. What resources are available?
iv. How can needs be sustainably met?
Scheme:
The project has two main strands which operate quite differently. The
main strand is the ‘Real Nappy Project’ and involves giving
free packs to volunteers who will supply feedback in return. The minor
strand is the ‘Nicer Nappies Project’ and involves a nappy
library where parents can borrow a variety of nappy types to test them
with no cost or financial risk.
i) Real Nappy Project
Who Is Taking Part?
Volunteers were recruited to take part in a series of real nappy trials
in three local authority areas. Volunteers were asked to take a pack of
real nappies and trial them for a set period of time and then provide
feedback on their experiences of the product and impact on their lifestyle.
The project aimed to select volunteers from a wide variety of socio-economic
and geographical backgrounds to reflect the profiles of the local authority
areas.
What Do They Do?
A relatively small number of volunteers received a full real nappy pack
worth around £200. Another small group received half packs which
would enable parents to either switch between real and disposable nappies
or upgrade to a full pack themselves. A larger number of volunteers received
a sample pack containing one outer cover, three nappies and a supply of
biodegradable liners, to give them a taster of using real nappies. Mother
Ease nappies were selected based on recommendations from established projects
elsewhere in the UK.
Data Collection and Support
Key elements of the project are monitoring and support by project administrators,
coupled with feedback from volunteers. Everybody that expressed an interest
was invited to attend a series of information sessions to explain what
was involved and how real nappies work. All recipients of packs attended
an introduction session to ensure that they understood how to use the
nappies. A comprehensive ongoing support service complements this.
Recipients of sample packs were asked to feed back once through a series
of feedback sessions. Those that received half and full packs were asked
to feed back four times over a 12 month period.
What Will We Do With the Results?
The results will be used to establish whether or not there is sufficient
interest and demand for a larger scale project, either across individual
local authority areas or across Forth Valley as a whole. A wide variety
of stakeholders such as Waste Strategy Coordinators, real nappy businesses,
SEPA and the Scottish Office were consulted and contributed to the questionnaires
used. A series of interim and post project reports will be produced with
the final report being made publicly
available. It is hoped that the results will also help to inform the decisions
of businesses exploring the potential of the area.
ii) Nicer Nappies Project
This project was trialed only in the Stirling Council area to address
its largely rural nature. Depending on the outcomes of the project, it
may be rolled out across the whole of the Forth Valley area.
The primary aim of Nicer Nappies is to get families to experience washable
nappy systems without having to make a financial investment based on no
experience. Families to whom the financial savings would make the greatest
difference are generally those who feel least able to handle the initial
investment or financial risk. This project aims to focus on that group,
encouraging mums to be and those who are already using disposable nappies
to give washables a try, to prove or disprove that they are difficult
to incorporate into their lives.
Everything that they need is included in a nappy library kit which contains
samples of a wide variety of real nappy brands and types. The kit is dropped
off and collected by the Project Coordinator and a training session is
delivered. During the loan period, the Coordinator also provides additional
support by phone and/ or e-mail. At the end of the loan period, the project
helps families to choose and purchase the nappies that best suit.
In addition to the loan service, the project provides washable nappy training
for other key ‘nappy stakeholders’ such as nursery and playgroup
staff, childminders, midwives, health visitors and GPs.
Promotion:
· Local radio (to address literacy issue) – interview of
Project Support Officer
· E-mails – to all employees of Falkirk and Stirling Councils.
· Promotional banners – Councils and SEPA produced series
of vertical banners and displays to circulate around libraries and other
public venues.
· Series of public talks to Clackmannanshire community groups.
· Flyers for the rural ‘Nicer Nappies’ library project
- distributed via local shops and post office, mobile library, nurseries,
child health clinic and GP surgery.
· This project focuses on working largely with the general public,
although local health centres and midwives have helped to raise the project’s
profile. Along with the project and at a more strategic level, Forth Valley
Real Nappy Network has been and continues to work closely with health
professionals across the area to raise awareness of real nappies.
Scheme Monitoring:
Pre-Project
In drawing up the pre-project questionnaire, it was necessary to ensure
that all potential stakeholders had the opportunity to contribute. It
was clear that the Scottish Executive, the councils’ Waste Strategy
Coordinators and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency were very
keen to see data on waste diverted from landfill. These bodies and many
others contributed valuable questions and feedback. In addition to the
questionnaire, volunteers were asked to provide a day’s worth of
soiled disposable nappies in exchange for their real nappy packs.
Interim
All participants were invited to a series of feedback sessions to explain
how they had found the experience to date. Each attendee fills in an interim
questionnaire with phone interviews conducted with those unable to attend.
The Project Support Officer is in regular contact with volunteers either
by phone or in person and provides a quarterly progress report to Falkirk
and Stirling Councils.
Post-Project
In addition to pre-project and interim questionnaires, volunteers will
be asked to fill in a post project questionnaire. These will gather both
quantitative and qualitative information which will be used to inform
the Project Support Officer’s final report.
Replication
The success of the Falkirk project led to it being replicated and broadened
in Stirling as well as Clackmannanshire to some extent. A number of other
Scottish local authorities have expressed an interest in running a similar
scheme in their areas. All information gathered is and will continue to
be made publicly available.
Achievements:
Weight of nappies– volunteers were asked to exchange a bag containing
24 hours’ worth of disposable nappies for their real nappy pack.
Younger children used a greater number of nappies which weighed less and
contained less waste. Older children used fewer nappies but these and
their waste weighed more. The average weight of disposable nappies collected
in 24 hours was 1.0 Kg.
Awareness Raising
· Stirling Council have received in excess of 110 enquiries about
real nappies, prompting the development of the Forth Valley Real Nappy
Information Leaflet.
· Series of awareness raising events, including:
17th January Balquhidder Community Waste Fair
28th February Thornhill Eco Fair
24th April Balfron High Community Waste Fair
8th May Dunblane Community Waste Fair
3-5th June Stirling Home Event
17th July Killin Community Waste Fair
26th September Kinneil Heritage Fair
Benefits of the Scheme for partners involved:
Councils & Agencies
· Public Relations & Solutions: The councils have been receiving
an ever increasing number of enquiries about real nappies from the general
public as well as politicians. Forth Valley residents are moving onto
a new kerbside collection system which involves a fortnightly refuse collection,
and consequently many families are looking for practical ways to reduce
their waste. The councils are now able to provide a positive reply to
queries.
· Savings and decision making: Forth Valley councils spend in the
region of £500,000 on the disposal of nappies per year and they
are keen to investigate options to reduce this fee. Whilst the reductions
incurred through a pilot scheme may be modest, they are valuable indicators
of outputs of any potential area-wide scheme.
· Data: Up until now, very little data has been available on actual
weights of disposable nappies sent to landfill, especially derived from
Scottish sources. Scottish local authorities and funders have specifically
requested the collation of local data.
· SEPA: The Agency is tasked with leading the National Waste Strategy
and is keen to support partnership working, community involvement and
the collection of data. This project scores highly on all three fronts.
Local Businesses:
· Local real nappy retailers: As direct result of project, the
main local retailer has sold an additional 11 full packs with total value
of £2,200. Many users of sample packs and members of the public
who felt unable to take part in the project, have purchased additional
stock worth an estimated £1,000.
· New nappy laundry: Unfortunately this new venture was too late
to be included in the schemes as an option, however, they are now closely
involved in the project. It is hoped that data gathered will aid the development
of the business.
· Local businesses: Two local shops have contacted project co-ordinators
for advice and now stock a selection of real nappies as a direct result
of the publicity surrounding this project.
· Community enterprise sector: This group of local businesses continues
to explore new ventures as many of their niches are taken over by the
waste industry. A number of local groups are exploring the potential for
involvement with real nappies.
Environmental Impact:
· Environmental laundry training: Volunteers supplied with biodegradable
liners, tee tree oil and camomile tea to encourage alternatives to chemicals,
minimise use of electricity and reduce impact on sewerage system.
· UK sourcing: Majority of nappies in Nicer Nappies library are
British made.
· Waste reduction: Initial contact to Council employees was via
e-mail rather than by widely distributing paper copies of information.
Contact with many of the public volunteers has also been electronic.
· Recycled products: All promotional literature and information
has been printed on recycled paper.
· Public Transport: Venues which are easily accessible via public
transport have been used for volunteer sessions.
Future Plans:
The Forth Valley Real Nappy Network plans to meet in the near future to
review the 12- month pilot project at this, the half way point. This will
be the most crucial part of the overall project and one can only guess
at some of the key discussion points and ideas at this stage.
The councils appear to be amenable to the idea of ploughing potential
savings into a Forth Valley wide project. Ways that this money COULD best
be used might include:
· Administration costs of a weekly pay back scheme – possibly
run by a local community enterprise group or Credit Union.
· Rebate on purchase of real nappies from variety of suppliers/
laundry
· Rebate on Council Tax bills
One of the most important elements of any larger scale follow-on project
would be the lessons learnt at the pilot stage including:
· Offering a selection of nappy types
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