12 November 2004

Bold incentive scheme wins WEN Real Nappy Awards 2004 at national conference

Three Rivers Nappy Incentive Scheme was the overall winner in the WEN Real Nappy Awards '04. L-R: Maeve Murphy, Project Officer, WEN, Jennie Moore, Waste Minimisation Officer, Three Rivers District Council, Sue Doughty, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on the Environment, Mark Barthel, Director Waste Minimisation Programme, WRAP

The Three Rivers Nappy Incentive Scheme, which creates a virtuous circle to fund cloth nappy use, is the overall winner of Women’s Environmental Network’s (WEN’s) Real Nappy Awards 2004.

This is the second time the Awards have been held to recognise and reward the best schemes to promote waste-saving cloth nappies. The awards were presented at the Real Nappy Conference, 12 November, organised by WEN and WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) with sponsorship from WRAP.

Presenting the award, Sue Doughty, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson, said: “These deserving Award winners reflect the modern approach to promoting real nappies and are to be commended. I welcome the approach taken by WRAP and WEN to taking the issue of real nappies out of the fringe and into the mainstream. It’s a great way to show that being greener can be good for your pocket.”

Maeve Murphy, WEN Project Officer and Chair of the judging panel, said: “We were very excited about the Three Rivers scheme. It is a bold and innovative waste reduction programme. With a wheelie bin waste collection and good provision for recycling parents can pay for nappy sacks for disposables that don’t fit into the bin. It is cost-effective because money made on the nappy sacks is invested in the local cloth nappy incentive scheme, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the project.” The scheme offers cash-back to parents using cloth nappies.

Michael Webster of Three Rivers Nappy Incentive Scheme, in Herts, was thrilled to receive the Award, "Three Rivers are very pleased to win this award, especially given the quality of the other shortlisted entrants. Our scheme is designed to encourage all households producing nappy waste to bear some responsibility for this and actively seek alternatives to disposable nappies. Hopefully our experience has shown other local authorities and community groups that this can be carried out cheaply, simply and effectively."

"We intend to use the prize money to extend our educational activities to groups who may not be aware of the benefit of using real nappies, particularly younger mothers in more deprived parts of our district"

Three Rivers Nappy Incentive Scheme was the winner of the Large Projects category; Density for Sustainability was the runner up while the Notts Nappy Project and Cornish Real Nappy Project were highly commended. Sustainable Wallingford Nappy Trial won the Small Projects category with the Gloucestershire Real Nappy Project in second place and RenappinG highly commended.

The second annual Real Nappy Conference, Real Nappies a Real Opportunity for Waste Prevention, was organised by WEN and WRAP to bring people up to date with the latest developments in nappy waste reduction with presentations from England, the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

With nearly three billion nappies thrown away every year in the UK, disposable nappies present a prime opportunity for waste prevention. The benefits of cloth nappies are wide ranging: parents can save money, hospitals can save on clinical waste disposal costs and local authorities save on waste disposal costs.

In her keynote speech Sue Doughty highlighted the role of health professionals. “Extended choice through the advice of health professionals is vital. I would particularly like to see promotion of real nappies extended to Sure Start to make the option of real nappies available to as many parents as possible.”

Full details of the conference and awards are available on the website www.wen.org.uk

For media information contact Elizabeth Hartigan or Liz Sutton, Women’s Environmental Network, Tel: 020 7481 9004. Email: bibahartigan@aol.com Website: www.wen.org.uk/rnw
Pictures are available on request.

NOTES TO EDITORS
The Real Nappy Conference was held at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham 9.30-4pm 12th November 2004.

Judges’ notes:
Overall winner and winner of the Large Projects category
Three Rivers Nappy Incentive Scheme, Rickmansworth, Herts is a bold and innovative waste reduction programme that works. With a wheelie bin waste collection, and good provision for recycling, parents can pay for nappy sacks for disposables that don’t fit into the bin. It is cost-effective because money made on the nappy sacks is invested in the local cloth nappy incentive scheme, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the project.
Contact: Michael Webster email: michael.webster@threerivers.gov.uk tel: 01923 727034

Runner Up in the Large Projects category
Density for Sustainability, a scheme launched by community-based not for profit nappy service Nappy ever after, enables parents on low incomes to access the convenience of a nappy service. An innovative social enterprise in a densely populated urban area, the scheme lends itself very well to replication elsewhere and Nappy ever after already has plans to set up a new local laundry service. www.nappyeverafter.co.uk

Highly Commended in the Large Projects category
Cornish Real Nappy Project is an excellent, creative and broad project that developed out of a grassroots community-based approach. It shows what can be done with the right kind of involvement and support and is a good example of public-private partnership. The project is offering interest-free loans. Future plans include linking the nappy scheme with green tourism initiatives and an accreditation system for accommodation providers. They also plan to widen their scope with continence and women’s sanitary products awareness campaigns.

Highly Commended Large Projects category
Notts Nappy Project is a very innovative and imaginative trial scheme with good links to other programmes. The nappy trial follows on from extensive awareness raising work with lots of parental involvement. Parents return nappies when they don’t need them anymore; these are donated to a Romanian charity. There is also an opportunity to sell on unwanted nappies through the scheme. Future strategy includes getting real nappy info into training hospitals and universities.

Winner Small Projects category
Sustainable Wallingford Nappy Trial is a small but perfectly formed starter pack lending scheme that serves Wallingford in Oxfordshire and the surrounding villages. Lending trial kits is a very effective way to encourage use. This one is small but we were impressed by how successful it’s been, supported by an active internet discussion group.

Runner-Up Small Projects category
The Gloucestershire Real Nappy Project is an awareness-raising and nappy lending scheme, limited in scope but very organised and effective and with plans to expand. It takes a ‘think global, act local’ approach and shows what a committed individual can accomplish when backed by consistent support from the council and from health professionals who recognise how important word of mouth is and person-to-person support.

Highly Commended Small Projects category
ReNappinG is an anti-poverty scheme in Coalville, a deprived area of Leicestershire with a strong emphasis on health, childcare and social issues. The scheme is part of a wider effort to reduce poverty and social exclusion and improve childcare in the area. By getting parents from low-income families to save to cover the cost of using reusable nappies, the project demonstrates how virtuous cycles can be established for a more economically and environmentally sustainable lifestyle. It is innovative and easily replicated.

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Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) is a registered charity that campaigns on issues which link women, health and the environment. Always inclined to break new ground, WEN has recently produced a briefing centred on stress incontinence and the environment.

WRAP's mission is to accelerate resource efficiency by creating efficient markets for recycled materials and products, while removing barriers to waste minimisation, re-use and recycling. The WRAP Real Nappy programme is about offering choice and increasing the visibility of re-usable nappies. The target is to convert an additional 155,000 households to real nappy use by April 2006, and in the process divert 35,000 tonnes per annum of disposable nappy waste from landfill.

WEN’s Real Nappy Awards were first held in 2002 to recognise and reward the best schemes working to reduce nappy waste. The 2004 Awards are organised by WEN and with sponsorship from WRAP (the Waste and Resouces Action Programme).

Many organisations, local authorities, health professionals, businesses and local groups have been working in partnership to promote the use of cloth nappies. The Awards help to publicise the best schemes and encourage their replication in other areas.

Anyone working to promote real nappies or prevent disposable nappy waste is eligible to apply and there are separate categories for large and small schemes. Full details are available on the website www.wen.org.uk/nappies.

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Waste:
Britain throws away about 8 million nappies a day. With the cost to each local authority in hundreds of thousands of pounds per year on disposal (Nottinghamshire estimates £1 million per year) it is not surprising that nappy schemes now play a key role in local authorities’ waste strategies.

Cost:
WEN estimates that washing nappies at home can save about £500. Hospitals can save money too by using real nappies on wards where disposables incur clinical waste charges while local authorities save on waste disposal charges.

Modern nappies have advanced considerably over recent years. They are shaped and fitted and fastened without the need for pins. They come in a variety of styles and patterns and can be a fun part of baby’s wardrobe. A biodegradable liner is used inside the nappy and this can be removed so that the contents are flushed down the loo. Nappy washing services make things even easier, and these are springing up all round the country. Laundry services come and collect the dirty nappies, leaving fresh clean ones in their place.