8
June 2005
Over 80%
of local authorities support Real Nappy Week 2005
Over
390 local authorities are supporting Real Nappy Week 20-26 June 2005.
Now in its ninth year, this vital waste prevention campaign has never
been more widespread. There are activities planned across Southern England
and the rest of the UK, as well as in Ireland, New Zealand and Mexico.
Real Nappy Week is the annual focus of the real nappy campaign, funded
by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) and co-ordinated
by Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) working with the Real Nappy
Campaign. The aim is to engage with parents nationwide to help them
make an informed choice about real nappies and single-use disposables.
The Real Nappy Campaign will deliver a national educational programme
of activity to raise awareness of washable real nappies, which will
be supported throughout the week by regional and local activities across
the UK co-ordinated by WEN.
WRAP director Phillip Ward says, "Local activities and events
have been organised throughout the UK to give parents-to-be and new
parents a chance to find out all they need to make an informed choice
about what type of nappies to use. Real nappies reduce waste - that's
what Real Nappy Week is all about."
There are plenty of opportunities for parents to see for themselves
what real nappies are really like. There will be a Bear Bottoms event
at Newquay Zoo with teddy bears in rainbow nappies hidden around the
zoo; an Environmentally Friendly Parenting Fair in Blandford, Dorset;
a Nappuccino coffee morning in Southampton; nappy roadshows in Petersfield,
Hastings, Eastbourne, Alfriston; a swim party in Brighton; nappy displays
in Margate, Portsmouth, Jersey and across Devon; real nappy roadshows
across Somerset; a presentation of real nappies to the first baby born
at a Portsmouth hospital followed by a mums and babies tea party; and
a baby fashion show and a sponsored baby walk in Salisbury. To find
out what is happening in your area visit www.wen.org.uk/rnw/whats_on.htm
Local authorities promote real nappy use to reduce the amount of waste
going to scarce landfill space. Three billion nappies a year - eight
million a day - are thrown away in the UK.
“Real nappies put parents in control,” says WEN’s
Elizabeth Hartigan. “All nappies have an environmental impact,
but by washing nappies at home parents could save waste, save money
and help the environment. The only way to reduce the environmental impact
of disposables is to use fewer nappies, but that is not a good idea.
Simply by adopting a sensible washing routine, parents could reduce
the effect their babies’ nappies have on the environment."
The Real Nappy Helpline 0845 850 0606 gives callers
details of their local cloth nappy contacts whether they want to buy
them to wash at home or use a laundry service. For more information
on real nappies visit
www.realnappycampaign.com
Ends
Further
media information: visit www.realnappycampaign.com,
or contact Laura Jansen or Naomi Westland, Women’s Environmental
Network, Tel: 020 7481 9004. Email: nappies3@wen.org.uk,
comms2@wen.org.uk
Notes
to editors:
Environment: Many parents use just 20-24 nappies. Washing
them at 60oC in an energy efficient washing machine saves
24% global warming impact over that suggested in the Environment Agency
report – Life Cycle Assessment of reusable and disposable nappies
May 2005.
Waste:
Britain throws away about eight million nappies a day. With a disposal
cost to individual local authorities in hundreds of thousands of pounds
per year (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 could save parents around
£500 even taking all the electricity and detergent costs into
account. Use the nappies for more children and the savings could be
even greater. Hospitals can save money too by using real nappies on
wards where disposables incur clinical waste charges. 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. A biodegradable liner can be 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, collecting
dirty nappies and leaving fresh clean ones in their place.
Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) is a registered charity
which campaigns on issues which link women, health and the environment.
WEN has been involved in Real Nappy Week since its inception and has
coordinated the week in its current form since 2000. Other current issues
include food, chemicals and the environmental impacts of disposable
sanitary and continence protection. www.wen.org.uk
email nappies@wen.org.uk tel:
020 7481 9004 fax: 020 7481 9144
WRAP
(the Waste & Resources Action Programme) is a major UK
programme established to promote resource efficiency. Its particular
focus is on creating stable and efficient markets for recycled materials
and products and removing the barriers to waste minimisation, re-use
and recycling.
WRAP has laid down targets across fifteen programmes. Twelve are focused
on market development, and comprise nine material streams (Paper, Plastics,
Glass, Wood, Organics, Aggregates, Tyres, Plasterboard and Batteries)
and three generic areas (Business & Finance, Procurement, and Regional
Market Development). Three further programmes relate to the wider resource
efficiency remit - Collections, Communications and Awareness, and Waste
Minimisation. More information on all of WRAP’s programmes can
be found at www.wrap.org.uk.
Part
of WRAP’s Waste Minimisation work, the Real Nappy Campaign is
an element of the Real Nappy Programme, which is focused on helping
parents to make an informed choice about nappies and increasing the
visibility of real nappies. Its targets are to convert an additional
155,000 households to real nappy use, and in the process divert 35,000
tonnes per annum of disposable nappy waste from landfill.
Information
on all of WRAP’s activities is available at www.wrap.org.uk
and details of its Recycle Now campaign can be found at www.recyclenow.com.
For more information on WEN’s campaigns go to www.wen.org.uk
