22nd-28th April 2002 is Real Nappy Week focussing attention on the environmental effects of nappies and promoting a fair choice.

On 25th April 2002 The Real Nappy Project at Women's Environmental Network will hold the Real Nappy Week Awards 2002 - Celebrating Working Partnerships.

Paul Burstow MP will head a panel of judges and host an awards ceremony at the House of Commons. Catherine McCormick, Head of Midwifery at the Department of Health, Gillian Neville of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Tracey-Ann Evans, Acting Director, Strategy, Research and Communications, Small Business Service at the Department of Trade and Industry and Ann Link, Co-ordinator of Women's Environmental Network will complete the judging panel.

Real nappy partnerships are working:
Around the UK, hospitals, local authorities and local businesses are working together in revolutionary waste prevention initiatives. The Real Nappy Project has established the Real Nappy Week 2002 Awards in recognition of the importance of partnership in achieving practical waste prevention.

Real nappy partnerships benefit everyone:
Hospitals make savings on costly clinical waste by using real nappies on ward. Other hospitals include real nappies in their ante-natal and parentcraft classes, promoting choice and enabling UK parents to save money while preventing waste.

Real nappy schemes play a key role in local authorities' waste strategies. By reducing the number of nappies going to landfill, local authorities can save hundreds of thousands of pounds on disposal costs.

The new real nappy service industry creates valuable local jobs. Nappy laundry services do the 'dirty work', delivering freshly laundered nappies every week and taking away the soiled ones to be washed. Alternatively, nappy agents visit the home, demonstrating an extensive range of modern shaped and fitted cloth nappies for home laundering. Agents advise new parents on the best choice to suit their baby and lifestyle and provide a helpful back-up service.

Environmental benefits are increasingly obvious as landfill capacity runs out and controversial incinerator sites are sought.

The Real Nappy Project is currently inviting applications for Real Nappy Week Awards 2002 - Celebrating Working Partnerships. Email nappies@wen.org.uk for an application form.

Real nappies don't cost the earth…anything else is just rubbish!

For further information contact: Elizabeth Hartigan, Maeve Murphy or Liz Sutton
Tel: 020 7481 9004 Fax: 020 7481 9144 email:nappies@wen.org.uk website: www.wen.org.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

Real Nappy Week, now a well-established annual event, is jointly organised by the Women's Environmental Network's Real Nappy Project, the Real Nappy Association and the National Association of Nappy Services (NANS). It focuses attention on the environmental impact of nappies and raises public awareness of the availability of convenient shaped and fitted modern cloth nappies and nappy laundry services.

Waste Reduction
Responsible for 4% of household waste in the UK, nappies provide a prime opportunity to reduce the rubbish in our dustbins. Nappies make up 50% of the waste from a household with just one baby so families can cut their waste in half by using real nappies. Costing each local authority hundreds of thousands of pounds per year to dispose of (Bristol City, for example, spends £500,000 per year) it is not surprising that nappy schemes now play a key role in local authorities' waste strategies.

Working Partnerships - some examples
Recognising the influential role the NHS plays in the choices made by new parents, Oldham Hospital launched its real nappy scheme in January 2001 in partnership with Oldham Borough Council. This council-funded scheme offers parents the choice of putting a disposable or a hospital laundered nappy on all newborn babies at Oldham Hospital.
The educational programme implemented by Swindon Borough Council working with the Real Nappy Company and the Health Promotions Department, is centred on the training of midwives and health visitors to disseminate information to local parents.
Other authorities have built on the model provided by the award winning West Sussex Real Nappy Initiative offering a financial incentive to users of cloth nappies. Kent County Council operates its real nappy scheme in partnership with the local Health Authority, St Bart's Day Nurseries and eight other local businesses. Within the first five months, 500 people registered with the scheme to receive a £28 subsidy towards the cost of buying real nappies for home washing or to use a local nappy laundry service. This will save 500 tonnes of waste and has created four new local businesses and nine local part-time jobs.

Creating Jobs
Not only do real nappies save money, reduce waste and benefit the environment but they also boost the economy by creating new local jobs.

Real Service/Real Jobs
While many parents are happy to launder their own nappies at home, others are attracted by the convenience offered by a nappy laundry service. These services do the 'dirty work' delivering a pile of freshly laundered (to NHS standards) nappies each week, taking away the soiled ones to be washed. The success of a nappy laundry service is dependent on a significant number of clients to support it in a relatively short period. Partnerships between local authorities, hospitals and local nappy laundry companies assist in creating this critical client base and help new nappy laundry services to be established creating valuable local jobs.
New jobs are also created as nappy agencies are established to distribute the fantastic range of real nappies for home laundry. These agents provide a great service. They come to your home to demonstrate the different types of nappies and will help parents choose the right nappy for your baby, lifestyle and budget. Real nappy agents provide a comprehensive back up service and are happy to give help and advice at any stage while your baby is in nappies.

Waste Disposal
Each year Britain throws away enough rubbish to bury Edinburgh a metre deep. Landfill space is running out. Many local authorities are struggling to stop waste amounts increasing and many more incinerators are planned to meet the Landfill Directive. Incineration is not a trouble free solution. The emissions from incinerators cause controversy wherever they are sited and up to 30% of the waste remains as ash to be disposed of in landfill.