Michael Meacher MP, Minister for the Environment, will start Real Nappy Week 2003 with the launch of Nappy Line and the Real Nappy Collection at the GLA's City Hall on 7 April at 12.30pm. Nicky Gavron, Deputy Mayor
of London will host the occasion.

The annual waste prevention campaign, Real Nappy Week, is jointly organised by Women's Environmental Network and the Real Nappy Association with events and displays all over the UK (see editors notes below for details).

Minister Meacher has praised real nappy schemes for helping transform the culture of Britain away from a throwaway society. He said, "switching to reusable nappies is clearly desirable. In addition, minimising waste
in one area, for example the use of reusable nappies, will hopefully lead people to consider what other changes they can make to minimise the generation of waste".

Real Nappy Week is supported by well over half (240+) the UK's local authorities. The government's strategy
unit has recommended extending real nappy schemes to get almost a quarter of households (24%) with babies using real nappies over three years.

The new phoneline service, Nappy Line, has been set up in response to the increasing demand for real nappies. WEN estimates that about 15% of parents now use real nappies.

Nappy Line - 01983 401959 gives callers details of their local cloth nappy contacts whether they want to buy them or use a local laundry service. With over 1,200 retail outlets in the UK and 75 local nappy sellers along
with numerous laundry services and mail order companies, it has never been easier to find and use cloth nappies.

The Real Nappy Collection which will be on show at the GLA is the largest of the series of nappy displays organised all over the UK during Real Nappy Week 2003 to highlight the choice that is available to parents. For full details of nappy displays and other local activity around the UK visit www.wen.org.uk. (see areas involved below).

For further information contact Elizabeth Hartigan or Liz Sutton,
Women's Environmental Network, PO Box 30626, London E1 1TZ
Telephone: 020 7481 9004 or 0771 886 5009
Email: nappies@wen.org.uk
Website: www.wen.org.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

Real Nappy Week 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.

Real Nappy Collection will be launched by Michael Meacher, Minister for the Environment at 12.30 on 7th April
at The Visitor Centre, City Hall, The Queen's Walk, SE1. This surprising collection has been built up by Gina Purrmann, Founder of the Real Nappy Association and features over 100 nappies including a leather and moss Eskimo nappy from Alaska.

Nappy Line - 01983 401959 will be operated by The Real Nappy Association. It is not one of those horrible automated services. A friendly voice at the end of the line will ask for your postcode and tell you who can help you to choose and where you can buy real nappies or find a laundry service in your locality. It will be staffed 9am-12 noon Mondays and Wednesdays or callers can leave an answer-phone message at other times for a same-day response.

Support for Real Nappy Week 2003 has reached record levels with over a half (240+) of all UK local authorities, 72 MPs and numerous other organisations and companies. Full details are available on www.wen.org.uk

There will be nappy displays and events in the following areas during Real Nappy Week, check out www.wen.org.uk for a full list:

ENGLAND: Bedfordshire: Arlesey; Berkshire: Bracknell, Newbury, Reading and Wokingham; Birmingham; Cambridgeshire: Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon, Peterbrough, St Ives and Wisbech; Cheshire: Chester, Leighton; Cornwall: Camborne, Falmouth, Penrice, Penzance, St Austell, Treliske; Cumbria: Allerdale; Derbyshire: Amber Valley, Derby; Devon: Barnstaple, Torbay; Dorset: Bournemouth; Durham: Sedgefield; Essex: Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Burnham-On-Crouch, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping, Saffron Walden, Hadleigh, Harlow, Rayleigh, Walton; Gloucestershire: Cheltenham, Cirencester, Eastcombe, Gloucester, Lydney, Newent, Quedgeley, Stroud, Tetbury, Tewkesbury, Whaddon, Whiteways, Winchcombe; Hampshire: Isle of Wight, Newport; Hertfordshire: Hertford, Hitchin, Radlett, St Albans, Watford; Kent: Ashford; Lancashire: Preston and other areas; Leicestershire: Leicester; Oadby; Lincolnshire: Lincoln; London: Brent, Camden, Central London, Hounslow, Islington, Stockwell, Waltham Forest, Wimbledon, Kingston; Merseyside: St Helen's, Wirrall; Norfolk: Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn, Norwich; Oxfordshire: Bicester, Eynsham, Oxford, Sherwell; Shropshire: Oswestry, Shrewsbury; North Somerset: Mendip, Weston-Super-Mare; Suffolk: Bury St Edmunds, Felixstowe, Halesworth, Haverhill, Ipswich, Leiston, Lockington, Newmarket, Stowmarket; Surrey: Camberley, Dorking, Egham, Guildford; East Sussex: Brighton; West Sussex: Rustington; Worcestershire: Worcester; West Yorkshire: Leeds, Otley, Wakefield; North Yorkshire: Ryedale; East Riding of Yorkshire: Hull;

NORTHERN IRELAND: throughout the province.

SCOTLAND: Aberdeenshire; Highlands: Aviemore, Gairloch, Inverness; Outer Hebrides: Isle of Lewis, Stornaway; Perth and Kinross: Perth

WALES: Cardiff; Carmarthenshire: Llanelli; Swansea.

Environmental information available on www.wen.org.uk

Government Strategy Unit report, Waste Not Want Not, November 2002, Strategic Investment Measures makes recommendations for waste savings by real nappy schemes.