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9 May 2005 From a kitchen table…to a global label This year’s Real Nappy Week (June 20-26 2005) is set to be the biggest ever. From its small beginnings nine years ago, the Week is going global. While parents across the UK attend ‘Nappuccino’ coffee mornings to learn more about real nappies, mums and dads on the other side of the world will be doing just the same. However, despite its global reach, local initiatives still form the core of this vibrant waste prevention campaign. The campaign was hatched over a cup of coffee at a kitchen table in the early ‘90s by two enthusiastic and forward-thinking mums. Over the next few years, groups of like-minded parents, enthused by their own experiences of using cloth nappies and appalled by the waste created by disposables, formed the first Real Nappy Networks. Gradually other organisations and local authorities were brought on board until, in 1996, Real Nappy Week was launched. Each year more organisations have become involved, organising events to raise awareness of the health, cost and waste saving benefits of real nappies. Real Nappy Week 2004 attracted record support, with more than three quarters of local authorities and over 100 MPs supporting it. 89 events took place in 62 counties across England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Isle of Man. They included launches of incentive schemes, nappy displays and roadshows, with coffee still featuring high in ‘Nappuccino’ coffee mornings with real nappy demonstrations. This year not only are the Channel Islands involved for the first time, but groups in New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Canada and the US are linking up with Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) to find out how they can get involved. Real Nappy Week 2005 is coordinated by WEN working with the Real Nappy Campaign. Funded by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme), the Week aims to engage parents with a schedule of national, regional and local activities and enable them to make an informed choice of nappies. WEN’s
Elizabeth Hartigan says, "Real Nappy Week has made an incredible
journey from such small beginnings. A campaign that started in someone’s
kitchen now has global impact. And the nappies have come a long way
too with modern cloth nappies available in many shapes and styles. Not
only are they easy to use, but they can save parents hundreds of pounds.
With nearly eight million nappies thrown away everyday in the UK, real
nappies give parents more control over their finances and their environmental
impact at the same time." Details of plans for events around the UK will be added to the website from 1st May. 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: Real Nappy Week, 20-26 June 2005 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. For more information on Real Nappy Week visit www.realnappycampaign.com Waste: Britain throws away about 8 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. 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. A not-for-profit company in the private sector, WRAP is backed by substantial Government funding from Defra, DTI and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. WRAP has laid down targets across twelve programmes. Nine are focused on market development, and comprise six material streams (Paper, Plastics, Glass, Wood, Organics and Aggregates) 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. 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
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