As plans for this year’s Real Nappy Week get underway, Waste Awareness Wales is encouraging parents in Rhondda Cynon Taf to save money and reduce waste by ditching the disposables and using reusable nappies on their babies.
Real Nappy Week, which will run from 26 April to 2 May 2010, is being supported by Waste Awareness Wales and Rhondda Cynon Taf Council.
An annual event designed to give people across Wales the opportunity to find out more about real nappies and how easy it is to use them on their children, the week will involve a range of activities and events throughout Wales.
Throughout the week, local real nappy agents and local authorities will be working together to promote the benefits of using real nappies. Events including Nappucinos (nappy coffee mornings) will be taking place, all designed to help raise the profile of washable nappies and get the message out to Welsh parents that they can save money and cut down on their waste by using them on their children.
Rachel Jowitt, head of waste support at Waste Awareness Wales said: “Since the start of the recession, many more parents have been looking for cheaper ways to look after their children and this has extended to their choice of nappies. Parents have started to realise that ‘real’ cotton nappies are a natural, easy and cost-effective alternative to disposables – and they don’t cost the earth!
“By the time a baby is potty trained, around 5,000 nappies will have been used, and if you use disposables, that’s over 150 black bags of waste going to landfill where they will remain for hundreds of years. However, for many parents it is the financial rather than environmental benefits which are the prime motivation. Real nappy users save around £500 for the first child and even more for subsequent children, making them easy on the wallet as well as your rubbish bin which is particularly important in this difficult economic climate.”
The Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Frontline Service Cllr Anthony Chritsopher said: “In Wales 200 million disposable nappies are thrown away each year – 400 nappies every minute. Using real nappies can be up to half the cost of disposables – and they can be reused with subsequent children to save even more.
“Families with one baby could cut their waste in half by choosing to use real nappies bags. Such statistics illustrate why it is so important that residents of Rhondda Cynon Taf support this initiative which collectively will help reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.”
For more information and for a full list of events, visit the Real Nappy Wales website: www.realnappies-wales.co.uk and www.wasteawarenesswales.org.uk
