Parents in Lewisham can save themselves hundreds of pounds and reduce waste by thousands of tons by switching to real nappies.
The council will be driving forward the message during Real Nappy Week with various events offering information and advice about using real nappies.
These will be held on:
- Monday 12 March, Lewisham Town Centre - Lewisham Council will be hosting an education trailer along with Bumbletots Ltd to provide free information and advice on using real nappies.
- Thursday 15 March, Lewisham Library, ground floor cafe – The Women’s Environmental Network will have a stall set up with nappy samples and will offer tutorials on how to put a real nappy on.
New mums and expecting mums will also be in with a chance of winning a nappy pack and one months free laundry service with three runners up winning a nappy pack.
Mums can enter by either visiting the education trailer on Monday 12 March or by emailing recycle@lewisham.gov.uk with their name, telephone number and expected delivery date/age of their new born. All emails must be entitled with the subject “Real Nappy Week”.
The advantages of using real nappies are:
- Parents are estimated to save around £500.
- To kit out a baby in real nappies will cost under £50. The same amount of money would only buy seven weeks of disposables.
- Disposable nappies are made of super-absorbent chemicals, paper pulp, plastics and adhesives, while real nappies are mostly made of natural fabrics better for a baby’s skin.
Nappy facts:
- Nearly 8 million nappies are thrown away every day in the UK.
- It is not known how long it takes for the plastics in disposable nappies to decompose but it is estimated to take hundreds of years.
- Nappy disposal costs hundreds of thousand of pounds per year for each local authority.