Keep it real to stop 9,000 nappies a day being dumped
ABOUT 9,000 disposable nappies are thrown away in Guernsey every day, but the Guernsey Real Nappy Network says environmentally friendly and cost-effective nappies are growing in popularity.
In 2012 Guernsey Waste helped set up the network as part of the waste minimisation strategy.
This week is Real Nappy Week and, at an event at Bright Beginnings Children’s Centre, islanders had the chance to find out more about washable, reusable nappies.
Waste prevention and recycling officer Tina Norman-Ross said families are offered a £35 voucher towards the cost of real nappies to encourage their use.
‘With the formation of the GRNN we can see that more people are opting to use them because of the increase in applications for the voucher,’ she said.
‘We also noticed an increase when we introduced the black bag charge because people with young children can fill a black sack a week just with nappies.’
On average, Guernsey Waste provides about 75 vouchers a year for real nappies and it is thought that there are about 600 babies born each year.
‘We always want to encourage more people to use real nappies, not necessarily all of the time, but as much as they can, which is why informative sessions like these are so great,’ she said.
There are many different reasons why parents might opt for reusable nappies over disposable ones, according to the GRNN, with the top two being cost and the environmental impact.
GRNN member Jenny Langlois said people had been thinking more in the last few years about how their daily life impacts on the environment.
‘Instead of dozens of nappies a week going into landfill, people buy a few reusable ones, throw them in the storage bin and wash them once it’s full,’ she said.
‘Real nappies range from about £10 to much higher end ones at £30, but they last for years and often people use them on their next child as well or sell them on because they keep in such good condition.’
As soon as Grace Shearer left hospital with her little girl, Ferne, 14 months ago, her new baby was put straight into reusable nappies.
She found that cost-wise and environmentally it made the most sense.
‘Washing them doesn’t cost much in the long run compared to how much you’d spend on literally hundreds of nappies, wipes and nappy sacks,’ she said.
‘There’s also so much variety in terms of material, colour, patterns and sizes that it becomes quite fun to shop for them.’
There are displays at Health Connections and Beau Sejour this week featuring more about real nappies. For information, email guernseyrealnappynetwork@gmail.com.
