Waste and Recycling

Real Nappies - Reusable Nappies

All of us are becoming more and more aware of the need to cut down on the levels of waste which we generate and to switch to reusable and more sustainable products in our daily lives. One of the easiest switches you can make is to choose to use real nappies with your baby, and of course this is not an all or nothing option. By choosing to use real nappies, when at home, and using disposables, whilst on holiday, or when travelling all helps. As well as being kind to your baby's skin, there are real cost benefits to you in choosing to use real nappies.

On average your baby will need between 4000 and 6000 nappy changes until they are potty trained. If you choose to use disposable nappies, then this will be a significant cost to your family. Research shows that this will be between £640 and £960 per baby! However if you choose to use a reusable cloth nappy, you will need 20-30 nappies on average, which can cost between £100.00 - £350.00, depending on the type of nappy that you choose to use.

Approximately 8 million nappies are thrown away in Britain every day, and that's a lot of preventable rubbish heading straight for landfill sites. What's more, we do not know how long it takes for the plastics in disposable nappies to decompose but it could take hundreds of years. If you are a disposable nappy using family, just think of your residual waste bin before it is emptied - how much of your rubbish is disposable nappies? And that's just in your bin! How many other babies do you know in your family, your street and your local community?

South Ayrshire Council, with the help from the team at “Go Real” have established a real nappy incentive scheme which will help support parents in South-Ayrshire who are interested in using real nappies.

“Go Real” has everything you need to know about Real Nappies! Historically known as The Real Nappy Campaign, Go Real is now independently run as a social enterprise, by parents who have had first-hand experience bringing children up in Real Nappies.

We have a limited number of free trial packs available. We have three different sized trial packs, each pack has a variety of washable nappies, giving parents the chance to see the different styles that are available to them and also giving them a chance to see what suits baby best.

To qualify for a trial pack, you must be a resident of South Ayrshire and be either expecting a baby or be the parent of a baby of nappy wearing age. Trial packs are restricted to one pack per household and as they are limited in number are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

For more information regarding our Real Nappy scheme please contact Fiona McConnell or Bill Duncan on 01292 616603/616203 or email waste.aware@south-ayrshire.gov.uk

Visit www.goreal.org.uk for more information