Thanks to everyone who came to the real nappy flashmob today. We are parents who have discovered reusable nappies and love them. We are saying to other parents "try zero waste nappies, you may find you love them too".
We held the event because today the first ever Waste Prevention Plan for England was published. There is no mention of nappies in it. It's disappointing but we do understand that talking about nappies can create unhelpful headlines such as Parents forced to wash nappies. We also understand that some people don't want to or are unable to wash nappies and disposables work for them. However, we also know that more people would use reusable nappies if they were easier to buy/get hold of and seemed a bit more 'normal'.
In the Autumn Statement chancellor George Osborne forecast a return to pre-1948 levels of public spending by 2019. It's a good thing the treasury is not responsible for the cost of disposable nappy waste as it wasn't a line on the budget back then. However local authorities ie council tax payers are going to have to pay for it.
With 729 674 births in England and Wales (ONS) in 2012, the cost to the council tax payer of disposing of 3 billion nappies every year (8 million a day) is in the region of £40 million and going up. £70 per tonne of which goes to the government in landfill tax, a fiscal measure designed to reduce waste to landfill, especially that which releases methane - a potent climate change gas. The cost to the council tax payer of those who choose to wash nappies will be zero. Apart from the small percentage that is spent on information, incentives and rewards to encourage the uptake of reusable nappies.
Is it really okay for this Waste Prevention Programme to ignore the parents, nurseries, healthcare workers and local authorities that are reducing disposable nappy waste? And what about some recognition for the businesses that help households use alternatives to disposable nappies?
We're using today to help people find out about real nappies because we love them! Want to find out more?
Look for a local nappy library in your area.
Find out if your London borough offers a real nappy incentive here.
Click here for info about eco-disposables.
Interested to find out about the history of waste prevention in the UK? Look at WEN's paper, published April 2003 Disposable Nappies: a case study in waste prevention.
Showing posts with label waste prevention plan for England 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waste prevention plan for England 2013. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Monday, 30 September 2013
Landfilling disposable nappies is environmental vandalism
it's also big business, according to Hilary Vick, Real Nappies for London Project Manager
Barbican Conference Centre, London, November 2009 I arrive late at the Zero Waste conference, organised by the Resource Recovery Forum. The coffee break is in full-swing. I overhear a woman, high heels, suit (presumably a waste industry professional) say "Well, if what I just heard in there is right we'll be out of business in 10 years time."
What I've never understood about the waste industry is why it doesn't get Zero Waste. I've talked to many waste industry professionals and waste prevention scares them. Few of them seem to understand that there's always going to be waste and actually as the volume goes down and waste disposal standards go up they will charge more for handling less waste better. They are never going to go out of business.
In addition they have the business of cleaning up the mess that the waste industry has been allowed to make. A big one is the ash from incineration. Another big one is the leachate from landfill sites. They're always going to be busy. They do a dirty job that has to be done and we are grateful. Now, they need to get on side and help prevent waste so they can make money out of dealing with less waste, better.
Landfilling disposable nappies is environmental vandalsim and it's time the waste industry (that with a few exceptions constantly denies that disposable nappy waste is an issue) and all UK political parties recognised the need to support parents and institutions that use real nappies. They are preventing waste and that's what's best.
There are other alternatives to landfill. But waste prevention is cheap compared to the costs of incineration, recycling and composting nappy waste. Parents that use real nappies reduce the cost of dealing with disposable nappy waste. So why isn't everyone championing real nappy use?
Support for real nappies will not even be in the Waste Prevention Plan for England when it comes out (deadline 12 December 2013.) And this is wrong; not only are real nappies zero waste, but also, according to the updated life cycle analysis by the Environment Agency (2008,see link below), real nappies if washed at 60 degrees or below and line dried (RNfL research shows that this is how most London parents launder nappies) can have up to 40% lower carbon impacts than single-use nappies.
Look out for BIG ACTIVISM on the day the Waste Prevention Plan for England is released. We want real nappy parents from in and around London to gather in a public place and make a BIG SPECTACLE. And if you haven't got a baby but support us please join us. And if nappies get into the Waste Prevention Plan we'll be celebrating!
Please book here to register your interest.
Resource Recovery Forum: Waste Prevention: Aiming High, November 2009
Envionment Agency: Using Science to create a better place; an updated life cycle assessment study for disposable and reusable nappies, October 2008
Barbican Conference Centre, London, November 2009 I arrive late at the Zero Waste conference, organised by the Resource Recovery Forum. The coffee break is in full-swing. I overhear a woman, high heels, suit (presumably a waste industry professional) say "Well, if what I just heard in there is right we'll be out of business in 10 years time."
What I've never understood about the waste industry is why it doesn't get Zero Waste. I've talked to many waste industry professionals and waste prevention scares them. Few of them seem to understand that there's always going to be waste and actually as the volume goes down and waste disposal standards go up they will charge more for handling less waste better. They are never going to go out of business.
In addition they have the business of cleaning up the mess that the waste industry has been allowed to make. A big one is the ash from incineration. Another big one is the leachate from landfill sites. They're always going to be busy. They do a dirty job that has to be done and we are grateful. Now, they need to get on side and help prevent waste so they can make money out of dealing with less waste, better.
Landfilling disposable nappies is environmental vandalsim and it's time the waste industry (that with a few exceptions constantly denies that disposable nappy waste is an issue) and all UK political parties recognised the need to support parents and institutions that use real nappies. They are preventing waste and that's what's best.
There are other alternatives to landfill. But waste prevention is cheap compared to the costs of incineration, recycling and composting nappy waste. Parents that use real nappies reduce the cost of dealing with disposable nappy waste. So why isn't everyone championing real nappy use?
Support for real nappies will not even be in the Waste Prevention Plan for England when it comes out (deadline 12 December 2013.) And this is wrong; not only are real nappies zero waste, but also, according to the updated life cycle analysis by the Environment Agency (2008,see link below), real nappies if washed at 60 degrees or below and line dried (RNfL research shows that this is how most London parents launder nappies) can have up to 40% lower carbon impacts than single-use nappies.
Look out for BIG ACTIVISM on the day the Waste Prevention Plan for England is released. We want real nappy parents from in and around London to gather in a public place and make a BIG SPECTACLE. And if you haven't got a baby but support us please join us. And if nappies get into the Waste Prevention Plan we'll be celebrating!
Please book here to register your interest.
Resource Recovery Forum: Waste Prevention: Aiming High, November 2009
Envionment Agency: Using Science to create a better place; an updated life cycle assessment study for disposable and reusable nappies, October 2008
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Wouldn't it be nice if ...
we could stop the myth that washable nappies are just as bad for the environment as using disposables?
We know where this idea came from: in 2005 the Environment Agency (EA) published a nappy life cycle analysis that said so - but the data on washing nappies was very poor, based on a small number of parents using terry nappies and speculation about boiling, tumble-drying and ironing the nappies. In 2008 the EA brought out an updated nappy life-cycle analysis. It concluded that using real nappies could have up to 40% lower carbon impacts than disposables if the nappies were washed at less than 60 degrees and line-dried. However it said washing nappies would have higher carbon impacts than single-use nappies if the reusables were boiled and tumble-dried.
These reports had a really positive impact on the real nappy industry. They made us talk about washing nappies and look at how nappies can be laundered with the minimum carbon and environmental impacts. However, it also set off this myth that washing nappies is no better for the environment than using "disposable" nappies.
But there's an issue: Defra doesn't know how people wash nappies. However at Real Nappies for London we do. We have an on-going survey where we ask people how they wash and dry their nappies. Only 1% say they wash nappies at 90 degrees and less than 6% tumble-dry. This means that we can safely say real nappies are not only zero waste, they also have significantly lower carbon impacts than disposables.
Why is this important?
1 because at the moment it looks like nappies will not appear in the Government's Waste Prevention Plan for England 2013.
2 people who use real nappies tell us that friends and relatives actually discourage them from using them saying that washing nappies is just as bad for the environment as disposables, so why bother?
At Real Nappies for London we know that people are afraid of the washing. That means the opportunity to persuade people to try real nappies and thus reduce disposable nappy waste is already difficult. This myth that washing nappies is just as bad for the environment as using 4-5,000 single-use nappies that are sent to landfill where they emit methane, a potent climate change gas is not helpful. It discourages those parents that are doing the right thing and using real nappies and it puts off parents, nurseries and maternity wards that are open to using real nappies.
But is this a problem? Has this myth slowed down the growth of real nappy culture? Yes, it has. Has this been a bad thing? Not necessarily. People who decide to use real nappies have to work hard to do it. They have to get information, choose which nappy to buy, pay a high upfront cost (compared to weekly spend on disposables). This tends to make them determined to make them work and take great pride in their success. This makes for a slower more sustained growth of real nappy culture and this may not be a bad thing in the long term. One thing is for sure. There are a lot more people using real nappies in London in 2013 than there were 10 years ago plus the nappies have improved and how people wash them has changed for the better!
For more on this theme see Remember the Waste Hierarchy September 2011
We know where this idea came from: in 2005 the Environment Agency (EA) published a nappy life cycle analysis that said so - but the data on washing nappies was very poor, based on a small number of parents using terry nappies and speculation about boiling, tumble-drying and ironing the nappies. In 2008 the EA brought out an updated nappy life-cycle analysis. It concluded that using real nappies could have up to 40% lower carbon impacts than disposables if the nappies were washed at less than 60 degrees and line-dried. However it said washing nappies would have higher carbon impacts than single-use nappies if the reusables were boiled and tumble-dried.
These reports had a really positive impact on the real nappy industry. They made us talk about washing nappies and look at how nappies can be laundered with the minimum carbon and environmental impacts. However, it also set off this myth that washing nappies is no better for the environment than using "disposable" nappies.
But there's an issue: Defra doesn't know how people wash nappies. However at Real Nappies for London we do. We have an on-going survey where we ask people how they wash and dry their nappies. Only 1% say they wash nappies at 90 degrees and less than 6% tumble-dry. This means that we can safely say real nappies are not only zero waste, they also have significantly lower carbon impacts than disposables.
Why is this important?
1 because at the moment it looks like nappies will not appear in the Government's Waste Prevention Plan for England 2013.
2 people who use real nappies tell us that friends and relatives actually discourage them from using them saying that washing nappies is just as bad for the environment as disposables, so why bother?
At Real Nappies for London we know that people are afraid of the washing. That means the opportunity to persuade people to try real nappies and thus reduce disposable nappy waste is already difficult. This myth that washing nappies is just as bad for the environment as using 4-5,000 single-use nappies that are sent to landfill where they emit methane, a potent climate change gas is not helpful. It discourages those parents that are doing the right thing and using real nappies and it puts off parents, nurseries and maternity wards that are open to using real nappies.
But is this a problem? Has this myth slowed down the growth of real nappy culture? Yes, it has. Has this been a bad thing? Not necessarily. People who decide to use real nappies have to work hard to do it. They have to get information, choose which nappy to buy, pay a high upfront cost (compared to weekly spend on disposables). This tends to make them determined to make them work and take great pride in their success. This makes for a slower more sustained growth of real nappy culture and this may not be a bad thing in the long term. One thing is for sure. There are a lot more people using real nappies in London in 2013 than there were 10 years ago plus the nappies have improved and how people wash them has changed for the better!
For more on this theme see Remember the Waste Hierarchy September 2011
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