Why should #CCGs spend money on #nappies?

As you may have heard, on 10 March, The White House (yes, the office of the President of the USA) launched a project about nappies #diapergap.  In the USA, 1 in 3 children are not having their nappies changed frequently enough.  This is a public health issue.  Babies and toddlers are experiencing severe nappy rash, UTIs (single-use nappies are being dried out and used again) and constipation (parents restrict fruit and veg in the diet so there are fewer soiled nappies) because they can't afford an adequate number of disposable nappy changes.

I'm not aware of any data on this in the UK but anecdotally we have been aware of this for many years.  It's one of the reasons why health visitors have welcomed Real Nappies for London and been willing to distribute our leaflets.  What we do is promote the use of washable nappies.  These nappies have an upfront cost but once bought there is no financial incentive to change infrequently.  They just need to go in the wash.  We are aware of course that some households, those in most need, may not have a washing machine or adequate drying space.  Affordable nappy laundry services could meet this need.

But there's another benefit to cotton nappies; they can help children gain toiletting independence.  This is not automatic, but it tends to help.  Again this is a public health and education issue.  We don't have national data for children arriving at school in nappies but Public Health England has made children being able to take themselves to the toilet 1 of 10 indicators of school readiness.  More shocking was a report on Channel 4 news in December 2015 in which a Stoke primary school teacher said that 35% of chilren arriving for school in September were still in nappies.

The promotion of washable nappies in the UK started 20 years ago with the first Real Nappy Week.  At that time disposable nappies enjoyed 95% of the market.  Over the last two decades there has been an incremental growth in the use of cloth nappies.  Most users are motivated by reducing waste.  Local authority recycling and waste prevention departments have funded schemes to make expectant parents aware that there are alternatives to disposable nappies.  In some parts of the UK this work is done by volunteers who have set up 'nappy libraries' so people can try before they buy.  The main thing for public health is that we talk about the need for a positive attitude to changing baby and potty training, the need for frequent changes and a healthy diet.

Nappy changing culture is a public health issues.  What's important is that something is happening in your area.  It doesn't have to cost much.  It's all about spreading word of mouth about the need for frequent nappy changing, where to get affordable cloth nappies (yes, some are very expensive) and good potty training information ie not "wait until your child is three and a half your child will potty train her/himself."

We are working with June Rogers, founder of the charity PromoCon to give parents the best information on how and when to potty train, based on the latest research and data.   This advice for parents has been edited by June.   Creative Homes, a social enterprise based in Lewisham, supported by the Design Council, is doing innovative public health work with families including potty training.

If you are a member of a CCG and want to talk about what needs to happen in your area to decrease the negative impacts of infrequent nappy changes and children arriving for school in nappies in your area please get in touch with Real Nappies for London.  We have a lot of experience of different things working in specific circumstances at a very low cost.
My email address: hilary@lcrn.org.uk

Real Nappy Week 2016 - Writing Competition

Today we launch our RNW2016 writing competition. 

Please email us your story about why you use real nappies, or how you came to use them or anything about reducing disposable nappy waste.  We know that expectant and new parents love to read about your experiences.  If you can provide some photos to illustrate your story all the better.  It doesn't have to be long. You may just want to put a very simple point across. 

We will publish your story on our blog as a guest post.  The one which has had the most views at 12 noon on 9 May (2 weeks after the end of RNW) will be the winner.  The winner/s will get a 1.3kg bag of eco-friendly Rockin Green laundry detergent donated by Nappy Ever After. 

As you can see from the Real Nappies for London blog, our guest posts are the most popular.  Please send them in as soon as you can.   We will be promoting on Twitter and Facebook and encourage you to share within your networks to get the most views - especially Mumsnet, Baby Centre etc.

Please send your entries to realnappiesforlondon@lcrn.org.uk

We look forward to receiving your stories!

Terms & conditions:  Please ensure this is an original piece of writing by yourself written for the purpose of this competition and has not been published anywhere before.  Copyright of any photos must be with you.  Max length is 300 words.

Mayoral Manifesto to reduce nappy waste

The election of the next London Mayor in May is an opportunity to raise the issue of London's nappy waste. 

Real Nappies for London

This is a call for the next London Mayor to take action to reduce disposable nappy waste

• By making washable nappies seem as normal as recycling
• And giving parents better information about potty training

Real Nappies for London is a pan-London leadership initiative that brings together local government, business and community change agents to advance the prevention of disposable nappy waste. With efforts traditionally focused on ‘end-of-pipe’ waste management ie incineration, landfill or even recycling, Real Nappies for London is pioneering a shift upstream - calling for city-wide action to address nappy waste generation. By reframing the conversation, Real Nappies for London is positioning waste prevention and the circular economy as an opportunity for innovation, job creation, competitiveness, cost saving and improving public health.

Founded by the Women's Environmental Network (WEN) and now administerd by the London Community Resource Network (LCRN), this pan-London project is uniting local governments, including five of North London’s local authorities - Hackney, Camden, Islington, Haringey and WalthamForest, plus Bexley and Tower Hamlets  – with key stakeholders, influencing change on a national scale.

Real Nappies for London is committed to helping reduce disposable nappy waste in London.  A baby in single-use nappies produces approximately 7kg of nappy waste per week.  The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimated in 2008 that the average baby wearing nappies until 2.5 years old generates 874 kg of nappy waste, nearly a tonne.

Background to London’s nappy waste problem
Every year more than 130k babies are born in London and most wear single-use nappies because parents/carers are not aware of easy washable alternatives.    If all parents receive consistent, accurate information and support the vast majority could use washable nappies.

Also the trend has grown for toddlers to stay in nappies a lot longer.  This means the nappy waste can be even more.  We are committed to developing and sharing the best information to help parents and carers potty train their children successfully.  Nappy waste in residual household collections can be as high as 9% and costs Londoners a staggering £20 million per year. Children staying in nappies longer than necessary is also a household cost that families on low incomes cannot afford.

Real Nappies for London Mayoral Manifesto for 2016 – for less nappy waste

1. Gather data and find out what is happening: Commission research to find out how many babies in London wear washable nappies.  This research would show the impact of current incentives that have been used in different boroughs to increase uptake of washables.
2. Commission a study: to find out the knowledge and expectations parents have of how and when to potty train.  This will enable you to ascertain how to reach parents in most need.  This could be done quite cheaply in partnership with a mainstream online parenting player like the Baby Centre.
3. Ensure parents from all socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds are aware of the availability and benefits of modern cloth nappies for their babies.  This can be done cheaply and easily by including information about cloth nappies and Real Nappies for London with the maternity prescription exemption card that goes out to all expectant mothers
4. Make real nappies seem normal: make as commonplace as recycling by putting messages about real nappies on the sides of recycling and refuse trucks.
5. All maternity care providers and NHS maternity hospitals should invite the mother to bring to the hospital the nappy of her choice (not specifically ask her to bring in disposable nappies)
6. Ensure all expectant and new parents are aware of real nappy support services that exist, such as nappuccinos and cloth nappy libraries
7. Explore how to increase parental peer support for using washable nappies and potty training.  See the example of what is happening in Hackney with the Hackney Real Nappy Network (HRNN)
8. Make all London nurseries, public and private, aware that nappy laundry services can provide reusable cloth nappies for children in their care
9. Support nappy washing businesses: small flats with no outside drying space make washable nappies inconvenient for some London families.  You need to find out how to support nappy washing businesses across London that can take care of the washing.

Signatories so far:

The Women's Environmental Network (WEN) has been campaigning for waste minimisation for almost 20 years.  Reducing disposable nappy waste is part of the circular economy agenda and WEN supports this manifesto.  Raising awareness of alternatives to disposable nappies and potty training not only reduces the cost of waste collection and disposal, it also creates green jobs,  stimulates community engagement and local enterprise, can prevent significant public health costs and save households money.

As a national charity PromoCon works to provide information and advice around all aspects of continence for both adults and children, including advice and support for toilet training.  We welcome any initiatives that not only helps to inform parents and promotes timely toilet training, but also helps identify key issues regarding what influences parental choice about the type of nappies that they use (washable or disposable) including whether having a child with a disability impacts on their choices.  We would be happy for Real Nappies to have links to the toilet training resources within our website.


Wandsworth Council supports waste reduction where this can be achieved cost-effectively.  It therefore endorses this manifesto subject to the actions it contains being implemented cost-effectively.

 

How do we reduce nappy waste?

Last month (19 Jan) I attended a waste event where I was briefed on the new EU Circular Economy Strategy.  It's very exciting.

Economic instruments were cited as effective tools to bring about the major change that's needed to make the EU more sustainable.  Landfill tax, introduced in the UK in 1996, was talked about as a successful way to motivate councils to increase recycling, introduce food waste collections and promote waste prevention, to reduce the huge volume of waste sent to landfill every day.  The big idea is more, similar, financial instruments.

However, unfortunately the landfill tax has not been so successful in reducing nappy waste.  A report on Channel 4 News on poverty in December 2015 had an interview with a Stoke primary school teacher who said that 35% of  the children who had started the reception year that September had arrived for school wearing nappies.

What this means is that despite landfill tax nappy waste has not reduced nationally, it has gone up. It's possible it may even have doubled.

The question is, what happens next?  What can be done to reduce nappy waste?  I suggest better information is needed to help parents understand how to potty train their children.  We have some good information here.

Just by using real nappies you are influencing others ...

Parents who use washable nappies are forever telling us how much they enjoy them, how it's no more difficult than using disposables and also ask "Why don't more parents use real nappies?"

The answer is; we don't know!  But the main issue is that disposables appear to be normal.  They're on sale in supermarkets, you were probably given free samples with your first Bounty pack, your midwife probably told you to bring some into hospital with you and of course disposing of them is free.  Why wouldn't you use disposables, right?

In other words, most new and expectant parents need a lot of exposure to positive messages about the alternatives to disposables.  So don't forget, just by using real nappies you are influencing others.  You may not know it, but someone who saw you change a real nappy, who may not even have talked to you about it, or just saw your baby wearing one, may well go on to find out more and try them. 

So keeping using real nappies and THANK YOU!

35% of children starting school in nappies

I was shocked to hear a primary teacher on Channel 4 News last month (Dec 2015) say that 35% of children started reception wearing nappies.  Now I know it's not a race and children are ready at different times but any experienced health visitor will tell you about 'windows of opportunity.'  The first is usually around 18 months.

If you don't see the signs and do nothing your child's interest dies off and you need to wait for the next 'window.'  Trust me, I know from experience.
For some reason this knowledge about 'windows of opportunity' went out of fashion and we were all told our children would potty train themselves around 3 years old.  It may happen, but the chances are very low, hence the rise in children starting school in nappies.  Very poor information spread (wishful thinking, if you like) and we're reaping the costs now.

Our potty training advice has been vetted by June Rogers MBE, the UK's leading children's continence expert. You can see it here

You should also be warned that children can get used to pooing in a nappy standing up and then find doing it sitting down over a hole (potty or toilet) can become frightening for a child after two years of age.  So, get them interested and experienced at doing it on a pot from about a year.  It will makes life easier for you and your child in the long run.

Whatever you do, don't put it off.  Once your child is taking him/herself to the toilet it makes life so much easier.  It's really worth putting in a bit of effort in the early days.

What happens when I go back to work?

Many people (mainly men) tell me disposable nappy waste is an inevitable consequence of feminism.  I tell them I went back to work when my second child was 8 months.  I took cotton prefolds into the nursery every day and took them home to be washed at the end of the day.  My husband (were we married then?) helped put them in the washing machine, hung them out and folded them when dry to be used again.  By the way we lived in a small London flat with no garden but with a balcony.

But how about you?  Was/is your child's nursery happy to change your baby/toddler into a reusable?

Please tell us your experiences so we can share the crowd knowledge.

Thank you!

How do you wash real nappies?

We know that all washing machines are different. The general rule is heat kills bacteria so wash at 60 degrees for the first 6 months.  Alternatively, if your washing machine performs well at low temperature you could use a nappy sanitiser.  No need to soak just add the anti-bacterial to the detergent.

But what do you do?  What are your tips?   Hard water is an issue for Londoners.  How do you get over that?

Bottoms up! £70 Voucher for EWWR 2015

We're so excited to let you know that residents in boroughs covered by the North London Waste Authority (NLWA), that's Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest can get £70 off the cost of real nappies.  But it's just for THIS week: European Week of Waste Reduction (EWWR) 21-29 November, so get your application in fast.  Please note you must have a baby under 18 months on the date of applying and not had a nappy voucher or cashback for that baby already.  See more here.

The NLWA real nappy incentive scheme was piloted back in 2003 in the London borough of Camden.  It was just £35 and only available to nappy laundry service customers.  It was such a success it spread to the other NLWA boroughs.  Residents who washed their own nappies were furious that the nappy cashback was not available to them.  The NLWA very quickly bowed to their demand and made it available to them.

In 2004 the Women's Environmental Network (WEN) working in partnership with other London boroughs and the NLWA did an extensive piece of research to find out whether giving out free nappies, a real nappy cashback or a voucher was the most effective incentive to get more people to try real nappies.  In 2007 the Real Nappies for London voucher scheme was established, open to all London boroughs and administered by the London Community Resource Network (LCRN).  The idea is that a pan-London real nappy scheme brings down the costs.

Indeed it has worked.  Boroughs pay £10 for the administration of each voucher redeemed by a resident.  The cost of collection and disposal of a tonne of nappy waste is approximately £160 per tonne (it differs between boroughs) so even if some people don't continue to use the nappies (we assume half a tonne of nappy waste avoided per voucher redeemed to allow for no use, part-time and full-time use) the voucher scheme saves boroughs money.

Anecdotally we know that even when the voucher recipient doesn't turn into a real nappy user s/he tends to pass on the reusable nappies to a friend or neighbour.  In this way real nappy culture has been spreading through informal networks not just within the voucher areas but beyond.

Real nappy culture spreads through social networks, both real and online and part of that is tips on getting your children out of nappies.  Another benefit of the Real Nappies for London scheme and real nappy use in general is knowledge about potty training.  In Brazil, where the switch from cloth nappies to disposables happened over a very short period (in the UK it took about 30 years for the disposable nappy to become 'normal') they have seen a dramatic rise in the length of time children spend in nappies, clearly increasing nappy waste. 

The Real Nappies for London journey has not been smooth.  During the R&D phase a life cycle nappy report came out (2005) that said the environmental impacts of disposables and cloth nappies were about the same, neither had an environmental advantage.  This report gained massive media coverage; it caused a sensation partly because it seemed so unbelievable.  And it's not surprising as it wasn't true!   In 2008 an update of the Environment Agency's report came out that said cloth nappies could have up to 40% lower carbon impacts than disposables (and of course they're virtually zero waste) but this report received scant media attention.

The myth has remained for the last 10 years that it's just a matter of lifestyle choice.  It's not.  People who use washable nappies are making a difference: they are significantly reducing the environmental impact their baby has on the planet.  And as you can see here in this 30 second film, it makes them feel good!

Please spread the word.  Sign up and get your £70 voucher to try real nappies today.

What are you planning for EWWR 2015?

European Week for Waste Reduction is fast approaching (21-29 November).  Can you hold an information workshop, social event or visit your local children's centre or sling meet to show off real nappies? 

Baby and maternity clothes swaps are very popular and can include real nappies.  Always remember, the more times people see reusables, the more likely they are to try them.

It would be great if you could all visit the EWWR website and pledge to hold a  washable nappy event and if that's too much, simply pledge to use washables on your baby for that week to prevent 7kg of nappy waste going to landfill/incineration.

What are you planning in your area?  Why not make it fun; a stroll in the park or a coffee morning at your favourite café.  Please let us know with a link for people to sign up or find out more. 

Or if campaigning is more your thing, let us know about that.