A Celebrity on the Case | Guest Post

Alicia Silverstone has caused a stir in the last week with her book the Kind Mama, in which among other things she advocates Elimination Communication (EC).

 

Many journalists are having a field day describing her as “batty”, dismissing the concept without a second thought. And why not? On the face of it, it sounds insane, but actually thinking about it, nappies haven’t been around forever. How was it dealt with 1,2 or 3 generations ago?

 

In a nurse’s handbook dated 1952 from the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, the first chapter describes and teaches nurses that “babies know what is expected of them from a very young age and if held above a potty at regular intervals very few dirty napkins will result”.

 

So how and why has society changed so dramatically in 60 odd years? From toileting being dealt with naturally and as a matter of fact, to celebrities and normal people alike who dare talk about EC, being openly ridiculed?

Popular belief is that parents should wait for a set of readiness signals before which toilet training should not be attempted. This of course also works for many and I am not here to judge anyone.

 

But there is an alternative way to go about it which also deserves to be recognised and considered– without mockery.

 

Elimination Communication, better described as baby-led potty training – whereby using the techniques of old, achieving a nappy independent lifestyle is possible even in modern day life:

 

·         Listen and become in tune with your baby’s body language

·         Use cue words/ sounds and or sign language for action association

 

What needs to be remembered is that to practice EC does not mean going nappy free all the time. Nor does it mean an instantaneously potty trained child.

 

EC is about working together with your child and respecting their biological instincts and capabilities.

 

This week is the EC awareness week where we hope to put the EC alternative in front of parents and prospective parents for them to make their own decisions.

 

There is free information and useful and relevant prizes to be won by signing up to the WEBSITE

 

To help spread the word about EC please tweet or facebook #happynonappy

This post was submitted by Caroline Williams from Happy No Nappy

Real Nappy Week Mythbuster #1 - washable nappies are too expensive

You don't have to spend lots of money when you start using real nappies.  Whether you are starting with a new born or at 6 weeks, 6 months or later you can find reusable nappies to meet your budget.

Our advice: work out how much money you will/do spend on disposable nappies per week.  If it's £10 then if you spend £100 on reusable nappies you will be saving money within 12 weeks (to allow for cost of disposable liners, detergent and power for the washing machine).

Plus in some London boroughs you can get a voucher worth up to £54.15 or a real nappy starter pack.  To find out more visit www.realnappiesforlondon.org.uk

Pre-folds are cheap and can often be picked up FREE at NCT sales and on Freecycle.  They really should be the backbone of any nappy stash.  To find out why click here

The Real Nappies for London Vision

We need to make a transition to low impact lives.  This doesn’t mean ‘eating lettuce in caves’.  Our vision of a low impact world is one with cleaner air, more fertile soil, fewer deaths and injuries from traffic accidents. 

We can develop technologies that work with nature rather than exploit and degrade the environment.

Would these products reach the market if they were invented today? 

• Cars that only travel 18mpg? 
• Diesel?
• Detergents that damage bio-diversity? 
• Single-use (misleadingly called disposable) nappies?

Would we send superabsorbent polymers (SAPS) in single-use nappies to landfill when we know they take 100s of years to break down?

Competition - Tell your friends about the voucher

Real Nappy Week 2014 is coming up, 28 April to 4 May and we need your help with promoting real nappies.  Do you have a friend, neighbour or work colleague eligible to apply for a voucher?  They need to live in Bexley, Camden, Hackney, Haringey, Islington or Tower Hamlets and have a baby under 18 months.  Or could you go along to an NCT class or Children's Centre and tell expectant and new parents about the voucher? 

Please tell them to say they heard about the voucher from you on their application.  We will give a prize to the person who has encouraged the most people to obtain vouchers,  (according to our database) by Thursday 24 April.

Also, can you come along to the Great Cloth Nappy Change at St Mary's, Upper Street?  We need your help on Saturday 26 April at 11am to break the record set last year for the most real nappies changed across the World .

For more information and to book your place click  here

Real Nappy Week 2014

 28 April - 4 May

Why are more and more parents opting for washable nappies? 

• Disposable liners help keep the nappies clean so most of the time you're just loading damp cloths into your washing machine. 
• An increasing number of cloth nappy parents are giving their babies the opportunity to pee or poo on the pot at changing time from an early age.  This makes washing nappies even easier. It also usually means the transition from pants to nappies happens earlier, more easily with less stress for toddlers and carers!  (See the link at the bottom of this page to a wonderful blog about it, if you are interested in learning more.)
• Parents tell us it's not that much extra work.  You're doing so much washing when you have a new baby, what's the problem with an extra wash every other day?  And it saves bringing back big bulky packages from the supermarket.
• But there's an even bigger reason.  Parents just can't bear the idea of all those disposable nappies 4,500-6,000 per baby, sitting in landfill for hundreds of years.

Come and celebrate using real nappies on Saturday 26 April at St Mary's Centre, Upper Street.  Book your free place here and be part of the Big Cloth Nappy Change 2014.  NB You only need to book if you are participating in the Guinness nappy change at 11am.

Please arrive at 10.30am to register.  One adult per baby and baby must be changed into a cloth nappy. 

Link to Lulastic's blog post Get Started with Elimination Communication

Reduce Climate Change Impacts of your baby wearing nappies

See if your baby is trying to tell you s/he wants to pee or poo on a pot.  Look up Elimination Communication – fewer nappies is the most environmentally friendly option

Use cloth nappies – washing nappies can have up to 40% lower climate change impacts than disposables if you wash a full load, air dry and don’t boil or iron them. To find out more download Environment Agency Report of 2008 (PDF)

Look for the signs that your child wants to potty train – children can be clean at one year and dry by 18 months. Even if you use disposables this can reduce the impacts considerably.  There are also positive health impacts from potty training earlier.  For more click here

London spends £20 million on nappy waste ...

On any one day there are about 335k babies and toddlers in London wearing an average of 5 disposable nappies per day.  That means over 1.5 million nappies are thrown away in London every day.  We estimate Londoners spend approximately £20 million per year on the collection and disposal of nappy waste.

How much does YOUR local authority spend on the disposal of nappy waste each year?  We make an estimate based on the number of babies born in your borough, the amount of waste a baby in disposable nappies generates (874kg - almost a tonne, from birth to potty training) and the cost of waste disposal per tonne for your borough - this varies according to the way waste is treated. 

Here are some examples of the costs per year, per London borough:
Brent  £490k  (based on 5,340 births in 2012)
Croydon  £365k  (based on 4,177 births in 2012)
Ealing £504k (based on 5,487 births in 2012)
Hillingdon  £420k  (based on 4,536 births in 2012)
Hounslow  £424k (based on 4,621 births in 2012)
Lambeth £582k (based on 4,825 births in 2012)
Merton £319k  (based on 3,476 births in 2012)
Sutton £237k (based on 2,708 births in 2012)
Wandsworth (inc collection)  £886k (based on 5,451 births in 2012)

Surely local authorities should spend at least 3% of what they spend on disposable nappy waste on preventing/reducing the cost of this household waste stream?    Why don't they?  Because they say residents can't be influenced and so raising awareness is a waste of money.  It's true that real nappies will not become the norm over night.  Behaviour change is slow.  It took about 30 years for disposable nappies to become the norm.  It could take 30 years for real nappies to become the norm again. 

At Real Nappies for London we know that real nappy vouchers are an effective way of increasing the uptake of washable nappies.  They increase word-of-mouth (the best marketing there is) and encourage residents to find out about them and try them.

We don't understand it when local authorities say they haven't got the money to pay for our help.  The collection and disposal of single-use nappies is expensive.  Reusable nappies are a zero waste alternative and bring down waste collection and disposal costs. 

Real Nappies for London was designed to be a pan-London scheme.  By working across London we can offer an economic and effective service - the more boroughs join the better the scheme.  This is largely because of you.  You have friends in different boroughs and can refer them to RNfL for help and support in using washable nappies.

We are in the run-up to the London local elections.  Councillors are listening.  Please write to them (use this link to write a quick email) and tell them that you want them to spend money on reducing disposable nappy waste in your borough.  If your borough does offer a nappy voucher or a nappy trial pack please let them know you support this.  This will help ensure these schemes continue to exist.

For futher information on disposables vs reusable nappies please see Which?  A good article to pass on to friends and family that are expecting a baby.

Do post any questions you have about the Real Nappies for London scheme and we will try to answer them.  As residents you are powerful.  You can get your borough to promote real nappies if enough of you contact your councillors.

Want more ideas on how to reduce your waste? This inspiring YouTube film of a Zero Waste Household has had over 70,000 views.

Nappy Ever After wants to ditch the diesel

Camden-based nappy laundry service, Nappy Ever After needs to raise £2,000 to get its electric bike back on the road.  It's holding a fund-raising screening during Climate Week (March 3-9) of the Diaper Dilemma, a 50 minute documentary that investigates the issuess around nappies.  It offer four solutions to the problem of nappy waste including nappy laundry services!

The fund-raising screening takes place at Nappy Ever After at 96 Chalton Street, NW1 1HJ on Friday March 7 at 10.30am.

A discussion will follow.  You can book here

For details of how to donate  see Nappy Ever After blog post here

Environment Agency or Government? Who is to blame?

Eric Pickles has blamed the Environment Agency - Guardian  for the flooding of the Somerset Levels.  We are not qualified to comment.

However we are qualified to comment on the Environment Agency's Nappy Life Cycle Analysis of 2005 that said washing nappies had similar environmental impacts to landfilling and incinerating disposables.

We can  confirm that there was pressure from then  Environment Minister Elliot Morley on the EA NOT to damage the economic interests of the disposable nappy industry by publishing a report that would affect their profits. 

Apply for your nappy voucher in person

This is a new way to get your voucher and buy real nappies.  For the next few months (until at least 18 October) you can turn up at Nappy Ever After's shop between Euston and Kings Cross St Pancras stations and apply for a voucher in person.

Nappy Ever After's regular shop hours are Tue 2-6pm, but if you can't make this time give Joy a call on 020 7383 5115 and you can arrange appointments/extra sessions.

Take your documents with you - as specified on the Real Nappies for London 'Apply' page.  Please note you can also present photocopies with confidential details such as your passport number, bank details hidden.  We simply need to have enough proof to prevent fraudulent applications.

1. proof of ID eg passport, driving license, NHS card
2. proof of address eg utility bill or any official letter dated within last 2 months
3. proof of pregnancy eg MatB1 form or prescription exemption card or birth eg birth certificate

Whichever borough you belong to, Bexley, Camden, Hackney, Haringey, Islington or Tower Hamlets, your voucher can be processed on the spot.  You can look at real nappies at the same time.  You can buy nappies at Nappy Ever After with your voucher or you can have your voucher emailed to you to spend elsewhere.

Please note that there are also real nappy events in Bexley, Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets where you can have your voucher issued on the spot.  Click on your borough for details.

If you live in Haringey My Creche has kindly agreed to scan your documents and email them to Real Nappies for London for you.

We'd like to hear your views on how to make it easier to get your real nappy voucher.  You can comment here or email nappies@lcrn.org.uk with your ideas and suggestions.

This is a trial until at least 2 July.  If successful it will be extended and we will fix up more opportunities to apply for your voucher in person in other locations.