Cloth nappy backers embark on road trip
Cloth Nappy Week, April 16 to 22, kicks off with a week-long road trip with a very specific distance in mind.
With one million disposable nappies being thrown into New Zealand landfills each day, or seven million each week, the number of nappies laid end-to-end would stretch to 2100km – the distance from Invercargill to Auckland.
It is this route the Cloth Nappy Week team of mums will be travelling from April 14 to 22 in a bid to raise awareness of the benefits of modern cloth nappies over disposables.
One million disposable nappies was a lot of landfill, said Kate Meads, also known as The Nappy Lady, who is leading the nationwide movement toward more sustainable diapering solutions for parents.
Dealing with disposable nappy waste costs local councils tens of thousands of dollars a year and the decomposing material creates methane gas, a contributor to global warming.
While waste issues are fortunately becoming more and more important, in the meantime, the world is becoming more and more disposable.
The big question for the future is, when our landfills are full, where will our rubbish go?
Kate said that a baby would need up to 6000 nappy changes in the first two-and-ahalf years of life and at around 50c a nappy, parents were literally throwing their money away. Disposable nappies are seen as more convenient and less time-consuming than cloth nappies, she said.
‘‘ I understand that mindset when it comes to our parents generation but modern cloth nappies are so advanced in design and materials that they truly are no more difficult than washing a load of laundry.’’
Cloth Nappy Week, which is a worldwide event taking place from April 16 to 22, is focused on educating parents about how stylish and easy-to-use cloth nappies are. Kate and her team of Nappy Avengers is taking to the roads of New Zealand starting in Invercargill on April 14, bringing workshops, information sessions, samples, competitions, giveaways and prizes to crowds of Kiwi parents around the country.
Cloth Nappy Week has an active website (www.cloth nappyweek.co.nz) and Facebook community ( www.facebook.com/cloth nappyweek).
‘‘We are fortunate in New Zealand to have an extremely savvy, intelligent, passionate community of parents who are interested in cloth nappies and a wide range of brands to choose from, stocked by a passionate group of cloth nappy suppliers and retailers,’’ Kate said.
‘‘Cloth Nappy Week is the time for everyone to work together to spread the word and I’m excited to be taking cloth nappies on the road this year.’’