A mountain of nappies brings home message (From Swindon Advertiser)

A mountain of nappies brings home message

12:07pm Tuesday 6th February 2007 in

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CAMPAIGNERS are to build a disposable nappy mountain in Highworth to encourage more mums to avoid the environment-destroying items.

The mountain of rubbish bags will represent the amount of disposable nappies one baby would go through in a year.

Real Nappies campaigner, Highworth mum-of-one Abigail Gilby, 27, said the fake rubbish pile would be put up on February 12 to draw attention to the mountainous waste created by the use of disposable nappies compared with cloth nappies.

Nappy network co-founder Debbie Stokes said she had filled as much as one bin liner a week when forced to use disposables.

"That means over a year the council pays up to £34.54 in landfill charges just for one baby's nappies and we all pay for landfill in our council tax," she said.

"The bottom line is disposable nappies have to be disposed of, and this costs taxpayers' money.

"Real nappies, when finally finished with, can be recycled through textile plants, such as Oxfam's processing facility Wastesaver, located in Huddersfield."

The event is part of Real Nappy Week, which runs from March 11 to 18 and is organised by the Women's Environmental Network.

The Swindon Real Nappy Network has called on the council to join the 350 other UK local authorities by providing a real nappy incentive scheme.

Wroughton mum-of-two Vanessa Emanuel, 31, said that an incentive scheme would benefit more than just parents.

"An incentive scheme is targeted at parents who currently use disposable nappies," she said.

"We just want people to know that there is an inexpensive and convenient alternative to disposables out there."

Swindon Council says it is investigating giving a rebate for those using real nappies.

For more details about real nappies call Swindon Real Nappy Network on 01793 762066.