Thursday, April 30, 2009

kates interview on good morning

This week I was interviewed on Good Morning. I have linked to my live interview from Monday. It went really well and the questions were really great. They are a fabulous bunch of people and wonderful to work with!

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/video_popup_windows_skin/2679331

Monday, April 27, 2009

Nappy Week competition

$3000 worth of prizes up for grabs on Good Morning this week!

Kate

Real Nappy Week 2009

Parents Combat the Credit Crunch with Cloth Nappies
Today marks the beginning of International Real Nappy Week 2009. The message across the globe confirms many times over just much money parents can save by using cloth nappies.
The New Zealand Nappy Alliance (www.nzna.org.nz) has calculated that parents using reusable nappies can save up to $5000.
“Families who invest in modern cloth nappies could have an extra $30 - $50 per week to spend on groceries, pay off debt or spend time doing things with their family” says Kate Meads Spokesperson for the NZNA. “Disposable nappies are generally purchased alongside household groceries, so many parents may not realize exactly how much nappies are costing them long term.”
Nappy Alliance members encourage kiwi mums to lay-by their nappies while they are pregnant. Over nine months (40 weeks on average) the cost of paying off a full time cloth nappy pack may cost around $22 per week which is far less than leading disposable nappy brands which could be up to $50 per week for approximately 130 weeks after the baby is born.
“I started using cloth nappies on my second child because we simply could not afford to buy disposables every week. My cloth nappies are so easy to use; I only wish these had been around when I had my first....I cringe at the amount of money I could have saved!” Says Rebecca, mum to two girls Ella (5yrs) and Maddison (6 months), “I don’t need to soak, use pins or fold my nappies like most people assume. Best of all I will sell them on Trade me when I am finished and get money back for them, what a bargain”
Real Nappy Week provides kiwi parents with the opportunity to find out all about washable nappies and their numerous benefits. Along with all of the obvious financial benefits, parents are attracted to the environmental benefits as well. A recent government study in the UK compared cloth nappies to disposables, and found that if used correctly, cloth nappies can be up to 40% better for the environment.
“It makes far more sense for parents to deposit cloth nappies into their washing machine and their money into the bank instead of a landfill”, suggests Kate
For further information about Real Nappy Week, images, samples or interviews, contact NZNA Spokesperson Kate Meads (027) 22 11 242 or kate@nappydays.co.nz
Nappy Facts:
o The New Zealand Nappy Alliance provides support and advice to parents, manufacturers, and health and childcare professionals on choosing and using washable nappies. The Alliance campaign aims to educate people on the cost savings of cloth nappies and the environmental benefits that cloth nappies bring.
o Parents can save over $5000 by using real nappies over leading disposable brands, more if they are used on subsequent children.
o Three billion nappies a year, eight million a day - are thrown away in the UK. They are estimated to weigh 690,000 tonnes and 90% end up in landfill. In New Zealand it has been estimated that there are approximately one million disposables going to landfill every day
o A recent Government report stated that real nappies are 40% better for the environment than disposables when simple washing guidelines are followed

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Have we had the wool pulled over our eyes?


Disposable nappies only contribute a small amount to landfill.......so it would seem....


Acording to a leading brand of disposable in New Zealand, the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment suggests that disposable nappies make up around 1.9% of NZ Landfill. On their website, this company compares this figure to that of Plastics and food waste. Obviously when you compare disposable nappies at 1.9% to plastics at 9.1% as shown in the graph above, this all sounds like it is nothing at all to worry about because nappies are only contributing 1.9% of all landfill waste after all.


However when I did the maths I was truely shocked. When you stop to consider that only about 4%* of our entire population** contributes one single product (disposable nappies) to landfill and that this one single product contributes a whopping 1.9% all on its own this figure is actually shocking! Think of every plastic procuct that could possibly end up in our landfill, the list would be almost endless yet all of these plastic products only contribute to 9.1% of landfill and 100% of the population would contribute to at least some of this plastic waste.

Then when you consider that disposable nappies are solely responsible for nearly 2% of landfill waste and only 4% of the entire population uses them, these figures actually started to make me think that we may have a serious nappy waste issue.

Does anyone stand around and wait for their nappies to dry?

I was astounded to read recently that two disposable companies have been implying that parents using cloth nappies would have no time to spend with their families because they would have to spend so much time washing nappies and standing at the washing line.

What is really so hard about putting nappies in the washing machine and turning it on. With small babies, we all use our washing machines daily! The hardest thing sometimes is to get into a routine - many people simply alternate clothes washes with nappy washes and some people just throw it all in together!

Modern cloth nappies are shaped to fit just like disposables. Sometimes the wrap is separate from the nappy but one needs to dress baby in a number of items of clothing every day so one extra item of clothing makes very little difference.

Another common complaint is ’having to handle the poo when you using cloth’. I am amazed at the number of parents I have spoken to, who have not read the small print on disposables where it quite clearly states that any solids must be disposed of down the toilet. It appears that most parents just wrap up the nappy, poo and all, and dispose of it into the bin to go into our landfills – just because it is a disposable nappy. This is potentially very dangerous as there could well be tonnes of untreated human waste sitting in our landfills.

By using flushable liners in re-usable nappies, we don't have to deal with any of the nasty stuff, you simply just flush it away!

With our economy the way it is and with the price of disposable nappies increasing, disposables may actually cost your family more time than you think. Consider how many extra hours a parent may need to work each week just to pay for the $50 worth of disposable nappies their baby is likely to use per week. The amount of time the parent would have to work to earn enought to purchase their disposable nappies would far out weigh the amount of time it would take for mum to turn on the washing machine 3-4 times a week and to hang out 4 loads of washing.

Modern cloth nappies have become easy, low cost, eco friendly alternatives to disposables and will not cost a family any more time than what their daily washing routine already does.