City of Casey rebate draw: save up to 50% on your 2008 stash purchases!

The City of Casey, Victoria, has announced that it will be holding a draw for cloth users to be in the running for a 50% rebate on their setup costs. 

Casey is supporting parents to use cloth nappies to reduce waste and landfill, and to benefit the environment. Now setting up a cloth stash may be even cheaper. 

The City of Casey will be funding a Cloth Nappy Rebate Draw to encourage parents to choose cloth nappies over disposables. Every month during the draw period, a name and receipt will be drawn from those entered with the attached form, and 50% of the purchase cost for the full set of cloth nappies will be reimbursed (up to $300). Entries will be kept from month to month, so there is no need to re-enter, and you could have a chance to win the next month.

How to enter? Fill in the Nappy Rebate Draw form, and attach your original receipt for the nappies (photocopies not accepted). Nappies need to have been purchased after the 1st of Jan 2008.

NOTE: You must be a resident of the City of Casey to be eligible.

For all enquiries, contact the Environmental Education Officer, Abbie Lane:
9705 5691
or alane@casey.vic.gov.au

 

 

Support the Australian Nappy Network Ltd

 After years of planning, brainstorming, collaborating and dreaming, the Australian Nappy Network™ Ltd (ANN) invites you to join us on our quest to spread the word to the wider community about the many benefits of reusable nappies.

Join, donate, or sponsor us now at www.nappynetwork.org.au/supportus1.php!
 

About Modern Cloth Nappies

Cloth nappies have come a long way since terry squares and buckets full of bleach. Today’s modern cloth nappies use smart designs and innovative new fabrics, and require no pinning or soaking. They can be reused over and over, making them cheaper – and far less polluting – than single use nappies. So modern cloth nappies are a great choice for parents – if only more parents knew about them! The challenge for the Australian Nappy Network™ Ltd is to raise the profile of modern cloth nappies, so that parents know there is a better alternative to disposables.

 

About the Australian Nappy Network™ Ltd

The ANN is a not-for-profit organisation, the goal of which is to educate the Australian community on the health, environmental and financial benefits of using cloth nappies. We will be drawing on the combined skills, enthusiasm and experience of individuals and businesses like you to operate.

 

Our flagship national event is Reusable Nappy Week™, held in October each year. Reusable Nappy Week™ features events right around Australia, from capital cities to regional centres. Highlights include public information sessions, nappy displays, media events and community gatherings.

 

ANN members also run regular community-focused events, such as classes at maternity hospitals, workshops, markets and expo stalls. Each State and Territory Coordinator in the ANN has a nappy sample kit, used to provide hands-on education about modern cloth nappies.

 

Online

The online presence of the Australian Nappy Network™ Ltd, where we will keep all our online resources and announce our various advocacy events & projects is at www.nappynetwork.org.au
Bookmark it now.

 

The ANN Work Programme

The Australian Nappy Network™ Ltd knows that the task of changing entrenched attitudes to cloth and disposable nappies is a large one. Around 95 per cent of Australian parents use disposable nappies, at a high cost to them and to the environment. In order to redress this imbalance, the ANN will:

 

COORDINATE
national cloth nappy advocacy activities.

CONNECT
healthcare professionals, local authorities, local businesses and parents.

INFORM
Australian parents, through campaigns and local-level activities, using consistent, impartial information.

SUPPORT
parents, the cloth nappy industry and researchers.

CAMPAIGN
to have stakeholders in the community recognise and promote the financial, health and environmental advantages of cloth nappies.

INNOVATE
to help reduce the ecological impact of nappy use at all points of the supply chain, from cropping to laundry techniques.

 

How Can You Help?

There are now opportunities for individuals and businesses from all realms of the reusable nappy world to support the work of the Australian Nappy Network™ Ltd, through individual membership and volunteer advocacy roles, and business sponsorships and advertising packages.

http://www.nappynetwork.org.au/supportus1.php

 

Assisting the ANN financially will assist with providing the resources to disseminate information.

 

Individuals

Besides donations, which are always welcome, there are 2 ways individuals can support the ANN:

 

Subscriber

By becoming a Subscriber, whereby you receive a pack of advocacy material, a subscription to the ANN eZine and 5% discount on all ANN merchandise, and

 

Member

By becoming a Member, whereby you receive all of the above and you also have the right to do or supervise ANN advocacy work as a Community Nappy Advocate and have voting rights at all ANN general meetings.

 

Please note on your application any voluntary contributions to ANN projects, events and activities, past, present and future, as we will extend the duration of eligible memberships to show our appreciation.

 

Business Sponsorship

There are a variety of Sponsorship packages and advertising opportunities available for businesses. Please see our website for details.

 

 

 

We appreciate your patience and support and hope you share our excitement as we fully and finally launch the ANN.

 

 

Australian Nappy Network™ Ltd

www.nappynetwork.org.au

 

ANN Cloth Friendly Child Care & Cloth Friendly Hospitals Surveys - Can YOU Help?

The Australian Nappy Network (ANN) will be running and publicising many projects that will help to promote the wider use of reusable nappies.

One of the ANN’s first big projects is a set of search-able databases designed to make it easier for parents to a) choose child care and hospitals that use the nappies they want used on their children and b) equip parents with information about the nappies that are used in hospitals and child care they may need to use.

While we intend to contact service providers to populate the Cloth Friendly Child Care and Cloth Friendly Hospital databases, to start with we would like to ask users of child care and hospital (maternity and pediatric) services to complete a survey for any service they have used, detailing their experiences, knowledge, and the service provider’s willingness to use various types of nappies. The surveys should take no more than a few minutes each to complete.

The surveys can be found at the following links:

Cloth in Child Care:

http://AusNappyNetwork.ClothInCare.sgizmo.com 

Cloth in Hospitals:

http://AusNappyNetwork.ClothInHospitals.sgizmo.com

Great Down Under Nappy Hunt - be in the running for heaps of nappy prizes.

It’s that time again! Shane, Lesley, and Diaper Decisions have announced that Hunter registrations are open for the fourth semi-annual Great Down Under Nappy Hunt™! Ozclothnappies is proud to once again be a Hunt Sponsor. 

The GDUNH is a month-long web treasure hunt. This is the icon you will be looking for: 

  

How does the GDUNH work? It’s simple! You register at Diaper Decisions between now and March 1st.Then, when the hunt starts on March 1st, you have one month to visit all the participating sponsor sites and hunt for the Diaper Decisions™ nappy icon. Find enough nappy icons, and you will earn entries to the 47 random prize drawings, including Three Grand Prizes! Prizes are worth in excess of $4000.

For more details about this great event, please visit the Rules and FAQ pages.

If you get stuck whilst hunting, please visit the official Hint Forum and ask for help. Sponsors will not be giving out hints however in the first few days of the hunt.

Remember it is a competition. Posting of hints and help on other forums will be construed as cheating, and you may be banned from this and further hunts.

 See you at the hunt! 

Cloth nappies a key money-saving strategy

Reusable nappies are an important part of budgeting for new parents. News.com.au reports: 

 

Latest figures show that middle-income parents with two children will spend more than $500,000 on them by the time they hit the age of 21. 

 

But are those costs just a sign of the times, or are there ways to cut spending without compromising the quality of their childhood?

 

Here are a few ideas.  [...]  

4. Washable nappies

While there has been no comprehensive published study of the environmental benefits of cloth nappies in Australia, they are certainly a lot easier on your pocket.

 

You can spend as much as $4000 on disposable nappies per child, but cloth nappies and laundry costs shouldn’t come to more than $1500 - and even less for the second child, as you can reuse the nappies you bought for the first baby.  

 

Many people labour under the misconception that laundering nappies is a substantial household cost. On the contrary - washing cloth nappies costs around a dollar a week even if you’re not particularly frugal, and it can cost a lot less if you use cold water, off-peak power, and minimal detergent.  Sunlight sanitises home-washed nappies just fine most of the time.

For a detailed costing, see the Ozclothnappies FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). 

Spend your laundry savings on green power - and your nappy savings might fund a rainwater tank or solar system. 

Other frugal tips from the article that also help the environment and your health include going to the park instead of driving to malls and movies, teaching your kids to grow and cook fresh whole foods, growing vegetables, and buying a good bike so they can get into the habit of cycling instead of driving.     

Inaugural ANN calendar - order yours now!

The Australian Nappy Network is proud to announce that the first  ANN Calendar will be printed any minute now. They can be ordered via Ozebaby for only $15 including postage and handling.

Babies wanted! For ANN calendar.

The Australian Nappy Network is putting together a 2008 wall calendar featuring gorgeous cloth bottomed bubs. You are invited to submit photos for a chance for your baby or toddler to be featured. Selected entries will receive a free calendar and of course, unlimited bragging rights!

Photos must be submitted as email attachments and emailed to wa@modernclothnappies.org Your email submission must include your full name, address, telephone number, email address.

Photos need to be in high resolution format, 300 DPI and landscape A4 size (210×297mm).
The file name of the photo must include the entrants surname for easy identification.

Entrants will be required to complete a general release form, entries not accompanied by a release form will be withdrawn. Release forms will be sent to applicants by return email upon receipt of entries.

Entries must be received by no later than 30th September 2007.

The decision of the ANN selection panel is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The ANN may retain entries for consideration in the following year’s calendar and for other publications.

So get snapping!!!!!!

Are you a nappy nerd?

Take the Nappy Test at nerdtests.com to score your level of nappy nerdiness.

I’m an Addict, apparently. What about you?

Modern Nappies - The choice is yours. From TNN NZ.

The Nappy Network New Zealand has a press release in Stuff.co.nz today.

Modern Nappies - The choice is yours.

The Nappy Network is about informed choice for parents, not about disposables vs cloth. Of course, we believe modern cloth nappies are better in many ways…or we wouldn’t all be using them!

There has lately been a revival of the ‘nappy debate’ by Kimberly-Clark, manufacturers of Huggies Disposables. While exposure of the issues is always a good thing, there seems to be a lot of confusion.

The Nappy Network would like to take a bit of spin off the recent Kimberly-Clark media release, and clear up some misinformation:

Kimberly-Clark quote a 2005 UK study by the Environment Agency, which compares the ecological impact of both cloth nappy and disposable manufacturing and use. This study has already been discredited - it was flawed, and bears little relevance to NZ conditions. The Environment Agency itself has admitted the study was flawed and is conducting a review that will hopefully be more true to the facts of modern cloth nappy use in the UK.

Even in its flawed state, it actually DOES show that cloth nappies cause LESS harm to the environment overall. The Life Cycle Analysis results show that both systems use similar amounts of energy but the disposable system uses more materials and puts more into landfill.

Cloth nappies also give parents the choice of using even ‘greener’ methods of washing and using their nappies (reducing their ‘global warming impact’ up to another 24%).

Much more information can be found on the Womens Environmental Network website:

WEN: “Stop talking rubbish on nappies”

WEN: “Environment Agency nappy report is seriously flawed”

The NZ Ministry for the Environment comments on this study here: “What type of nappy should I use?”

The KC media release focuses on waste to landfill. And well it should - disposables are the single largest product category of household waste, costing Christchurch ratepayers around $600,000 a year to landfill just disposables. While construction waste and green waste are obviously large issues for NZ landfills - most of that does not come from households, but from industry. Important campaigns are already in place to reduce construction waste and green waste.

The Christchurch City Councils recent Modern Cloth Nappy subsidy scheme was such a success that it was extended twice. And now several other councils are funding similar schemes. The feedback from parents has been outstanding, and councils can obviously see the advantages in waste reduction.

Just one child in cloth nappies will save around 2 tonnes of solid waste from going to landfill.

Aside from the important environmental concerns - modern cloth nappies give parents more choice financially, they allow parents to choose between natural and synthetic fibres, may last through several children (increasing savings and decreasing eco-impact), they can be as simple to use as a disposable, they come in the widest range of styles, colours, prints, and fabrics, they can keep babys skin dry and healthy - or wet to assist with toilet learning, they allow parents to choose the level of absorbency - trim for day and boosted for no-leak night-time use, and the option of supporting NZ business with more and more modern cloth nappies being produced right here in NZ.

Modern Cloth Nappies are about choice - not guilt. The Nappy Network (Incorporated) is a non-profit society run by volunteers - we don’t make any money by advocating modern cloth nappies, we do so because we believe in informed choice for parents.

Oz Cloth Nappies has addressed the Environment Agency’s report as well, in our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and in previous blog posts here. From our FAQ:

The Environment Agency report has been thoroughly criticised in many ways, yet a lot of the critiques miss one very key assumption creating a massive bias - that a family will own 47 nappies, yet only ever launder 12 at a time. With the study focusing on energy consumption, particularly by washing machines (and the study looking at machines much less energy efficient than current machines), small changes in this faulty assumption will be expected to have large effects on the outcome.

The authors made assumptions that many users were using throwaway liners (dumping faeces into the rubbish, an unsanitary act illegal in many areas), chemical nappy soaks, near-boiling water, very large amounts of detergent, fabric softeners, tumble drying, and even ironing. None of these are necessary.

The adverse health effects of single-use nappies were completely ignored. Especially when the baby is changed an average of only four times in 24 hours, as this study assumed.

Nor were any modern cloth nappies considered in the analysis. There has been a strong move in the past three years towards fabric crops far more sustainable than ordinary cotton - organic cotton, hemp, and bamboo are farmed in more earth-friendly ways including the minimisation of use of water, chemicals and pesticides. This LCA was asking yesterday’s questions.

The only conclusion that can firmly be drawn from this study is that if you care for your cloth nappies in the most ignorant, wasteful, and damaging way imaginable, they are STILL no worse for the planet than changing just four single-use nappies a day. [...]

On water usage: on average, washing cloth nappies for one baby is about equivalent to flushing the toilet four to six times a day. Are you wearing disposable nappies right now?

A close reading of life cycle analyses shows that at least half of the “water use” figures for cloth nappies are attributed to the production phase of conventionally grown cotton crops. This can be readily decreased by choosing more earth-friendly fabrics like hemp and bamboo. Another way to dramatically reduce this impact it to use nappies until they are worn out. Studies like the EA study assume that nappies are discarded after 50-150 uses; in practice, and with sensible laundry techniques, nappies should last for 200-800 uses, depending on type. Changing these basic assumptions can make a big difference to your impact.

There are other issues with the water figures in the EA study and those like it: assumption of a low-water-efficiency washing techniques (75 litres for only 12 nappies); unnecessary soaking practices; ignoring flush water necessary with single-nappy use (for flushing faeces before placing the nappy in domestic rubbish) are just a few.

Consider your entire household’s use of water. The money you save using cloth nappies could go a long way toward installing a rainwater tank, a greywater system, a more water efficient washing machine and showerheads.

Lastly, consider the root cause of global climate change. Reusable nappies have a lower energy, fossil fuel and emissions impact compared to throwaway nappies. By teaching your children to reduce, reuse, and recycle - you’re setting the stage for their environmental education. Here’s hoping the next generation will make the Earth a better place.

Stop talking rubbish on nappies: statement from WEN

Please welcome Tawha to the OzClothBlog! Tawha has been an ozclothnappies co-moderator for some time, works on the “IRL” real-life nappy shop/demonstrator list, and will be co-blogging with me.

Further to Tawha’s story yesterday on the media recycling old nappy news without a shred of research, the UK Women’s Environment Network has released a statement: ” Stop talking rubbish on nappies”.

An excerpt:

Washable nappies are clearly better for the environment, even when you take account of the energy and water used to wash them. Using real nappies puts parents in control. With a good washing routine parents can minimise the environmental impact of their babies’ nappies, reduce waste and save themselves money.

[...]

The 2005 report based key assumptions on flawed data, which caused it to overestimate the impact of washing nappies. It also ignored the potential of modern, fitted cloth nappies, to reduce impacts.

WEN found that, even on the basis of the flawed data in the report, parents can reduce global warming impacts by 24% more than the report concluded. A 17% reduction in global warming impacts can be achieved by using an A rated washing machine and following manufacturers’ guidance to wash at 60 deg C. With A rated washing machine sales at near saturation by early 2005 many real nappy users are already achieving this saving. Parents only need use 24 real nappies, rather than the 47 the LCA assumes, reducing their global warming impact by another 6.9%.

This advantage can be even greater if organic cotton, hemp or bamboo nappies are chosen and locally supplied and if nappies are used on a second or third child.

The advantages of cloth nappies can be even greater in Australia, where line drying is possible up to 100% of the time in most areas. Nappies can be washed at 30-40 degrees much of the time, and by signing up to green power or installing solar power, your greenhouse gas impact drops further again. Transport is another big issue, with Australia’s very large distances; a cloth nappy needs to be transported to your house once (followed by 200-500 re-uses or even more); disposable nappies need to be transported to your city every week.

And don’t forget - with the money you save on cloth nappies, you could install a rainwater tank, buy a super-efficient washing machine, switch to organic vegies, or even get yourself some houshold cleaning help!