Plymouth parents in nappy world record attempt
Plymouth parents will be doing some quick changing as part of a world record attempt to highlight the benefits of using real nappies.
Mums and babies are lining up to form part of the British contingent of the ‘Great Cloth Diaper Change’ on Saturday 20 April as part of Real Nappy Week.
All around the world at 11 o’clock, mums will be changing their little ‘uns using cloth nappies instead of disposable nappies – and they hope to help break last year’s Guinness World Record of 8,251 cloth nappies changed simultaneously.
It is the third year that the Great Cloth Diaper Change event has been held and the first time that Plymouth mums have got involved. A room in Harewood House in Plympton is being set aside for the occasion.
Real nappy advisor Gina Powell said: “Diaper is the American word for nappy, but we though this looked like a fun way to spread the message about how simple real nappies are to use. It has really taken off around the globe and it is a novel way of reminding parents there are alternatives to disposable nappies.”
Councillor Brian Vincent, Cabinet Member for the Environment said: “We welcome any event that helps raise awareness of real nappies. There are lot of misconceptions about real nappies – and they’ve come a long way and are pretty simple to use. More importantly, they are considerably cheaper than using disposable nappies – around £500 a year and do not cost the earth.”
Most babies use around 4,000 disposable nappies in two and half years, equal to 30 brown wheelie bins full to the brim. Nearly eight million disposable nappies are thrown away every day and take up to 500 years to rot away.
Nationally around 2,800 tonnes of nappies a year end up in landfill and Plymouth City Council, like all councils, face fines if it does not reduce its waste.
A series of events is being planned to encourage mums and dads to give real nappies a go. They include Nappuccino sessions – easy-going social events where parents get advice on how to ‘get real’ in the nappy department as well as catch up with each other. Nappuchino events taking place include:
Monday
- Torpoint Children’s Centre from 11.30am to 2.30pm
Wednesday
- Dell Children’s Centre, Laira Green Primary School, 10am to 11.30am
- Plum Tree Children's Centre ,Woodford, 1.45pm to 2.45pm
Friday
- Keystone Children’s Centre, Morice Town, 10am to 11.30am
Cloth nappies will be available to borrow on the day so parents can still take part and see how easy they are. Parents to be interested in cloth nappies are very welcome to come along and learn more about cloth nappies and their benefits and register to borrow a free trial kit.
For more information or to get involved in The Great Cloth Diaper Change in Plymouth visit www.GreatClothDiaperChange.com or find them on Facebook or www.facebook.com/MaxandBellas and on Twitter @ClothRecord.
