Push to dump disposable nappies

Hobart City Council is encouraging local parents of toddlers to make the switch from disposable nappies to reusable ones, offering a nappy rebate in its ‘Plastic Free July’ campaign.

The Council offers the first 100 eligible applicants a 50 per cent rebate on the purchase price of cloth nappies and reusable sanitary products. Seventy applicants took up the Cloth Nappy and Reusable Sanitary Product Rebate last year.

Acting Lord Mayor Helen Burnet said making the switch from disposable nappies to cloth nappies was kinder on the planet, cheaper and had never been easier.

“The days when cloth nappies were boring white towels are long gone – cloth nappies are now easy to use and wash, absorbent and stylish,” she said.

“While the initial outlay to join the cloth economy can be daunting, parents can save as much as $2000 a child from birth to toilet training by switching to cloth nappies.

“You don’t have to commit to full- time cloth to make a real difference. Substituting just one cloth nappy
a day will stop more than 1000 disposable nappies becoming landfill in a child’s lifetime.”

City of Hobart Sustainability Portfolio chair Bill Harvey said joining the cloth nappy economy was a great way of thinking globally on a local level.

“Every year 100 garbage trucks worth of disposable nappies end up on Hobart’s tip,” he said.

“That’s more than 450 tonnes of disposable nappies going into landfill every year.

“By making the switch from disposables to cloth nappies parents can help Hobart reach its aim of zero waste to landfill by 2030 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”