Eilidh Hunkin and mum Arja.

A GROUP of Fife mothers are getting the message across that small changes can make a difference to the environment.

The Fife Real Nappy Network was set up two years ago to promote the use of cloth nappies to save families money and help people do their bit to stop climate change.

Fife Council spends over £84,000 per year sending over 20 million disposable nappies to landfill.

Network treasurerArja Hunkin said the council’s change to fortnightly refuse collections had brought a rise in real nappy use.

“Half of the waste of a one-baby family is nappies —a new-born can go through around 12 nappies a day, so this would be 160 in the grey bin after a fortnight,” she said.

“We don’t know how long disposable nappies take to biodegrade in landfill, but it is estimated at 400-500 years,” she added.

Much of the group’s work is done at ante-natal stages to make prospective mothers aware of the benefits.

The network has a ‘nappy library’ and free demonstrations, where people can view each type of nappy and volunteers can help them decide on the best system.

It is estimated that ‘real nappies’ can save families around £1500 per baby.

Although the network doesn’t sell nappies as such, it recently had a limited number of real nappy trial kits available costing just £25—instead of around £80.

“Each baby will need around 4500 to 6000 nappy changes, so you would need to buy that many single use disposables or around 20 real nappies,” Arja added.

Arja insists times have changed, and encouraged new mums to at least give them a try.

“Real nappies have come on a long way from the old terries and nasty sharp safety pins,” she said.

“They now fasten with velcro or poppers, and come in a variety of fabrics including organic cotton, hemp, bamboo and microfibre.

“There is no need to soak or boil nappies, simply flush the biodegradable liner down the toilet and wash the nappy at 40C.

“Some nappies have been designed using the latest fabrics to dry extremely quickly, so there is no need to use a tumble drier.”

Anyone wanting to find out more can telephone the Fife Real Nappy Network on 0845 094 6243 or visit www.frnn.org.uk