275 Times June 2017

Waste-free Parenting
Babies bring lots of
joy and love into our
families, but these days
they also seem to create
a mountain of rubbish!
By Justine Skilling, Talking
Rubbish, ME Family Services
A week’s worth of stinky nappies
can fill up a black rubbish sack in no
time, and many families might be
wondering how they’re going to fit all
this into the red-lidded wheelie bins
that are coming to South Auckland
in June and July. Although our
rubbish magically disappears from the
kerbside every week, many people are
also disturbed to hear that the nappies
themselves stay in our landfills forever.
But it hasn’t always been that way.
Disposable nappies have actually
only been around for the past 30
years or so. Some of us might be old
enough to remember the old cloth
nappy squares, and all the soaking,
scrubbing and safety-pin injuries
that went with them. These days,
the cloth nappy is making a comeback,
but it’s better in every way.
Ranjani Prasad and Amy Taunga,
teachers at ME Family Services’
Early Childhood Education centre
have lots of experience with cloth
nappies. They’ve used them with their
own children at home and with the
many children they work with at the
centre. Both have taken advantage
of the nappy library available to
parents of children at the centre,
where a supply of cloth nappies
can be borrowed, to be returned
once they’re no longer needed.
Ranjani’s 2-year-old daughter
Jaanashi has been in cloth nappies
for over a year now. Ranjani opted
to use cloth nappies for the health
and wellbeing of her children. “They
feel more comfortable and have
no rashes using the cloth nappies.
This is because air can get in and
circulate,” she says. Ranjani finds the
modern cloth nappies “so convenient
and neatly presented”, compared
with the old white nappy squares
she used for her older child in Fiji.
Above: Modern cloth nappies drying in
the sun at Māngere East Family Services’
Early Childhood Education Centre.
She has 20 nappies in circulation, and
washes twice a week to make sure she
always has a fresh supply. Between
washes, the nappies are soaked in a
bucket with nappy sanitiser. While
this all takes a little extra time, she
says it’s part of the household routine
now, and she and her husband share
the load. “We think about our child’s
health, not the time it’s consuming”.
Cloth nappy converts: Ranjani Prasad
(left) with her daughter Jaanashi, and
Amy Taunga with son Simote (above)
use modern cloth nappies to save
money, do their bit for the planet and
help their children avoid nappy rash.
Amy started her cloth nappy journey
several years ago, when her first child
was born. Back then, finances were
tight, so cloth nappies, in the form
of the old white squares, were an
affordable option. More recently, Amy
attended a cloth nappy workshop
as part of her job and received a
pack of modern cloth nappies as
a gift when her son Simote was
born, to supplement the ones she
borrowed from the nappy library.
She reckons she’s saved roughly $20
a month using cloth nappies rather
than disposables and also found
her baby didn’t have trouble with
rashes, which she’s often seen with
disposables. “It’s better for bubba,”
says Amy. “Seeing the benefits of
using cloth nappies, in terms of saving
money, and also for the environment
made it really worthwhile for us”.
If you’re wanting to see whether
cloth nappies would work for you,
help is at hand. The Nappy Lady
(sponsored by Auckland Council) is
holding a workshop on Tuesday 13
June, 7–9.30pm at the Māngere East
Hall (Metro Theatre), 362 Massey
Rd, Māngere East to show people
how cloth nappies work and to give
families lots of tips on cutting down
waste (and saving money) at home.
There is a $10 registration fee, but
participants will receive $90 worth
of products to get them started on
their waste-free parenting journey.
To register, go to www.
thenappylady.co.nz, or contact
Kate on 027 221 1242.
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