£200 vouchers to switch to reusable baby nappies in Herefordshire
The incentive is part of an initiative to reduce the number of disposable nappies that end up in landfills
Last updated 7th Apr 2022
Parents and guardians with babies in Herefordshire are being encouraged to ditch single-use nappies, in favour of reusable ones.
And they're being offered vouchers worth £200 to help them make the switch.
The incentive is part of an initiative by Herefordshire County Council which aims to reduce the number of disposable nappies that end up in landfills.
According to WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) a child typically uses between 4,000 and 6,000 disposable nappies by the time they reach 2.5 years of age.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, councillor Gemma Davies explained the scheme in more detail:
"This particular initiative is part of a whole scheme of pilots that we're hoping to do over the next year in order to reduce the amount of waste that we have going, especially waste that ends up in incinerators or in landfill.
"And we do know that disposable nappies or a huge proportion of that. It's estimated there's over 8,000,000 disposable nappies thrown into landfill or incineration every year in the UK, which I just find absolutely staggering."
And changing to reusable nappies will not only help the environment, it could also help parents and guardians save money:
"With the rising costs of living at the moment we think this might help families. We think it could save you upwards of £1,000 per child (up until they're potty trained) to make this change, which at the moment is so important for people."
"It's gone viral"
The scheme, which only launched this week, is already a success - says councillor Gemma Davies:
"We have had over 160 applications already from families. And originally we said let's offer 75 applications as part of the pilot and hope for the best, but it's just gone viral.
"It's just completely overwhelming and it says wonders for what the team have done with regards to all of the research that they've done to make sure that this is an exciting project."
Herefordshire Council is offering a limited number of £200 vouchers to parents/guardians to use at selected suppliers to purchase nappies, liners and nappy buckets.
You can find more information online.