Hello, we are Lizzie and Claire!
We run a community interest company called Plymouth Sling Library CIC and under that umbrella we run Plymouth Nappy Library, a lending and information service for reusable nappies.
We are very excited to bring to your our crowdfunder! We would like to tell you about our future ideas and plans to build our nappy library and create a greener future for Plymouth.
When it comes to nappies, if you have children it isn't really something you can avoid. It is very easy to walk into a supermarket, grab some disposable nappies and carry on without giving it another thought. However once you stop, think and research you will find a whole new world of greener alternatives.
We are committed to reducing waste and saving our environment and want to encourage and facilitate others to be able to do the same. With guidance and support the change to reusables nappies can be a simple and enjoyable process and that is where we want to help.
We currently have 12 reusable nappy kits in sizes ranging from newborn up to potty training, we hire these out to people who live in Plymouth and the surrounding areas for a fee of £10. Every fee we charge goes back into the nappy library to build new kits, replace items, pay for our insurance and continue to build more kits. Whilst we are very pleased to be able to offer this service there is so much more we could do!
This is possibly the question you are most interested in! What we do with the money will depend on how much we manage to raise, we will initially create more trial kits to enable a greater number of families to try cloth nappies, a family who choosing to use just one reusable nappy a day will save on average 912 nappies being disposed off from birth to potty training.
This picture shows two years of disposable nappies for just ONE child!!
After creating more of our more universal nappy kits we want to be able to expand to cater for a wider audience. This will include nappies for older children to aid parents in caring for children with additional needs who want to have a positive impact on the environment. Potty training kits for those who want an alternative to 'training pants' and long term loan kits that we will hire free of charge for families who need that little bit of extra support. We will also create cloth wipe kits which can be added on to a normal hire or as a stand alone.
We are hopeful that our crowdfunder will be such a success that we can move into stage three of our developments and be able to offer all Plymouth residents who hire a nappy kit through Plymouth Nappy Library an incentive in the form of discount from the purchases of reusable nappies making the initial financial cost lower.
As a nation we are trying to cut down on our single use plastics, we have all seen the stories about straws, cotton buds and coffee cups. Why are we not more keen to apply this to nappies?
- You save money! The average money you save is around £500 per child
- Better for baby - no harsh chemicals, fewer rashes, soft fabric against skin
- Nappies are adjustable in sizes, one size fits most!
- You can use again for subsequent children
- Can be repurposed at end of use, turn into cleaning rags etc
- They are super cute! How can you resist?