By GRACE JENNINGS-EDQUIST
Babies grow fast.
So fast, in fact, that in 2013 a group of Australian mothers found their toddlers could no longer fit into the nappies they’d bought just a few months prior.
They were left with an excess of the things– and they started wondering how many women around the country had the same problem.
The solution they dreamed up was ingenious.
They formed the Nappy Collective, a not-for-profit organisation that, since October 2013, has grown from a single post on Facebook to an organisation operating in four states, the ABC reports.
The organisation is devoted to ensuring babies around Australia, no matter their family background, have clean bottoms. So, with the help of a 25-member committee, it distributes donated nappies to services helping mothers fleeing family violence, including women’s refugees.
Founder Sandra Jacobs, a pregnant mother-of-one who works as a financial advisor by day, told Mamamia the group is interested in raising awareness of domestic violence, but wants to be ‘able to actually help (survivors) in a tangible way.’
“It’s amazing how many people have spare nappies lying around,” she said.
“(Donating them) helps women focus their energy on building their lives back, rather than worrying about keeping their children clean.”
The initiative also aims to rebuild domestic violence survivors’ confidence, Ms Jacobs said.
“They’ve lost so much of their parenting confidence because domestic violence typically starts with emotional abuse, so by the time they end up (in a shelter)… their conficence is pretty low,” she told Mamamia.
“(Having nappies donated) does a lot to help rebuild their confidence so that they can focus their money on other things.”
The Nappy Collective, which is based in Melbourne but has working committees across four states, had collected 26,682 nappies in Melbourne and Sydney by March 2014.
This month, the collective is collecting nappies in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Newcastle, Geelong and Byron Bay, with a total of 28,200 nappies having been collected so far.
The current collective is running from the 21 July to 4 August. The organisaiton is collecting in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Newcastle, Brisbane Geelong and Bryon Bay. Full details of collection points are avalialbe on the organisation’s website. You can also volunteer your time or skills to help sort and pack nappies, orsubscribe to the organisation’s mailing list to be kept up-to-date on volunteering opportunities.
Top Comments
Great idea...I tried to donate my baby's left over nappies to the public hospital he was born in for the parents who do not have much and have babies in special care or in the wards. I was told they couldn't accept them which made me very sad. Great to know these women have found a way to get them out. Well done!
Great idea, saddest thing I've seen as far as Nappies go was in the "Four Thousand Islands" group on the Mekong in Southern Laos. Was at a cafe and went out the back to use their toilet, in the sun was about a dozen disposables drying in the sun, ready for reuse. It's sad when west meets east and the poor can't afford what the companies market, similar to the milk formula rort by Nestle and the mums stop feeding then have to water it downer to cost.
Yep, one of the reasons I despise Nestle. Our en masse swap to the use of disposable only nappies is quite sad really. It's a big deal when I see a baby wearing cloth nappies at work, so few of them are used.