Hi everyone, meet Maria! She runs the Ashford Cloth Nappy Library, which is part of the UK Nappy Network.

Maria is a volunteer for the UK Nappy Network, a free service that loans out reusable nappies for families to try out and discover what type of nappies work best for them. She does not sell reusable nappies, but acts as a point of contact for families interested in making the move from disposable nappies. She operates a "try before you buy" scheme, and her kits contain lots of different types of nappies for families to try.

Maria has 12 trial kits available for families to hire, and each kit has 25 nappies.
Short term loans can be as affordable as £10 for 8 weeks, and long term loans are free.

When she first had her little boy, Maria’s decision to use reusable nappies was more for economic reasons, rather than environmental.
The average baby gets through 4,000 disposable nappies by the time they’re potty-trained, costing families £400 a year and creating the equivalent of half a tonne of carbon dioxide.

It was not until later when she started to learn how much more beneficial reusable nappies are for the environment.
Every year, the UK produces 31 million tonnes per year, equivalent to the weight of three and a half million double-decker buses, a queue of which would go around the world two and a half times.
Experts claim disposable nappies take up to 500 years to break down.
It's estimated that by using cloth nappies for just one child, parents could divert as much as 874kg from landfill and reduce their carbon footprint by up to 40 per cent compared with using disposables.

Some parents might be a bit apprehensive about trying reusable nappies, but Maria is on hand for advice!
She said some of the most common questions she gets is how to wash the nappies, and "don't you end up with poo in your washing machine?" to which she replies saying that modern day washing machines and detergents are more than capable of washing reusable nappies on a 60° cycle. She adds that most washing machines are periodically put through a cycle wash, and this helps keep the washing machine well maintained.

On a personal level, Maria hopes to work more with food banks and Ashford Borough Council's VCS & waste management team, as this is where her passion lies.

Since the broadcast of Sir David Attenborough's Blue Planet on BBC1, the Cloth Nappy Network has seen a massive surge in waiting lists, and they are always looking for volunteers! So if you'd like to do your bit for our planet, why not give reusable nappies a go?

Programme Name: Blue Planet II - TX: n/a - Episode: n/a (No. n/a) - Picture Shows: Sir David Attenborough - (C) - - Photographer: 

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jul/04/nappies-which-best-disposables-reusables-cost-ethics
https://www.babycentre.co.uk/a559767/choosing-reusable-nappies
https://www.cbenvironmental.co.uk