Did you know that 1 in 5 children under the age of 5 years old experiences nappy stress?
What is the Nappy Collective?
The Nappy Collective started as a group of mums who found a handful of nappies that their toddlers did not fit into anymore. After considering the options of what to do with only six nappies – pass them onto a friend? Keep them for the next child? Throw them out - what a waste! - they began to wonder if there were other parents out there that also had a handful or even half a box of nappies they were unable to use. What if they were able to collect all these left over nappies and distribute them to families in crisis or in need? Collectively these handfuls of nappies could make a big difference.
In October 2013, the first Nappy Collective was launched via Facebook. Within two weeks, over 1500 nappies had been collected. The Nappy Collective was born.
Since then, The Nappy Collective has expanded around Australia, bringing the total tally of nappies collected to date to over 2 million!
The nappies collected are distributed to organisations that support families in crisis, mainly women’s crisis shelters and refuges, mothers facing homelessness and community organisations.
Do they accept cloth nappies?
No - Unfortunately cloth nappies are not practical for the families they assist as they do not have access to private laundering facilities. On average a baby can use 50-70 nappies a week which requires a significant cost and time commitment to laundering. The families they assist are already facing very stressful circumstances so we aim to provide them with the easiest nappy options possible.
Do donated nappies need to be in their original packaging?
They will happily accept unused nappies from open packaging. The nappies however must be clean. Labelling the size is extremely helpful too!
You can read more about The Nappy Collective here.