From birth to toilet training, a child will use approximately 6000 nappies.

Every year in Geelong there are roughly 3500 babies being born. 

This equals 21 MILLION nappies.

It has been reported disposable nappies can take anywhere from 150-500 years to break down in landfill.

They make up approximately 4% of landfill.

This means a lot of space being taken up in landfill, increased carbon emissions as well as toxins, plastics and potentially biohazardous, untreated waste being leached into our earth.

We the undersigned hereby petition the City of Greater Geelong to introduce a rebate for cloth nappies and reusable sanitary products.

The initial financial outlay for reusable products is a barrier for most people. Rebates help ease costs while also reducing social stigmas around these items. It would also normalise these products, reward those wanting to reduce their waste, start a conversation, allow for education and save the council money.

What would this look like? Many other councils have introduced or are considering a rebate, most of which are modelled like this:

A household can receive up to fifty percent of the purchase back on new and secondhand items with proof of receipt at limit of $150. These reusable items can include:

o Cloth nappies (all ages)
o Swim nappies
o Nappy liners
o Cloth wipes
o Wet bags
o Nursing breast pads
o Cloth menstrual and incontinence pads
o Menstrual cups
o Period underwear
o Period wet bags

Further reading:

https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/recycling-and-reducing-waste/at-home/avoid-waste/minimise-single-use-items/disposable-nappies

https://www.casey.vic.gov.au/reduce-your-waste-0

https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/SCEP/Recycling_and_Waste_Mgmt/S210_-_David_Bernadine_Charles_Redacted.pdf