A waste-free programme is running a pick-up and drop-off service for cloth nappies at a kōhanga reo in Tāmaki Makaurau.
It aims to encourage whānau to have conversations about what waste minimisation looks like in parenting using a te ao Māori context and is led by a mobile community hub called Āe Ka Taea e Koe.
Āe Ka Taea e Koe kaihautū Janine Phillips (Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Rarotonga) has been working on this project for the past two years.
“What we’re doing is making cloth nappies accessible and at this stage we’re making it accessible in kōhanga reo.
“We’ve got a trial programme with kōhanga reo on the North Shore and we supply them with cloth nappies we wash and dry. Pick them up and drop them off.”
Making it accessible
Phillips said she wanted to make nappies sustainable, manageable, comfortable and affordable for their whānau.
“So going into kōhanga and picking up our nappies of course we’re doing the mihi to our babies going through and even our babies are seeing the buckets and the nappies.
She said since they come in and wash the nappies, it takes the strain out of using cloth nappies.
“We pick up our nappies and the kaiako are like ‘Man it’s really cool’. They’ve seen the difference, there’s less nappy rash, the babies are comfortable and they’re not leaking.
“And enjoying using cloth nappies instead of disposables. Less rubbish going out, so they’ve noticed that they’re not throwing out as many bags of rubbish.”
They hope to expand into other kōhanga and encourage funders to help their cause.
Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau supported this kaupapa from the Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund with grants between $1,000 and $50,000.
