13 March 2007 - Green MEP Caroline Lucas has called for public subsidies for washable nappies and nappy laundering – to save cash and cut waste.

She made her comments to mark Real Nappy Week 2007 (March 11th -18th ), the 11th annual week of events organised by the Women’s Environmental Network, of which she is a matron.

Dr Lucas said: "The UK spends almost a billion pounds a year buying disposable nappies, plus several millions landfilling and incinerating them, at considerable cost to the environment.

"We should instead be spending public money to subsidise washable nappies and laundering: it would improve the economy, quality of life and the environment.

"Sustainable development is about supporting communities and making life easier for people - in this case parents - while protecting the environment.

"We need to rearrange our economy to do that, and here’s one good example. Rather than employ relatively few people mass-producing disposable nappies, we should be creating larger numbers of sustainable jobs in local communities, doing things that also have environmental benefits. Local nappy laundering services serving population centres in the South-East would do that.”

Currently Britain dumps eight million disposable nappies a year - using up more energy, land and both renewable and non-renewable resources than real nappies require.

ENDS