recycledbaby.co.uk

I have a vision of demented women sat at their computers feverishly, no desperately, watching hundreds of auctions for nappies as they tick down to their end time. Hitting buttons with rigid fingers like maniacs, upping their bids determined to win reusable nappies. I’ve been sat doing exactly that for over a week and i still haven’t managed to buy one, let alone a pack of nappies. I’ve been outbid at every turn, one auction was ended by the seller and I clearly need to up my budget. The trouble is, if I up my budget, I’m practically paying new prices for the nappies and I don’t want to do that. Does that make me cheap? I don’t know, but I figure if there has been poo in a nappy, you shouldn’t have to pay full price for it, on an auction site or anywhere else. Capitalism is a wonderful thing and I guess the market will sustain people paying full price for second hand nappies, especially the ones from women who have bought them, used one or two and baulked at the thought  of washing nappies for the next two years and stuck them on eBay. So do I bite the bullet and pay more or continue my own slightly insane quest to buy cheaply. It’s gotten so bad I was on the radio at Mercia the other day and had to string a bunch of songs together when I shouldn’t have so I could try and win some nappies. I didn’t win and I got a telling off….. hmmm!

Husband has come up with a few suggestions for being the winning bidder. This week I shall mostly be trying to buy from auctions that end in the middle of the night or the early hours of the morning. Also, I shall be putting more money down as my bid and trying to find all the spelling mistakes. I SHALL buy cheap, second hand nappies. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Russell Crowe is making charity shops trendy by paying a visit to a Cancer Research shop in Berkshire. Well actually he didn’t buy anything, he just made a donation, but like I say, it’s a start. Read the full story here.

I just wish they would do something about the smell of old dog, it pervades every charity shop I’ve ever been in. Why must we suffer to recycle?

So women who live near busy roads while they are pregnant could have children with lower intelligence. Another reason to get on your bike or the bus in town. The Guardian newspaper has the facts and some sensible thoughts here.

You have to be really committed to this recycling lark to sit for hours online trying to buy reusable nappies on auction sites. No wonder people just buy new ones from the shops, the hassle factor is so much less! For the last week I’ve been sat at work trying to buy nappies in auctions. I see some I think I want and I bid but I’m constantly getting outbid, to the point where it would actually cost less to go and buy some new ones in a shop! There are some serious nappy addicts out there.

It is quite funny that half the people selling nappies have had them bought for them and never used them. Either that or they have been used once or twice and then the mum has given up and put them on one side out of the way before diving headlong into the pile of eco-disposables. Real nappies aren’t for everyone and I’m getting to reap the rewards. I guess, technically, it’s possible for the same pack of real nappies to go through several homes without actually being used. Each middle class lady thinking it’s a brilliant idea to use them and then when the baby gets home and they have to change the first dirty hospital nappy thinking… hmm, now where did I put those disposables. It could be that I think that way. I’m not planning on putting pressure on myself so I’m going to have a ready supply of disposables at hand as well as my real nappies. That’s if I ever get my hands on any.

this is what I'm trying to buy - Tots Bots bamboozles - so near and yet so far.

Reusable nappies are supposed to be the best thing for the environment so how come my local council is soooo not behind them. You would think with the landfill taxes they will be forced to pay they would be jumping on the reusable bandwagon as fast as they could, but no! Their website starts off well – telling us that three billion nappies are thrown away each year in the UK, that’s about 8 million nappies a day! But it goes downhill from here. Other councils seem to do much more than Leicester City Council. If you start looking for information about reusable nappies online it turns out lots of councils offer vouchers to help you buy them new. Not my council. Leicestershire County Council offers you £30 to buy your first real nappies. The boundary is about a mile and a half away from my house and if I could move my bricks and mortar right now I would. My council offers you the chance to try before you buy. That’s it…a bucket of nappies, if they are available, that you can try for two weeks. No cash help, no enthusiasm, no wonder people just carry on using disposables.

Disposable nappies can take up to 500 years to fully decompose in a landfill site. Some bits of the nappy may never fully decompose. That’s horrific isn’t it? In a couple of hundred years the television equivalent of Tony Robinson and Time Team could be digging up my baby’s poo and getting excited about it in an archaeological fashion.

I’m not going to try and be a martyr and pledge never to use disposables but there has to be a compromise here. I’m going to try and get hold of some reusable nappies. Now I’m not sure whether I should try and get used ones or buy new ones. The purest way forward is to get used ones but that’s quite an icky thought, even with the power of detergent and washing machines. Then again we must suffer for our art! I’ve had a quick look on eBay and there seem to be a lot of nappies for sale. I’ll have to get my auction fingers out and try and make some purchases.

The picture above is from this website.

This will be my new pram in Capri, they mean blue!

I’m getting a Quinny Buzz. We played around with a couple of different prams and it’s pretty much the only thing that fits in the Mini, and then only when we take the wheels off. My husband’s car isn’t a problem. He’s got the kind of bus that could probably house several small families from a developing nation. Not environmentally sound but useful. It’s my car that causes problems. We probably should change it but I love my car and it’s ridiculous to get rid of a perfectly good car that is bought and paid for, get into debt and stress, just because I can’t be bothered to take the wheels off the pram. That’s what the recycledbaby project is all about.

The Buzz also fits the Maxicosi car seat so we can just drop that on top of the pram base and away we go. Now here’s my problem. I can’t find a second hand one online anywhere. Well I can but I’ve got to get loads of different bits and it’s going to take too long to get it all before the baby arrives. On top of this my husband has found a complete set, car seat, base and stroller top for a really good price, around half what it is in the shops. What do I do? The recycledbaby project way is to buy lots of bits, my tired pregnant, angry self is saying just get the new thing! We are getting the new pram.

We’ve got a big decision to make now. The pram! There are so many different options and mostly I have to be able to get our pram into my banana yellow Mini. This limits things somewhat. There are very few prams you can get into a Mini. It’s such a huge decision because we also have to decide on a car seat for the baby as well and you have to get a car seat that’s compatible with the pram set. Who knew it was so complicated? Plus I’m told they won’t let you leave the hospital unless you have a proper car seat! My other half is into design and engineering so I’m pretty much leaving the selection to him. I’ll get him to present me with a load of options and see if we can get one second hand. Oh except we can’t get a second hand car seat because you can’t use second hand car seats! I don’t understand this at all. Babies only use the first one for a year or so. If a car seat has not been in an accident and is still in good condition, why on earth shouldn’t it be reused for another child? They cost over a hundred pounds and use all sorts of petrochemicals and plastics which aren’t good for the planet. It makes sense to reuse them. No-one is saying we should put kids in danger. I wouldn’t consider using a seat that had been in an accident, but I would consider using one that had been used before.