This year, during Real Nappy Week, Recycle for Wales and Pembrokeshire County Council is encouraging parents to make the switch from disposable nappies to 'real' cloth nappies on their babies.

Real Nappy Week is an annual event taking place from April 20-26. The event is supported by Recycle for Wales and will see local authorities joining with real nappy retailers to show parents how reusable nappies can help them save money as well as reduce waste.

Modern real nappies are fun, fashionable and come in a range of styles, designs and colours, from denim, spots, to ruffles. Using them can not only help parents save money but reduce waste.

The average baby will need to wear disposable nappies for two-and-a-half years, a cost of £650 to £1,300. Real nappies on the other hand cost just £200 for the same two-and-a-half year period. The savings really start to escalate when they are reused on subsequent children.

Real nappies also benefit the environment as disposable nappies can take up to 500 years to breakdown in landfill. By simply switching to cloth nappies from disposables can prevent over 4,000 nappies from going to landfill"

Cheryl Fellowes from Pembrokeshire has been using real nappies on her children Edward (two years five months) and Pippa (five months) for a few years. Cheryl said: "What I like best about cloth nappies is that I never run out of them, and they are no extra cost of my weekly shop. They look so much nicer than disposables as well, and I'm doing my bit for the environment. They are much easier to use than people think. Liners and any poo gets tipped straight off the nappy into the toilet. We store dirty nappies in a large wet bag that is waterproof with a zip opening. On wash days, we open the bag and shake the nappies out into the washing machine. We don't touch any dirty nappies and they dry in a few hours."

For more information on events happening in your during Real Nappy Week, please contact your local authority, or visit http://www.realnappies-wales.org.uk">www.realnappies-wales.org.uk or http://www.recycleforwales.org.uk">www.recycleforwales.org.uk