Bayside Council calls for women to experiment with reusable menstrual products and parents to use cloth nappies

Councils promoting eco-friendly living want women to stop using tampons and parents to use cloth nappies. While workshops explaining changes have banned gendered language to make a “safe space”.

Victorian councils are seeking new ways to induce parents to switch to washable, resusable nappies, including paying them up to $150 a year to ditch disposables.

Twelve Melbourne councils are conducting a joint survey to work out how to implement a reusable nappy program for residents.

Reusable nappy sales have surged in recent years as products are easier to use and cheaper than disposables, but the idea of washing dirty nappies is holding many parents back.

The study is led by the City of Monash and includes Maribyrnong, Bayside, Boroondara and Stonnington Councils, among others.

The aim is to reduce the use of disposable nappy waste, which accounts for around one tenth of bin contents.

Similar programs in other areas include recycled nappy hiring, rebates for recycled nappy purchases and information sessions for parents.

Modern cloth nappies

City of Monash Mayor Stuart James said the councils have asked their communities to provide feedback on the barriers to using reusable nappies and nappy liners.

“A draft feasibility report is being presented this week and the Councils are reviewing the information and feedback to understand grant application potential to implement the program,” he said.

It comes as six councils– Banyule, Cardinia, Casey, Mornington Pensinsula, Wyndham and Whittlesea are offering rebates of up to $150 a year to parents who use cloth nappies.

Casey Council’s scheme, which offers up to $100 for reusable nappies, wipes and breast pads, was so successful that it has been suspended until July.

Belinda Jennings, founder of website Mum Central, said reusable nappy programs were a “great initiative if executed properly”.

“Cloth nappies have come such a long way over the years, and are considerably easier to manage on a day to day basis than many realise,” she said.

She said such schemes “could be instrumental in helping new parents take a positive step towards a more sustainable nappy solution”.

Chloe Gilliland from Cloth That Bum. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Pinky McKay, author and lactation consultant, said rebates were a great idea considering the environmental impact of disposable nappies.

“Parents can choose when and whether to use cloth or disposables or a mix of both,” she said.

“For instance, exhausted new parents might choose to use disposables in the early days then change to cloth as they can manage. Or use cloth most of the time but use disposables if they need a break some days,” Ms McKay said.

“There is no need for guilt when incentives are offered without pressure.”

It comes as each child generates around 700kg of disposable nappy waste and around two billion disposable nappies end up in landfill each year in Australia.

‘Women’ banned from council’s menstrual workshop

Bayside Council wants women in some of Melbourne’s most affluent suburbs to stop using tampons because of its looming cuts to bin collections.

The council’s will next week hold a 90-minute LGBTQIA+ inclusive “eco-friendly periods” workshop to encourage women to experiment with reusable menstrual products such as washable cloth pads.

The workshop is “in anticipation of the upcoming bin collection changes”.

From July, the council will only collect a small general waste bin from each household once a fortnight, down from its current weekly collections, in a move designed to put pressure on households to recycle more.

The council’s website says “residents asked us to make the switch” to fewer bin collections but provides no evidence to support the claim.

Bayside Council wants women to stop using tampons.

The council’s general waste collection is being halved.

The council says next Wednesday’s online period workshop was part of its efforts “supporting our residents” to “reduce our overall waste footprint” by “opting for reusables where possible”.

The word “women”, along with all other “gendered language” will be banned at the workshop, as part of an effort to make it a “safe space for all”.

Ratepayers Victoria president Dean Hurlston said it was not a local council’s job to police women's’ bodies.

“Running these sorts of workshops are a bit of a distraction,” he said.

“Is it the role of council? It’s really for your GP or health services.”

Mr Hurlston said Bayside slugged its residents some of the highest rates in the state, and ratepayers expected to have enough space in their bins for normal household rubbish.

“Council should properly service those that are paying the lions share of rates,” he said.

A council spokeswoman said

Prominent former Bayside resident and Australian basketball legend Andrew Bogut wrote online: “So glad I no longer pay rates to fund this shit show of a council”.

Council chief executive Mick Cummins did not respond to specific questions but in a statement said the workshop catered for women and “members of our … community who have periods but don’t identify as women”.

He said women in Bayside could continue to use whatever menstrual products they wanted to.

“This workshop is part of an overall education program on how to reduce general waste,” he said.

Originally published as Bayside Council calls for women to experiment with reusable menstrual products and parents to use cloth nappies