PARENTS will be urged to ditch the disposables to ensure nappy times lie ahead for the environment as part of a special event on Monday.

Wyre Forest District Council will mark the start of National Real Nappy Week with a public event to promote the real thing at Stourport Sports Centre. Lucy Rollins, 20 months, and Ruth Campbell, 16 months, get the hang of using real nappies.

The session, from 12.45pm to 2.15pm, will offer the opportunity to meet parents who use real nappies, as well as get washing information and samples.

According to the council's Greendesk, the collection and disposal of disposable nappies in Wyre Forest costs £100,000 a year.

Nappy waste makes up four per cent of the UK's household waste each year - about one million tonnes, three quarters of which is raw human sewage.

And using the real thing can save parents up to £35 a month.

Greendesk spokeswoman Beth Williams said: "People have a misconception about real nappies. The image of big safety pins, folding and boiling is no longer relevant."

The campaign is being backed by Kidderminster couple Slava and Damien Elcock, who use real nappies for 18-month-old daughter Laura.

Mrs Elcock said: "Disposable nappies contain chemicals in the dry layer which are unregulated and their long-term effects are not known."