PARENTS are being urged to stop buying disposal nappies and switch to "real" ones instead.

Hambleton District Council is mounting an exhibition early next month to promote washable nappies as part of the county-wide Rethink Rubbish campaign.

The idea is to get parents to help reduce the thousands of tonnes of disposable nappies which are sent to landfill sites in North Yorkshire every year.

By converting they can save money and help the environment, said the authority's waste minimisation officer, Julia Robertson.

She said: "Gone are the days of old fashioned nappies and boil washes. New washable nappies are much easier - a simple 60 degree wash is all that is needed to sanitise them.

"They come in a range of designs and colours - from traditional white to leopard print.

They are made of soft, breathable and absorbent cotton in a range of styles and fastenings. And over the life of a child in nappies, there are considerable cost savings."

Eight million nappies are thrown away in the UK each year. They are buried in landfill sites and can take several hundred years to break down.

Disposable nappies make up half of the waste generated by a household with one baby.

The real nappies exhibition is being staged at Hambleton's Civic Centre, in Northallerton, between September 1 and 12.

* To find out where to buy nappies locally, contact Nappy Line on (01983) 401959 or visit www.realnappy.com.

For more information, visit www.rethinkrubbish-northyorks.com.