Loreto Launchpad

Changing the world, one nappy at a time

Words by Laura McConville (Eastwood) & Katharine Brennan (Francis) Class of 2006

Tell us about your friendship and your time at Loreto:

Laura: We had a great time at Loreto. I think our friendship really solidified in Year 9 PE when we won the table tennis championship under the name ‘Francewood’ (a combination of Francis and Eastwood). In Year 12 we did five of the same six subjects so were together a lot! We remember Loreto as always being a place where girls were told we could do anything, encouraged to do so and frequently did!

Katharine: I remember being surrounded by so many strong female role models - both teachers and older students. We probably just took it for granted at the time, but upon reflection it was, and still is, very unique and special. That strong, pioneering, feminist spirit of women like Mary Ward and Mother Gonzaga Barry obviously continues to run through the culture of the school all these years later.

Tell us about your lives since Loreto:

Katharine: Laura and I, along with most of our Loreto friendship group, have continued to remain very close, keeping in touch, sharing major life events and regularly catching up (or trying to…) around kids, work and different locations - from Ballarat, Geelong, Melbourne and Wycheproof to New York! I have learnt since leaving school that not everyone remains this close with school friends, and have no doubt the culture and values we experienced during our time at Loreto play a big part in this.

Laura: We both followed a similar path since school – I studied Nursing/Midwifery and Katharine did Nursing/Arts. We have given speeches at each other’s 21st’s, been each other’s bridesmaids, and I was even the unofficial doula when Katharine gave birth to her first daughter Adeline two years ago!

Tell us about your joint business – Australian Cloth Nappy Rental - how did it all come about?

Katharine: I think we are quite similar in our approach to many things in life, and trying to be more environmentally conscious is definitely a value we share. When I was pregnant, Laura asked me if I was going to use cloth nappies. I was definitely interested, but I also had no idea where to start!

Laura: Katharine did end up using them with Adeline, and then I also used them when my son Billy was born in August 2019. We had actually planned to share nappies as our babies were 7 months apart - but that didn’t really work out as Billy grew very quickly and they were soon the same size!

Katharine: When COVID started to really impact Australia in March 2020 and toilet paper and baby formula were suddenly selling out, I thought that nappies may go the same way. So, one day I messaged Laura and asked, “Do you want to start a cloth nappy rental business?”

Laura: From that point there was back and forth, research and planning. At one point we decided ‘maybe this is all just too hard’, but the next day I just started posting on our Instagram page with the attitude of ‘Let’s just give it a try!’. That was in September 2020, and since then we have had steady interest from clients who are keen to give cloth nappies a go. We know we’re not going to take over the business world any time soon, but if we can keep a few disposable nappies out of landfill, for us that makes it all worthwhile.

For people who might be curious about using cloth nappies can you tell us a bit more about how it all works?

Laura: Starting out can definitely be a bit overwhelming. There are so many different brands, fits and styles, it can be challenging to know which is going to work for you and your baby… so that’s where we come in! We do trial packs of different types so you can test them out - at $1 each per week to rent. This also takes away an initial financial outlay of around $30 for a brand new cloth nappy, which can be another barrier to getting started.

Katharine: People might question the concept of renting re-usable nappies at first, but I encourage them to think about restaurants, or sheets and towels in a hotel, without a second thought… Our nappies are sanitised and disinfected with bleach in between customers to ensure they are 100% clean. The washing guidelines are also very strict and nothing like the ‘good old days’ where nappies were soaked in buckets. Neither of us have had any issues with rashes or anything else people may worry about, plus another positive is that you never run out of nappies!

Laura: It continues to stagger me that a disposable nappy takes 200 years to break down in landfill. That nappy may have only been used for an hour or two! Even if people only use cloth part-time or just try them out, it all contributes to a reduction in landfill – which I’m sure our children and future generations will thank us for in years to come.

Above: Laura and Katharine with Billy and Adeline