Somerset's expectant mums are being encouraged to go real when it comes to nappies.

This week, Somerset Waste Partnership is writing to 750 pregnant woman - saying that buying washable nappies isntead of disposable ones will save them five hundred pounds a year, and prevent 800 kilogrammes of waste per baby from going to landfill.

However, critics argue that both the financial and environmental benefits are cancelled out by the extra water and energy used in washing and drying the re-usable kind.