The most beautiful thing you can do with those leftover nappies.

By GRACE JENNINGS-EDQUIST

Babies grow fast.

So fast, in fact, that in 2013 a group of Australian mothers found their toddlers could no longer fit into the nappies they’d bought just a few months prior.

They were left with an excess of the things– and they started wondering how many women around the country had the same problem.

The solution they dreamed up was ingenious.

They formed the Nappy Collective, a not-for-profit organisation that, since October 2013, has grown from a single post on Facebook to an organisation operating in four states, the ABC reports.

The organisation is devoted to ensuring babies around Australia, no matter their family background, have clean bottoms. So, with the help of a 25-member committee, it distributes donated nappies to services helping mothers fleeing family violence, including women’s refugees.

Founder Sandra Jacobs, a pregnant mother-of-one who works as a financial advisor by day, told Mamamia the group is interested in raising awareness of domestic violence, but wants to be ‘able to actually help (survivors) in a tangible way.’

“It’s amazing how many people have spare nappies lying around,” she said.

“(Donating them) helps women focus their energy on building their lives back, rather than worrying about keeping their children clean.”

The initiative also aims to rebuild domestic violence survivors’ confidence, Ms Jacobs said.

“They’ve lost so much of their parenting confidence because domestic violence typically starts with emotional abuse, so by the time they end up (in a shelter)… their conficence is pretty low,” she told Mamamia.

“(Having nappies donated) does a lot to help rebuild their confidence so that they can focus their money on other things.”

The Nappy Collective, which is based in Melbourne but has working committees across four states, had collected 26,682 nappies in Melbourne and Sydney by March 2014.

This month, the collective is collecting nappies in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Newcastle, Geelong and Byron Bay, with a total of 28,200 nappies having been collected so far.

The current collective is running from the 21 July to 4 August. The organisaiton is collecting in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Newcastle, Brisbane Geelong and Bryon Bay. Full details of collection points are avalialbe on the organisation’s website. You can also volunteer your time or skills to help sort and pack nappies, orsubscribe to the organisation’s mailing list to be kept up-to-date on volunteering opportunities.