'Friends call me a hippy': mum welcomes moves to subsidise cloth nappies, sanitary pads

"I was not very keen on that idea," Ms Bain said.

But now, having dressed baby Charlotte d'Este in reusable nappies since her birth eight months ago, she's not looking back.

Ms Bain has welcomed Labor MLA Tara Cheyne's motion in the assembly on Wednesday that is calling on the ACT government to look into a rebate scheme for cloth nappies, sanitary items and continence pads.

Ms Cheyne is hoping that by using these reusable items, Canberrans could avoid sending thousands of disposable ones to landfill.

It comes as Ms Cheyne's fellow Labor MLA Suzanne Orr is set to file her motion calling on the government to review ways to grow Canberra's waste and recycling industry.

For her part, Ms Bain wouldn't call herself an environmental warrior. She forgets her reusable coffee cup and her reusable shopping bag.

"I'm completely useless," she said.

But she had been using a cloth, reusable sanitary pad for years before having Charlotte, which helped her come around to the idea.

Ms Bain said her cloth pad is much comfier than anything disposable. Likewise, she reckons Charlotte's cloth nappies are comfier.

The little bub also had hip dysplasia when she was born. It required her to wear a harness in her early months, something a disposable nappy would have made uncomfortable.

Now, Ms Bain's friends call her "a massive hippy".

"I do like the environmental sustainability of the nappies," Ms Bain said.

"Just the thought of every disposable nappy that's ever been used is still in existence ... the mountains of nappies there must be."

Ms Bain said there was a "huge learning curve" when it came to the nappies.

"The first sort of daunting thing was dealing with the poop," she said.

But she's got a system. She has about 30 nappies for Charlotte and she does a wash twice a week.

Any ... uh ... leftovers are flushed down the toilet before a wash, anything more persistent means a scrub.

But Ms Bain said once you get over the initial upfront cost, you're saving money. She spends about an hour each week cleaning Charlotte's nappies.

Ms Cheyne's hopes for a rebate would be a good idea, Ms Bain said.

"I think that would be amazing," Ms Bain said.

"One of the major set backs for people I can see is that initial outlay. It works out a lot cheaper than buying disposables throughout a baby's life."

Ms Cheyne said these reusable items could be a huge change for some people and said the government could be doing more to help people use them.

Her motion suggested introducing a rebate system to subsidise the cost of buying cloth nappies, sanitary pads, menstrual cups and continence pads.

Ms Cheyne said with cloth nappies costing up to $35 and cloth pads up to $30, she hoped the government could meet consumers in the middle.

"This isn't about shaming consumers about the choices that they make," Ms CHeyne said.

But she hoped that by making it easier to access these reusable items, Canberrans could send less waste to landfill.

Meanwhile, Ms Orr's motion to be moved on Wednesday is calling on the government to direct the ACT environment commissioner to investigate ways to grow Canberra's recycling and waste industry.

Her motion said the commissioner should then report by July 2020.

"From an environment perspective we know we have a huge task there," Ms Orr said.

"What I'm asking the government to do is actually start looking at some of the areas we might not have focused on previously."