MNHQ here: what do you think about manufacturers marketing wipes as 'flushable'?

I recently bought bathroom and kitchen wipes for the first time, as I'd hurt my arm and needed to be able to clean one-handed. I love the convenience of them (no cloths to rinse and wring out), but hate that the packets say they are flushable.

I would love to use wipes all the time, but won't because I think they are environmentally horrible. Manufacturers need to stop marketing them as flushable, and develop biodegradable wipes. How hard can it be?

Yeah probably

Moving someone will probably be along shortly to tell you that washable wipes are worse for the environment than disposables. It always happens if someone says they use washable anything!

The trouble is, Where, that they can be flushed - as can many things that should never go near a sewage system - so they're probably not acting illegally.

As a PP. said, if I recall, 'can doesn't mean should'. (Or words to that effect.)

If we were in America somebody somewhere would be preparing a class action for the additional costs of fixing the drains and sewage treatment caused by flushing these wipes.

And I would say that actually it is better for the environment to bin rather than flush. Kitchen paper and some of these wipes are biodegradable so can be binned. What they won't do is dissolve or breakdown in water at the same rate as toilet paper and cause blockages.

They're still being discarded yes that's true and they're not great for the environment, also true, but those are longer term and less immediate issues than the current flushing problem.

We used washable wipes for dc2. They were brilliant and environmentally friendly.

If they shouldn't be flushed (and they absolutely shouldn't, from the figures in the OP) then describing them as 'flushable' is not only lying, it's downright irresponsible.

The manufacturers should be pulled up by the ASA. Perhaps the campaign should be that these manufacturers should also be paying the costs to clear the blockages. That might concentrate their minds on their morals.

That too for both the last two posters! Use less, rule no 1.

And the 'biodegradable' wipes nearly always come in nice plastic packaging.

It's really no better for the environment to bin wipes rather than flush. If an item takes a long time to biodegrade it is creating a problem somewhere in its disposal. .

I would prefer the campaign to focus on the excess use of unnecessary hygienic wipes and one time use cleaning products. This sort of product has been marketed by creating a demand for a item that really isn't needed, by convincing people (who no doubt shower daily) that they are dirty or unhygienic if they don't use them.

In a fit of thread-induced paranoia, I have just checked all toilets and sinks in the house. The trouble is, though, that we're not in control of our own destiny here. (Those nice neighbours could be flushing Goodness Knows What down their toilets etc and the sewage system in most places is all connected.)

General awareness raising is needed.

Why on earth does anyone need potty training wipes??

already suggested the way-too-simple solution. You flush body waste and small amounts of toilet paper. You flush nothing else.

doesn't matter how many ickle puppies or flowers are on the packaging. You flush nothing else. You buy a bin if you insist on using wipes.

the Asian style toilet-shower has a lot to be said for it - in an Asian climate.

and yes, waste disposals in sinks are an outmoded eco-disaster. The only food waste should be tea bags and veg peelings and those go on the compost heap or in your council's food waste bin. Not down the sink with drinkable water.

'Relative flushability' discussions. That's a horrible thought.

We've had so many bunfights threads on the subject and there's always someone who's too precious to put tampons in the bin.

So people would like to specifically widen a campaign to just make it about 'wipes' - of any description or purpose?

I think it would be simpler and clearer to narrow that campaign down to what you can flush, so urine, faeces, and 2-ply toilet paper.

Otherwise it might get embroiled in the relative flushability of different items, and it being ok if you flush one at a time etc...

100% behind this. As a civil engineer I know our sewage systems were just not designed to cope with all these solids and textiles and they cause pollution, flooding risk, maintenance costs and breakdowns. We should not be too clueless or squeamish to face the issue of managing our dirt and waste. The rest of the world manages very pragmatically.

There should be a very strict guideline on what can be approved and labelled as flushable. Like we had some kind of paper nappy liners, they looked like they would break down to me but it is not a hard thing to test.

I'm always seeing these MN threads about loo hygiene/sanpro/nappies/dog poo/bins and staggered at how precious adult women can be about dealing with it. Stuff doesn't go away if you flush it down the loo. In fact it doesn't go away if you put it in the dustbin either but that's a whole other mountain, as it were. We seem to be stuck in some kind of competitive spotlessness "Oooh ewww imagine having a stinky Tampax in a BIN in your HOUSE Ewww somebody might FIND IT how embarrassing".

Please please get a grip sisters. I think women make the majority of decisions about what gets bought/used/flushed/binned so we should take ownership of the issue.

a good idea
it's not unreasonable to think that 'flushable'='will not cause problems when flushed'

I bought the Tesco 'flushable' toilet wipes when I was potty training my son. Cost us £200 to have our drains sorted after the raw sewage eventually backed up into our patio. And we only used one or two at a time as indicated on the packet. Never again.

So people would like to specifically widen a campaign to just make it about 'wipes' - of any description or purpose?

Flylady not flykady.

< wishes there was a 'like' button for Movinonup's post >

Yes cleaning wipes are also a culprit, and they're frequently blithely recommended here. You can get biodegradable ones, by ecover and others, but you should still probably limit them to one per flush.
I used to get the flykady emails (along with countless others), and her famous daily 'swish and swipe' bathroom cleaning routine recommends using -and flushing - kitchen roll.

If you ever used one of those disposable toilet brushes you'll see they do break down like loo paper. If you've ever put one of those wipes in the loo you'll see they do not.

I think they should also get the supermarkets to use their influence and ask manufacturers to alter their packaging.

A quick search on MN toilet cleaning practices throws up plenty of recommendations for flushable toilet wipes like Parozone and Dettol. Haven't got Dettol wipes to hand, but Parazone are definitely marketed as flushable on the front of the packet.

Nicecleanbum why is a small bin with liner and lid emptied regularly offensive and yet a backed up toilet where your turds and other people's overflowing onto your bathroom floor is ok? And why is it ok to see your poo flowing down your neighbour's drive but not a tiny bit on a wipe in a closed bin? Because that is what will happen if you persist in flushing your bum wipes.

You are literally making your shit someone else's problem and that's really selfish and actually disgusting. You're too delicate to see your own shit but you're happy to have it displayed on someone else's property? Or your own floor?

You have some issues my friend. And you know you're posting crap or you'd do it under your usual name you dirty article.

I'd happily support this campaign.
But this thread is bringing back memories of me having to beg my Mum to put a bin in the bathroom and having to explain to her that flushing sanitary pads was wrong. She thought it was ok - "Just break them into three bits and flush!"
Eugh.
It's funny though, she was scathing about a neighbour who was apparently flushing nappies when we had a couple of drain blockages.

Also if you're the kind of person who will insist on tipping fat down the sink then Lakeland sell a sink fat trap thing so it can be easily binned. I scrape mine into a small bag or a container of some sort that is going to be binned anyway and chuck it. I've seen pictures of fatbergs and no way am I going to contribute to that!