To be surprised that people flush tampons and towels still?

[Pipbin]

So many people seem to fail to see that it's a problem.

This program: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0419n5m/watermen-a-dirty-business-episode-1 showed why it's a problem.

So I'm off to punch the tits off a panda

Clargo I trust that you are all right about the tampons. My point is though if they are advertised as flushable we aren't to know are we? Which is why i have been thoughtlessly flushing for years. Along with many many others I should imagine. I am not disagreeing with you!

I didn't know hat you aren't supposed yo flush tampons. I started using them in the early 80s and haven't read a box since. Luckily since having children I can't use them and now use cloth san pro, so no flushing here.

Until a few years ago I never realised you weren't supposed to flush tampons. My Mum used to flush hers, so I just did the same - she said that's what you did!
I try not to flush them now, though I have PCOS and on the rare occasions that I do have a period, it tends to be a monster and they usually fall out by the time I manage to race to the toilet (TMI, but it's true, sorry!) In the later days of my period, I can get it in the bin.
I would never flush a towel, they look massive and aren't they plastic backed? I thought they'd float!
Also, though I'm not disputing for one second that they end up on the beach, I've never ever seen one even though I've spent weeks and weeks at beaches on holidays etc, so where are they all ending up?

But now you do know and yet you say you won't change. Why is that?

Several people have tried to explain why it is bad but because you don't know us it doesn't count? Not a very enlightened attitude

Well tbh these things are 'flushable' as in yes they do flush down a toilet, usually without difficulty. That does not mean they are suitable for the sewers and that they will just magically biodegrade after going down the U-bend nor does it mean that will not cause blockages or end up on beaches.

Unfortunately these companies can get away with this wording, but It does not mean we should all believe a boxes advertising.

Everyone needs to actually think, where does it go? And how does it degrade? Tampon companies are obviously not going to tell us these things, they want their product to seem as easy to use as possible.

That was to OooOo ^^

Broken, I think it depends on which beaches you have visited and how far out the sewage discharge pumps are.

I have seen panty liners and pads stuck to trees next to a river that flooded and have also seen them in the sea.

Tampons were all marketed as flushable as i grew up and through early adulthood. I can't remember when I last read the leaflet out of a box, though, as my periods are 1 day in the midst of a week of spotting, so i hardly use any. I did stop flushing them, when I realised that the packaging advice had changed, mind, though if a soggy one falls in the loo on a particularly heavy day, I aint fishing it out.

I'm surprised that people have ever flushed towels, mind. It's always been made clear on the packaging that you shouldn't.

My parents ignored the warnings not to flush cleaning wipes until their soil stack backed up. They actually have a bin in their bathroom, now!

It does seem crazy, if the problem is so large scale, that tampon manufacturers are still allowed to say, in effect: "Go ahead and flush it!"

Still, I can't actually imagine how an information campaign would look in practice...

Charlotte

Tampons are made of compressed cotton, so they don't dissolve in water. For an illustration of this, consider clothing, which can undergo high-speed rotations for hundreds of water machine cycles without developing holes. Faeces will naturally begin to break up in even stagnant water, and water treatment systems are designed to dissolve them as effectively as possible, with fine screens, for example.

Faecal contamination has been a problem on British beaches, but usually* due to the health issues associated with particles in the water, rather than whole, er, stuff washing up on the sand.

*Don't google- there's stories about tourists defecating on beaches.

*washing machine cycles

Another one here who thought tampons were flushable, biodegradable,and dealt with in the same way as toilet paper (whatever that is - I'm a bit ignorant about what goes on at a sewage treatment plant!). My reason for this is that my mum always flushed them, and also the box says they are flushable. If this isn't the case, how do they get away with saying so?

iK8 clearly I was being sarcastic in my last post. If you read my previous posts you will see that I AM genuinely concerned about my tampons ending up on beaches and am thinking of getting a mooncup anyway. (If I ever have another one, just had an implant. Fingers crossed) My point is that no one is aware of all of this (unless they're reading this thread!) so how is anyone to know! I certainly didn't.
No need to be so snipey!

Clargo it's bad advertising isn't it. You're right they do go down but they obviously don't break down like loo roll and poo but here the manufacturers are telling us to flush!

OooOoo that's great that you will consider a moon-cup. If you do need more advice about them, there have been loads of threads about them on here that you can search for.

If you all think about it if you hold toilet roll under running tap water it nearly dissolves.

Now try this with a tampon, they just expand and get bigger and bigger. They do not just fall apart.

The only thing suitable to be entering our sewerage systems is human waste and toilet roll nothing else ever.

Very interesting, Tilly. I would never have thought of it like that - I thought more like compressed cotton wool balls, I think!

SpanielFace

Dissolution of toilet tissue. Wet a bit of (clean!) toilet tissue and try and clean something with it. The kitchen table or something. Then try using a wetted paper kitchen towel to do the same job. You should notice that the toilet tissue began to fray immediately, whereas the kitchen towel didn't, even though they are both of paper.

Toilet tissue is manufactured to fragment very quickly upon exposure to water. Another experiment you can perform is to leave a sheet of toilet tissue in a bowl of water for ten minutes. After the time is up, try and pick it up from the bowl by one corner without it tearing. IIRC not even Andrex puppies on a roll can withstand this manhandling!

Pipbin

No one kind really, if I see a pattern I like when I'm looking at buying some I get it! These are a few of the ones I've got:

www.femininewear.co.uk/domino-pads-bamboo-medium-regular-pads---raspberry-pop-3714-p.asp

www.plushpants.co.uk/pages/review.php?cat_id=4&sub_cat_id=106&prod=808&extra_cat_id=7

www.femininewear.co.uk/eco-femme-day-pads-3001-p.asp

They are quite expensive to buy initially so the suppliers usually suggest just getting one or two to try and build up a collection.

They are addictive though because they come in such lovely materials and patterns!

I use the larger sizes because I have heavy periods due to fibroids that used to last about 5 - 7 days but I have found (like a lot of users) that my periods are not quite as long since using the cup, no one knows the reason for this but lots of users report this happening.

The cup I use is the size 2 of this one:

www.femininewear.co.uk/lunette-menstrual-cup---purple-cynthia-5000-p.asp

I can wear it all day even on my heaviest days and only empty it once because it is quite a large size but there are smaller ones as everyone is different!

The reusable pads have also stopped my attacks of thrush which again is an effect noticed by other users. Some users believe it's because they don't dry out the vagina/vulva and a lot of users believe that the problems with the disposable pads is the chemicals used to bleach them.

Sorry, that was a bit evangelical!

I am another who will hold my hands up and say I genuinely had no idea about tampons or baby wipes.
Now that I've been told, it's different but it really needs to come from the manufacturers and they need to be put under pressure to inform people clearly that the items should not be flushed.

charlotte don't flush cotton wool balls either!

Cotton wool is quite interesting. If submerged in water, it holds together, although it's fairly weak to directed force, which is why it's easy to tear.

Thinking about it, 10 or 15 years ago items on the news or current affairs programmes about the problems of sewage on beaches were commonplace, the water companies have cleaned up their act a lot and many people did stop flushing (I did around then). So maybe the situation has improved somewhat so it is no longer newsworthy but if packs are still telling people they can flush a new generation of users aren't being made aware.

Amazes me to! I buy bags from superdrug especially designed for disposing them.

I put them in bathroom bin and empty it daily. No hardship!

Oh no, no, I wouldn't!

Your posts are fascinating. I think I might have a MNetty crush on you.