To not understand how you can be so ignorant and unaware of the world around you that you still flush wet wipes and tampons down the toilet?

[A580Hojas]

How is it even possible in the information age?

I reckon a huge number of people know they shouldn't do it but flush anyway in the hope they will get away with it and they won't be the one having to dig out any resulting blockage.

Much like the hundreds of thousands of cunts who chuck their litter out of car windows - out of sight out of mind.

Gets me down, it does.

if you've tried a moon cup and found you can't use it then good for you, and yep, everyone is different. There are other waste free alternatives though that you could try that may suit you and won't generate waste.

But why wouldn't you even want to try ?

Harvey, you haven't mentioned the waste that you are creating. Is that not a factor?

I'm going to be considered sanctimonious I guess, but I don't understand those that think they deserve to not to have to try and reduce the waste they create due to their own personal convenience. I think this idea is changing for many many more people and we'll soon see some changing of societal attitudes . But for now the "because I'm worth it" attitude prevails.

I don’t think many people see the waste created my their monthly period to be significant compared with other waste so don’t give it much thought

Like many, I flushed tampons, though never towels, for thirty + years until learning the error of my ways.

Not only was this acceptable in the 1980's but the alternative to put them in the bin was considered absolutely minging. Even when I first heard of the new advice, I initially assumed it applied to towels not tampons.

In my defence, I'm always very careful not to pour any fat down the sink and do at least I'm not responsible for the fat part of the fat bergs

To answer the original question, How is it even possible in the information age?, it's possible because we still don't really talk about menstruation with the same ease as other body topics such as brushing teeth or washing hands.

Therefore, it's awkward in other people's homes when there isn't a bathroom bin.

And sometimes there is a bathroom bin, but it's an employee unlined lacy white wicker basket without a lid, and we just don't feel comfortable putting in used sanitary items.

Manufacturers should maybe lead the 'don't flush' campaign. But understandably they will not want to loudly proclaim that their products cannot be flushed when rival manufacturers are not doing the same.

Employee?

Empty!

Forgive me.

I’ve not read a tampon box for 20 years.

I’m not meant to flush them?! Oooops. That’s me told!

(Never flushed pads of course, and use mainly reusable sanitary stuff. But this is new news.)

I work in the very glamorous area of sewer flooding. 80-90% of flooding incidents are caused by inappropriate items being flushed down toilets or poured down sinks. Customer education is a massive part of solving the problem - as so many people on this thread have pointed out, it used to be the norm for most to flush anything and everything. Most folk also never consider that the sewers serving their properties are 4-6 inch diameter pipes (imagine the size of a dvd) and that the surface of them is not smooth, has joints and bends for things to catch on, and can be up to 100 years old depending on the area you live in!! Add in the fact that companies actively market things as flushable when they shouldn’t (many water companies along with WaterUK are backing a petition to ban that type of marketing) and you have the perfect storm.

However, to get back to my original point, customer education is a big part of what my company does to combat the issues. Getting out to schools and colleges and showing what a sewer looks like, what blockages look like, what you shouldn’t flush or put down sinks and why. Getting out there with “bag it and bin it” campaigns on tv, radio, in supermarkets, in town centres. People don’t know what they don’t know, it’s our job to help them change that!!

Thanks babbling.
The 'bathroom bin' threads are popular on here.

I didn't know tampons weren't flush able until i read about it on here. I have also stopped flushing them if I've used them because my toilet really doesn't like them.
I have never deliberately flushed a wipe because I KNOW they arent supposed to be.
I have a bin right next to my toilet, so accidental slinging doesn't happen.
Having been to Cyprus and got into the habit there its easy to do here.
But what about andrex wet wipes? Is it not natural to assume that, being as they are advertised for the toilet, they should be flush able.
I cant even use nice soft thick bog roll because my toilet cant cope with that either. that was a nice discovery

...it’s the people who put nappies down the toilet that I really don’t understand. Nappies!...

...oh and the guy mentioned above who flushes crisp packets. Crisp packets???

...and cotton buds? What’s that all about?

Gingaaargh

Flushable “these items will flush down the toilet and if used sparingly enough and with a strong enough flush will pass through the u-bend and downpipe into the main sewer without issues”

is very different to

Flushable - “these items will not only flush but will disintegrate very quickly so as not to pose a risk of causing a blockage at your toilet, downpipe, trap, a bend, a crack or even further down the main line”

Unfortunately there’s nothing in place at the moment to stop marketing of flushable as that first definition.

One demonstration we use for this is to take a few sheets of normal toilet paper and drop them into a bottle of water. We do the same with a flushable wipe, put the lid on both bottles and shake. Only when the wipes disintegrate as fast and as well as toilet paper would we have a truly flushable item. But none do. And probably never will as we all know what happens when you wet toilet paper, which is why the wipes exist in the first place...bag and bin all the way!

Always known about wipes, but I didn’t know about tampons until about a year ago- DH told me. I laughed, said how would YOU know?! Being as he’s a man he doesn’t have periods. I had to google it!

How do people find out that you can’t flusj taking one- or shouldn’t?

I’ve known about not flushing wet wipes for years, but I honestly only found out about tampons in the last year-ish from Mumsnet. Sanitary towels? Obviously don’t flush. But I honestly always thought tampons were flushable.

I’m 40 and pretty clued up in life usually.

Outy- I have a copper coil and use a mooncup. It's fine as long as you're careful with the strings (I had mine cut v v short for that reason), check it regularly and break the seal before removing

Bag and bin. Same as I do at work with wet wipes or continence wipes, we never flush them

I only knew from Mumsnet that it's no longer ok to flush tampons.

If this is such a problem, why the fuck don't the water companies make more effort to educate their customers? "Dear customer, we need to let you know not to flush tampons away. We know that tampon manufacturers say that you can, but unfortunately this is the result and last year it cost us £xm to fix. This cost eventually has to be passed on to you. You can help avoid this by wrapping your tampons in loo roll and putting them in the bin instead. Oh, and if you don't use tampons and don't have a bathroom bin, why not consider getting one for your guests to use? Love from United Utilities."

But, you know, do carry on berating people for failing to somehow extract this information from the air. And don't say Mumsnet threads should be sufficient. According to some Mumsnet threads you should burn towels after one use, and according to others you should still be handwashing the ones your great grandmother knitted from hair. Half of what you read on here is total batshit, why wouldn't people have assumed the tampon thing wasn't one of them?

Can't believe their is a thread about tampon flushing. Whatever next? I flush them and always will
Sue me!!!!!

yanbu
several fatbergs were big news the last few years. bit as in 'with picture & sadface on the front page' in most newspapers.
the ignorance of some people is astounding.

I've been wondering for a while why there aren't special tampon/towel disposal bags. Or are there, and I've never seen them?

Tesco sells disposal bags or you can use nappy bags or wrap in toilet roll. The packaging says not to flush them

And Scottish water does tell you not to flush them as per one of my previous posts

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/12/total-monster-concrete-fatberg-blocks-london-sewage-system

I've been wondering for a while why there aren't special tampon/towel disposal bags. Or are there, and I've never seen them?

why would you need a plastic bag? just roll the tampon up in loo roll and put it in the bin. a bag is just extra plastic for landfill.

When i as younger the whole thing was flushable; wrapper, tube and tampon. Then the tube and wrapper was changed making them not flushable; the tampon part was yo my knowledge not included in this change. Since thenI've put all wrappers, tubes and sanitary towels in the bin but not the tampon! I've never put wipes or cotton buds in the loo though.

How is it even possible in the information age?

Not enough information.