To think that we need to stop flushing anything down the toilet except for toilet paper.

[WishILivedInThrushGreen]

metro.co.uk/2022/06/16/calls-for-mandatory-do-not-flush-labelling-on-wet-wipes-16840997/

Wipes are often described as biodegradable but they don't biodegrade in the sewer. They biodegrade in landfill over a long period of time.

I really welcome Yorkshire's stance on this and it would be hoped that all councils and water companies will clamp down on the use of them.

There needs to be better labelling on packs of wet wipes and a shift away from using them, particularly as many contain micro plastics that leach into waterways.

If you need to use them then put them in a bin so that councils can incinerate or bury them where they can decompose.

A drain clearer said ''Lots of things are flushable, but end up blocking drains''

Eg, one can flush a lot of things, they will disappear round the S bend, only to clog further down the pipe.

Flushing Wet Wipes and tampons &c is so bad for environment.

carefully puts turd in pocket ...

(I agree, wipes are a nightmare and I've no idea why people flush those. Or tampons etc).

I completely agree with you. I know not to flush them but I can really see why others might be confused and think it's ok, based on this labelling. I'm in Australia and we have several brands of wipes that have similar labels on them. They should not be allowed to label things like this!

We lived for a while in Cyprus and there you can’t even put toilet paper down the loo, it goes into a bin at the side. Every loo has a loo bin - but public ones could be a bit yucky (not nice seeing a bin overflowing with other peoples dirty paper!).

we are thinking about making the move to reusable toilet paper (adult cheeky wipes basically!) but worried it might take an age to dry…

either way certainly not putting wipes down the loo!!

Have a big wad of toilet paper handy and wrap the tampon in that. Then put it in the bin.

Yes they can. Our water board once sent us a stern letter about a fat berg that had been caused by disposable nappies. Was sent to the whole road. Wasn’t us as we’ve never had a baby in the house.

I too lived through the 70's and have no recollection of this at all. Was this in the UK?

@OneFrenchEgg mine used to fall out when I had a poo and i wasn't fishing it out of a toilet full of faeces, urine and period blood!

When getting a poo sample for the routine bowel cancer test that over 60s get I catch a turd in toilet paper. Do that with your tampon.

I heard a story from a colleague once about a family who managed to block a SEWER by flushing nappies down it. How they got the nappies to flush I don’t know.

You take the tampon out before you start to poo.

I use reusable baby wipes as a rule. On the odd occasion I use disposable wipes, I put them in the bin. I am aware that 'flushable' wipes simply means they go round the u-bend.

BUT

Recently I've seen the eco-friendly brand Pura market 'Fine to Flush' wipes. The packaging specifically states that the wipes biodegrade in the sewer and do not contribute to fatbergs.

So...does the advice need to be amended now? Flushable is not okay but Fine to Flush is? Or is the packaging on Pura (and like brands) simply wrong, in which case they need to be reported to the Advertising Standards Agency?

I'm astonished that some people still flush tampons down the toilet. I knew not to do that in 1995! It's also made clear in every single public toilet that flushing tampons is prohibited, and special sanitary bins are installed in every public cubicle. Flushing tampons down the toilet is why some of them end up on beaches and in rivers for goodness sake.

No, heavy periods are not an excuse.

Can't believe that some posters 'don't care' about this.

How the heck can you flush a nappy without your toilet overflowing?!

Same here!
Surely this is common knowledge already? I mean there'll always be idiots that ignore it but generally people know this is the rule don't they?

I can't believe that people are trying to excuse flushing tampons down the toilet. I also have very heavy periods and find tampons will easily fall out when I sit down on the toilet - it simply isn't an excuse. If you really are not capable of using tampons responsibly then you should find an alternative. It isn't ok to just flush them down the toilet.

Perhaps they put them straight down the man hole in the garden and not actually down the loo.

Nothing goes down my loo that shouldn't.

Wow the tampon thing has really surprised me. I've made it to 38 without ever seeing a single bit of information regarding this.
On the back of toilet doors I occassionally see "This list of items shouldn't be flushed..." and it goes on to list sanitary towels, hand towels, condoms, tights, nappies and god knows what else. I'm convinced Ive never seen tampons actually included on that list. As they are small and soft, I assumed they broke down.
I'm confident that there isn't a single person who I know that is following this guidance.

Yep.
Although growing up with a septic tank helped with thinking about what happens when flush the loo.

Why about those Duck toilet cleaning pads that you flush ? Someone needs to stop them being manufactured.

why are people still flushing other things anyway? Are they stupid? I really thought this was common knowledge by now

I not sure how easy it is to ban a product on environmental grounds, but I have never understood who would use these.

I stopped flushing anything other than toilet paper down a good few years ago. We have a small bin in the bathroom for sanitary towels. Never flushed any kind of wipe. My mum has some flushable toilet wipes and she has a lot of plumbing issues. Most likely connected

I'm confident that there isn't a single person who I know that is following this guidance.

I expect more people are following it than you realise. It really is common knowledge not to flush tampons down the toilet.

I’m 45, I was also taught to rip towels in half lengthways and flush. Sometimes it would take a few flushes. I don’t have periods but I’d never flush now and my daughter uses the small bathroom bin that’s just for sanitary products. I think many people still flush sanitary products, it’s pretty sad that people here saying they don’t care about the environment. Selfish.

Yes.
I dont know about all waterboards, but the one I know about can even pinpoint which section of street, down to a small handful of houses.