Earth Day – Think Before You Flush

It’s fair to say every house in Ireland has at least one toilet, if not two. Every day, people flush thousands of unsuitable items such as wet wipes and cotton bud sticks down the toilet instead of simply putting them in the bin.

Clúid is supporting Earth Day on Thursday April 22nd by launching ‘Think Before You Flush‘. This public awareness campaign, run by Clean Coasts in partnership with Irish Water, highlights the problems caused by flushing non-flushable items down the toilet.

The ‘Think Before You Flush’ campaign is highlighting all the things that you should not flush down the toilet. Known as the Dirty Dozen, these items include: cotton buds, baby wipes, facial wipes, cleansing pads, toilet roll tubes, medicines, cigarettes, plasters, nappies, tampons, tampon applicators and sanitary pads.

Flushing these items down the toilet not only leads to blockages within our pipes and sewage systems, but also damages our environment. If these flushed items escape the wastewater treatment plants, they can land in rivers, lakes and the ocean.

This awareness campaign will launch at Clúid’s Staff Conference in April. In June we will launch ‘Think Before You Flush’ to over 21,000 residents. The campaign highlights the three actions you can undertake at home that would make an immediate difference:

• Put a bin in your bathroom (to reduce the likelihood of wipes and other sanitary related litter ending up in the toilet)
• Switch to reusable options (to reduce your reliance on single-use items like wipes is to switch to reusable alternatives like a facial cloth)
• Switch to plastic-free alternatives where possible.

See Think Before You Flush for more information and ideas.