During the corona, 2020 and 2021, a lot of babies were born. We could perhaps speak of a small baby boom. Super nice all those babies, but when a baby is born, the amount of waste in a family generally also increases. In this news item we mainly want to talk about baby wipes and butt wipes, because no less than 90% of all wipes contain plastic! By this we mean not only the packaging, but also the cloth itself. In short, it is a disposable plastic product that unfortunately ends up in nature in many cases. The following topics are covered in this news item:
What are butt wipes?
Butt wipes are the soft wipes to wipe your buttocks with. You often use them instead of toilet paper. Although they have almost the same function as toilet paper, it is not the intention to flush them down the toilet. Read in the next section why butt wipes should not be thrown in the toilet.
Butt wipes in toilet
No, you should not throw them in the toilet – unless it is explicitly stated otherwise. They are not good for the environment and that is why sewage treatment advises against flushing any kind of wet wipes. So no baby wipes, butt wipes, wet toilet paper, even if it says on the packaging that they are biodegradable. Why no butt wipes in the toilet? Even though wipes are flushable, it doesn’t mean it is good. Flushing can cause blockages in your pipes and you really don’t want that.
Butt wipes, what kind of waste?
They therefore do not belong in the toilet, although the packaging may state that they are biodegradable, they also do not belong in the green container. They should therefore be disposed of with the residual waste. But what’s in a butt wipe why they should be placed with the residual waste and may not be flushed?
What are butt wipes made of?
Butt wipes what’s in them? If you are going to read the packaging, almost all wipes are water-based, but they also contain the following substances, among others:
- glycerin
- propylene and caprylyl glycol
- sodium
- benzoic, dehydroacetic, or another type of acid
And several other harmful substances.
Compare butt wipes?
You can certainly compare baby wipes from pampers or baby wipes from pampers pure. But one of the above substances is always present and we do not mean the substance water. But are there alternatives to wet wipes? Yes, sure there are. You can use a washcloth. Washcloths are the predecessor of the wet wipes, also known as the washable wipes.
Washable butt wipes, how to use them?
In short, washcloths are the washable variant of the wet wipes. You use them exactly the same, only you don’t throw them in the trash but in the laundry basket. So you have the choice between wipes or washcloth, if you really don’t like the washcloth. Always throw them in the trash.
Litter free rivers and streams and the wet wipe problem!
Wet wipes are always in the top 15 of most found litter. On average, 12 wipes are found per 100 meters of riverbank! Near the Meuse, places where sewage overflow takes place or places where the Meuse overflows far beyond its banks during high water (for example Borgaren and Meers) are a real collection place for wet wipes and pose a major problem. After high tide, they can be found in bushes and must be picked out manually. You can imagine that this is not a ‘nice’ job for our volunteers.
Are diapers just as big a problem? What do you think?
When you change a diaper, you use an average of 2 wipes give or take! In the news item: Are diapers as big a problem as butt wipes? we will tell you whether this also poses a problem for the Meuse and its tributaries.
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