4 ms·

It seems like you can't trust the general population with the simplest things. These things say on the package that you can't flush them. It seems like people

It seems like you can't trust the general population with the simplest things. These things say on the package that you can't flush them. It seems like people just throw their electronic and other hazardous waste away without much consideration as well. We end up sacrificing a lot for the lowest common denominator. We have to ban things, or license them, or regulate them, or have strict enforcement. Generally, if we can't do without it, like AC refrigerant, it sticks around with heavy penalties and still gets abused. If we can do without it, it just gets banned.

TheAdamist 4y ago
In the United States the packaging plainly says you can flush them, even though you can't.
- hoffs 4y ago
  Maybe they are different brands with different compositions that make it possible or not possible
  - tweetle_beetle 4y ago
    It's like when you see things labelled as compostable. Almost everything is technically compostable, but many substances require conditions which can only be achieved when composting on an industrial scale using heat and oxygen. Until there are legal definitions, it doesn't matter if some people are doing the right thing when others will take advantage.
- n4r9 4y ago
  Similar in the UK. People take "fine to flush" on the packaging to mean "fine to flush as many as you like at a time": https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-61922999 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-61922999 Quite what these people are using so many wet wipes for is beyond me. Changing babies and removing make up are the only common uses I can think of, but why not just put them in the bin?
  - Tsiklon 4y ago
    From people I know they also use them as toilet paper in cases where one is raw or otherwise sore. A bidet (or bidet seat in cases where that's not possible) would solve that problem outright.
    - bamboozled 4y ago
      I have a bidet, when I don’t have one, I like to shower, if I don’t shower, I’m potentially walking around with poop and paper caked in my butt crack all day. It’s disgusting, what’s wrong with society ? Why doesn’t everywhere have a bidet or similar ?
      - NoboruWataya 4y ago
        The only answer I can really offer is that in those parts of the (developed) world where bidets are not common, society functions just fine and doesn't seem to be negatively impacted in any way by their absence. I don't have a bidet and I don't always shower immediately after doing my business. Am I "potentially walking around with poop and paper caked in my butt crack all day"? I guess, technically, yes. But it's not something I've ever noticed and it's certainly not something anyone else has ever noticed.
        loonster 4y ago
        I never noticed it until I bought a bidet. Now I do. It's amazing to what one can get used to. My washlet has a heated seat, now regular seats feel very cold.
      - Gordonjcp 4y ago
        > I’m potentially walking around with poop and paper caked in my butt crack all day. Do you simply not know how to wipe your bum properly? My two-year-old has the basics of it, even if he hasn't quite got his technique down yet.
        javagram 4y ago
- claydolatry 4y ago
leobg 4y ago
My daughter and I just tried. Had a package that said you can flush them. Tried to dissolve them in the sink. Not possible. Which come out of course, makes sense: The very reason for these things to exist is that they don’t fall apart when wet.
kmlx 4y ago
i remember an episode from the sitcom “trailer park boys” [0] where one of the characters throws all their garbage in a local lake. his logic was that he never sees it again, so the lake recycles it somehow. i found the situation very funny and totally realistic. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_Park_Boys https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_Park_Boys
- cplusplusfellow 4y ago
  I think the most effective school field trip would be a trip to the landfill to show everyone what happens when you throw something “away”.
  - Gibbon1 4y ago
    In 6th grade we took a trip to the sewage treatment plant.
atwood22 4y ago
As is the case with most things, there is probably some power-law in effect. 90% of the population likely disposes of the wipes appropriately. But 10% of people probably cause 90% of the issue.
8jef 4y ago
Market economy rule and binary thinking made that obvious. Everything has a price, therefore everything will be acquired, used and abused, dumbed down, disposed of, flushed away, before becoming the next market headline: Entrepreneur makes millions while extracting massive profits out of used wet wipes! A way out? Nope. It's a maddening process we all have to fully and completely enjoy, ad nauseam, to the very end.

TheAdamist 4y ago

In the United States the packaging plainly says you can flush them, even though you can't.

hoffs 4y ago
Maybe they are different brands with different compositions that make it possible or not possible
- tweetle_beetle 4y ago
  It's like when you see things labelled as compostable. Almost everything is technically compostable, but many substances require conditions which can only be achieved when composting on an industrial scale using heat and oxygen. Until there are legal definitions, it doesn't matter if some people are doing the right thing when others will take advantage.
n4r9 4y ago
Similar in the UK. People take "fine to flush" on the packaging to mean "fine to flush as many as you like at a time": https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-61922999 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-61922999 Quite what these people are using so many wet wipes for is beyond me. Changing babies and removing make up are the only common uses I can think of, but why not just put them in the bin?
- Tsiklon 4y ago
  From people I know they also use them as toilet paper in cases where one is raw or otherwise sore. A bidet (or bidet seat in cases where that's not possible) would solve that problem outright.
  - bamboozled 4y ago
    I have a bidet, when I don’t have one, I like to shower, if I don’t shower, I’m potentially walking around with poop and paper caked in my butt crack all day. It’s disgusting, what’s wrong with society ? Why doesn’t everywhere have a bidet or similar ?
    - NoboruWataya 4y ago
      The only answer I can really offer is that in those parts of the (developed) world where bidets are not common, society functions just fine and doesn't seem to be negatively impacted in any way by their absence. I don't have a bidet and I don't always shower immediately after doing my business. Am I "potentially walking around with poop and paper caked in my butt crack all day"? I guess, technically, yes. But it's not something I've ever noticed and it's certainly not something anyone else has ever noticed.
      - loonster 4y ago
        I never noticed it until I bought a bidet. Now I do. It's amazing to what one can get used to. My washlet has a heated seat, now regular seats feel very cold.
    - Gordonjcp 4y ago
      > I’m potentially walking around with poop and paper caked in my butt crack all day. Do you simply not know how to wipe your bum properly? My two-year-old has the basics of it, even if he hasn't quite got his technique down yet.
      - javagram 4y ago
claydolatry 4y ago

leobg 4y ago

My daughter and I just tried. Had a package that said you can flush them. Tried to dissolve them in the sink. Not possible. Which come out of course, makes sense: The very reason for these things to exist is that they don’t fall apart when wet.

kmlx 4y ago

i remember an episode from the sitcom “trailer park boys” [0] where one of the characters throws all their garbage in a local lake. his logic was that he never sees it again, so the lake recycles it somehow. i found the situation very funny and totally realistic. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_Park_Boys https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_Park_Boys

cplusplusfellow 4y ago
I think the most effective school field trip would be a trip to the landfill to show everyone what happens when you throw something “away”.
- Gibbon1 4y ago
  In 6th grade we took a trip to the sewage treatment plant.

atwood22 4y ago

As is the case with most things, there is probably some power-law in effect. 90% of the population likely disposes of the wipes appropriately. But 10% of people probably cause 90% of the issue.

8jef 4y ago

Market economy rule and binary thinking made that obvious. Everything has a price, therefore everything will be acquired, used and abused, dumbed down, disposed of, flushed away, before becoming the next market headline: Entrepreneur makes millions while extracting massive profits out of used wet wipes! A way out? Nope. It's a maddening process we all have to fully and completely enjoy, ad nauseam, to the very end.