Toilets Are Not Trash Bins
Updated: Jun 25, 2019
Recently, I have been wondering how trash ends up in the ocean. Most of us seem to throw our trash in the appropriate receptacle and the trash I see out on the street isn’t enough to account for the 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic currently in the ocean [1]. I was surprised to find out that seven percent of the trash in the ocean get there through our toilets[2].
Maybe we continue to do this because we don't know where they all end up and how they cause pollution to our environment. About three out of every ten people flush trash down the toilet. Common items tossed include:
* Menstrual products
* Wipes
* Band aids
* Cotton buds
* Dental floss
* Condoms
* Diapers - how do these even fit through the drain?
* Cigarette butts
* Hair
* Gum
* Food and grease
* Medication
To be veracious, I used to flush tampons down the toilet because I thought it would biodegrade quickly. But now I know I'm supposed to throw that in the garbage bin so I do. If only behavior change was as simple as telling someone to do something and then they do it.
Do you want to share your thoughts? Did you ever flush trash down the throne? If so, what was it?