Forum Topic

The Problem of Bio-Plastics

Think you understand them all of these?We are still being presented with wet wipes with the word BIODEGRADABLE in large letters on the front...  and then in small print on the back:  Do not flush. Just don't flush ANY of them!https://plasticfree.org.uk/2024/01/31/the-problem-with-bio-plastic/

Philippa Bond ● 208d11 Comments

This is interesting about what chemicals are being found in our rivers.  The water testing that is routinely carried out on rivers in the new bathing areas to check for sewage contamination is often just looking for a couple including e-coli and intestinal enterococci.  Many volunteers are now helping to check that their local bathing areas are safe to bathe in.https://www.sas.org.uk/water-quality/water-quality-facts-and-figures/water-quality-testing/It is very worrying that there are also banned chemicals being found in our rivers.  Are you using something that you did not know was banned or using something which when washed into the rivers is extrmely poisonous to wildlife eg the one which a teaspoon of will kill billions of bees?https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/06/almost-500-chemicals-found-in-englands-rivers-and-groundwater The problems are a lot greater than you would first think.

Philippa Bond ● 199d

And happy that you are content and blind / deaf in your bubble while the world is in flames due to human greed. 

Steve Taylor ● 200d

Glad to hear that you are happy being a misanthrope.I'll bet the evenings just fly by...

Keith Iddon ● 200d

No, Keith I haven’t. I think it only started when I was about 15 or 16 and I realised how disgusting and selfish the human race is. Lots of it is down  to pure greed and laziness but I have also realised that the vast majority of humans are extremely stupid so, if they aren’t lazy, they just get it all wrong. Hence my comment about how people recycle because they can’t follow simple instructions. I console myself with the absolute fact that our wonderful planet has survived far worse than what humans are now doing to it and that human tenancy (short as it has been) will not last much longer. I just hope that many other life forms survive what humans are destroying. I can appreciate that many can’t see beyond the Chiswick Bubble and will develop mental health problems  when their coffee shop stops selling their favourite Lemon Drizzle Cake it runs out of Oat Milk.

Steve Taylor ● 200d

Have you always been a misanthrope,Steve? Or did everyone else do something nasty to you at some point?

Keith Iddon ● 200d

There was a court case ruling against Kimberley Clark in 2019.https://www.thameswater.co.uk/news/wet-wipe-ruling-welcomed-by-thames-waterIt's years and years since I first started investigating this because I couldn't work out/find out what the definition of 'flushable' actually was and who definedthis.  The problem being what is constantly being newly created and marketed by companies taking no or very little thought and responsibility for how when and where their products were disposed of.Since all water companies have this problem it seemed obvious that it shouldn't be up to individual water companies to stipulate this.It costs the water companies millions and millions of pounds clearing out fatbergs the size of double deckers and the banks of the Thames are littered with them changing the shape of the river.They've all also spent enormous amounts on publicity urging customers to only flush pee poo and toilet paper.  Water company vans have had this message painted right across them - bag it and bin it don't flush it - for years too.  They certainly also used to offer discounted water butts and shower and tap heads to slow the flow of water being used.  There are now many fifferent dorts including some very flashy water butts available on the market.You won't easily forget it it if your loo blocks backs up and overflows! Neither will your neighbours!

Philippa Bond ● 200d

People are lazy, lazy, lazy and thick, thick, thick. You can see how lazy and / or thick they are when you see how they recycle.

Steve Taylor ● 203d

Same here, although fat from any beef joint is saved as dripping for great roasties.

N V Brooks ● 204d

What's wrong with people?? Recycling is simp?le. I put fat in a cardboard cup and throw it in the bin. And stop using wet wipes, it's just laziness.

Juliet Hogg ● 204d

So the manufacturers are effectively conning the public by marketing the product as bio degradable when it can only degrade under specific and complex conditions which are never likely to happen. It should be illegible because flushed wet wipes causes massive problems for sewage treatment companies. One would have thought that companies like Thames Water, who CONSTANTLY use flushed wet wipes as excuses or their plant malfunction, would have lobbied to to get manufactures to STOP this false / deceptive / confusing marketing.

Steve Taylor ● 208d

Wise words, although my chum Paul runs a successful business unblocking drains and the most common blockages are congealed cooking fats and wet wipes. Ge has a numer of children so don't vall stop flushing them at once 😉

N V Brooks ● 208d