The word itself makes me uncomfortable 鈥� 鈥渦nflushables.鈥�
Yuck.
Yes, I鈥檓 going there, writing about stuff you鈥檙e not supposed to flush down the toilet. No, I鈥檓 not one of those adults still amused by potty humour. Yes, I could write about something else.
But when I came across a report in the Sept. 14 agenda of Metro Vancouver鈥檚 utilities committee (Man, what has my life become?), I couldn鈥檛 resist quoting and paraphrasing some of what I read.
Before I do that, I will first tell you that Metro 麻豆传媒映画spent $200,000 on a campaign this year to keep 鈥渟even priority items鈥� out of the toilet. They are, in no particular order: wipes, paper towels, dental floss, hair, tampons and applicators, condoms and medications.
鈥淪urvey results show that most people are aware of how to correctly dispose of the items addressed in the campaign, but that many still flush these items at least occasionally for reasons of convenience, hygiene or the perception that small amounts don鈥檛 cause clogs,鈥� the report said. 鈥淩eports from outreach teams indicate many people understand that wipes should not be flushed, but awareness for hair and dental floss are generally low.鈥�
Described as 鈥渁n information and behaviour change campaign,鈥� it focused on reaching people in bathrooms and maintaining a light and humorous tone, approaches proven to be effective in the 2016 wipes campaign 鈥� that鈥檚 wipes as in baby wipes, personal hygiene wipes and cleaning wipes.
Humour is an element of the campaign but the seriousness of the message couldn鈥檛 be more, well, serious: Unflushables, many of which don鈥檛 break down, cause clogs, which can be costly to remove and can lead to raw sewage overflows into the environment.
And disposing of medications, particularly prescription drugs, down the toilet is also not a good thing. A pharmacy will take these off your hands.
Larina Lopez, Metro鈥檚 division manager of communications, said costs to maintain and fix the region鈥檚 pumping equipment and clogged sewers continue to mount each year.
鈥淲e鈥檝e estimated at least $100,000 annually to de-clog regional pump stations, but then hundreds of thousands on top of that to replace damaged equipment as a result of items going down the sewage system that shouldn鈥檛 be,鈥� she said, noting it cost about $950,000 to replace a pipe in Richmond a few years go. 鈥淚n that case specifically, it was based on a lot of people putting grease and oils down their drains. So when there鈥檚 a combination of people putting grease and oil down their drains, and then putting these other items down their toilet, all of it that gets combined and ends up coagulating together and things get blocked in our sewer system.鈥�
The strangest thing recovered in a pipe?
鈥淔ortunately, I am not one of those people having to deal with that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 mean, if you dream it up, I鈥檓 sure they鈥檝e seen it. I don鈥檛 want to quote anything, but I鈥檝e heard some pretty bad horror stories.鈥�
Take the United Kingdom, for example, where a report in The Guardian newspaper said a lump of congealed fat and household waste 鈥� known as a fatberg -- was 40 metres long and so heavy that it broke a Chelsea sewer. It cost $400,000 in UK dollars to fix.
The main elements of Metro鈥檚 campaign were:
鈥� posters in washrooms in community facilities, movie theatres, fitness centres and restaurants and bars.
鈥� digital posters in elevator screens in residential buildings.
鈥� animated videos on medications, hair and wipes.
鈥� toilet paper with 鈥渃ampaign messaging鈥� handed out at community events.
鈥� digital and social media, including YouTube ads, promoted Facebook & Twitter and Google banners, and social media promotion (via Twitter) by London Drugs.
鈥� a campaign website.
A study showed the campaign generally performed well with more than 70 per cent of those who saw the campaign materials saying they would be less likely to flush the unflushables highlighted in the campaign.
But as Lopez pointed out, that means 30 per cent of people continue to flush anything and everything down the toilet, or dump grease and oil into drains. She said Metro will continue its campaign in 2018, with a budget to be set in November.
鈥淲e still have some good education to do around this topic,鈥� Lopez said. 鈥淛ust because you can flush it, doesn鈥檛 mean you should.鈥�
As the campaign鈥檚 website made clear: 鈥淭he only things that are OK to flush down the toilet are pee, poo and toilet paper.鈥� Yes, I just wrote the p-words. Can鈥檛 recall ever doing that. All, of course, in the name of educating the guilty flushers.
@Howellings
