Most Americans Still Flush What They Shouldn’t

July marks the official return of Flush Smart Month, an annual public awareness initiative led by the Responsible Flushing Alliance (RFA), a national nonprofit dedicated to educating consumers about proper flushing habits.

This July, the #FlushSmart campaign is also helping people address their worst relationship-straining restroom habits.

“Our goal is to revolutionize public education by keeping it highly engaging, memorable, and fun,” said Lara Wyss, RFA president. “We are challenging the public to rethink their everyday habits. Always check wet wipes for the Do Not Flush symbol and disposal instructions, which helps us protect not only the health of our homes and environment — but our relationships, too.”

To learn more about which bad bathroom habits are the worst offenders, RFA commissioned a survey from Drive Research of over 1,300 Americans. Top culprits include:

• Failing to replace the toilet paper roll (38.9%).
• Leaving hair behind in the sink or shower (35.3%).
• Flushing nonflushable items (13.9%).

Local public agencies across the U.S. spend over US$440 million annually repairing wastewater treatment equipment damaged by improperly flushed wipes.

Yet research from RFA shows that half of Americans are still flushing things they shouldn’t. RFA research also reveals that, while Americans have shown improvement in flushing knowledge during the past five years, widespread confusion still exists about what is safe to flush. Many consumers admit they still think nonflushable items, including paper towels (18%), baby wipes (16%), cleaning wipes (10%), and tampons (15%), are perfectly fine to flush, and they are not.

To help save both pipes and partnerships, this year’s #FlushSmart campaign launched Bathroom Bootycamp to educate consumers about responsible flushing and other proper bathroom etiquette habits. A dynamic roster of influencers across Instagram and TikTok will help spread the word through a series of high-energy, interactive challenges aimed at curing bad bathroom behaviors.

RFA has also created an interactive quiz to help audiences gauge their bathroom etiquette and a fun 7-day challenge to help them improve habits. Follow @FlushSmart on social media during Flush Smart Month in July to see the Bathroom Bootycamp content in action.