People of Mayo asked to think before flushing on World Toilet Day

November 19 is UN World Toilet Day – a day to celebrate toilets and raise awareness of the 3.6 billion people worldwide living without access to safely managed sanitation – and to mark it, the Think Before You Flush campaign are asking the people of Mayo to value their toilet.

The advice is look after our toilets and environment by only flushing the three Ps – pee, poo and paper – and putting everything else in the bin.

To launch the sixth year of the campaign, Clean Coasts and Irish Water are inviting the public to join the celebration of World Toilet Day tomorrow (Friday).

Think Before You Flush is a public awareness campaign operated by Clean Coasts in partnership with Irish Water. The campaign addresses the issue of flushing unsuitable items down the toilet and highlights the consequences: blockages in our wastewater network and treatment plants, surface water overflows and sewage related litter on our beaches and in our oceans, damaging our marine environment.

Recent research has found that one in four adults (24%) regularly admit to flushing items down the toilet that are known to cause blockages, causing detrimental effects on the wastewater network and the marine environment.

To celebrate World Toilet Day, Think Before You Flush are giving away a year’s supply of sustainable toilet paper. To enter, pledge to Think Before You Flush by heading to www.thinkbeforeyouflush.org.

Speaking about the campaign, Sinead McCoy, coastal communities manager with Clean Coasts, said: “There are still so many people across the world that don’t have access to proper sanitation, so for UN World Toilet Day we are asking people of to re-evaluate their flushing behaviour, respect your toilet and think before you flush.”

Talking about the size and scale of the problem associated with flushing the wrong things down the toilet, Tom Cuddy of Irish Water stated: “Every day people flush thousands of sanitary items such as wet wipes and cotton buds down the toilet instead of simply putting them in the bin. This causes blockages in our network, pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants. We clear approximately 2,000 blockages from our wastewater network every month.”

Tom continued: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with Clean Coasts to deliver this important campaign together. We would like to thank the public for their ongoing support in the campaign and, together with Clean Coasts, shine a light on the importance of World Toilet Day.”