Wet wipes are hugely popular and parents swear by them. But are cleaning wipes bad for the environment?
Wet wipes are all the rage nowadays. You find them amongst house cleaning products, the beauty aisles, and most parents wouldn’t leave the house without baby wipes.
And it’s not surprising: they are extremely convenient and have so many applications.
But with so many things, convenience doesn’t mean it’s good for the planet.
That’s why, in this article I will answer the question: Are cleaning wipes bad for the environment?
What Are Cleaning Wipes?
If you think that wet wipes are just wet tissues, think again. Most are actually made of a mix of natural and synthetic fibres. This means plastic and non-plastic materials.
There are several plastic fibres wipes could contain, including polypropylene, polyester or polyethylene. These ensure that the wipes are strong enough and won’t break as you use them.
The natural material is cellulose, which is what plants are made of. For cleaning wipes, cellulose from wood or bamboo is used, sometimes cotton.
However, while it is a natural material, it has to go through a process to make it fit for purpose. It then becomes viscose, rayon or lyocell.
The new material is needed to make the wipes absorbent and soft.
Depending on what the wipes will be used for, a different blend of these natural and synthetic fibres will be used to make them softer or stronger.
That’s the wipe, then there is the mixture of ingredients that make the wipe wet. These ingredients again will depend on what the wipes are for.
Cosmetic wipes for the face will contain natural cleansers that are gentle on the skin. Cleaning wipes will be drenched in detergents and disinfectants.
Why Are Cleaning Wipes Bad For The Environment?
As we have seen, the vast majority of cleaning wipes used today contain plastic. As such they are a huge contributor to plastic pollution.
Just think how many different types of wet wipes there are. Whatever needs cleaning, there is probably a wipe for it.
And they are single-use plastic, so after one use we throw them away.
So you might already guess that the answer to the question “are cleaning wipes bad for the environment?” is yes. And the harm these wet wipes do is huge.
Let’s look at the various areas where they cause problems for our environment.
Wet Wipes And Our Waterways
A lot of people think that wet wipes are like toilet paper and can be flushed down the toilet. In fact, UK Water has said that 93% of sewer blockages are caused by wet wipes.
The difference between the two is that toilet paper will disintegrate in the water, but wipes won’t.
This means these wipes will make it into our waterways, such as rivers and the ocean. And the ones that won’t will clog up our drains, creating so-called fatbergs.
Once in the rivers, a part of the wipes will just stay there. Reserach has shown that new riverbeds are formed by flushed down cleaning wipes in rivers all over the world, including the UK.
The other part makes its way into our oceans. We know that plastic takes ages to break down, hundreds of years.
As it breaks down slowly, the smaller pieces can be ingested by marine life. Bigger pieces can cause wildlife to choke and die.
Most fish in our rivers, lakes and oceans have plastic in them. This means that as we eat them, we also ingest plastic particles, so-called microplastics.
But it’s not just the wipes themselves that can cause harm. Wet wipes absorb all the cleaning agents, so these also end up in our waterways.
Harsh detergents and other chemical substances that might be great for cleaning your toilet or floor won’t be good for the environment.
Wet Wipes In Our Environment
Like other plastic, wet wipes often end up in our environment, through littering or mismanagement of waste.
I have seen cleaning wipes along the roads I run, together with other waste, such as plastic bottles and food wrappers.
The wipes will stay in our environment for ages, shedding fibres as they very slowly break down. These fibres can enter the soil or get eaten by wildlife.
Either way, it’s bad news for our planet.
Landfill
Wipes that end up in landfill, will stay there for hundreds of years. Filling up existing landfills, which eventually will have to be replaced by new ones.
Wildlife tries to make a living everywhere, even in landfills. You probably have seen pictures of gulls on mountains of rubbish.
So even in places where our waste is meant to be, it still has an impact on wildlife.
As you can see, there are good reasons why we have to answer the question “are cleaning wipes bad for the environment?” with an emphatic yes.
How To Dispose Of Cleaning Wipes?
One reason these wipes are so bad for our planet is because they are incorrectly disposed of.
Because many people see them as “wet tissues”, they flash them down the toilet. But as we have already seen, this will cause problems.
Sewer blockages are one issue, but the harm the wipes do in our waterways is so much worse.
The only correct way to dispose of cleaning wipes of any kind is the general waste bin.
Flushable Wipes
But what about the wet wipes that say they are flushable? Well, even those should not be flushed down the toilet.
While these might break down quicker than other wipes, they still don’t disintegrate as fast as toilet paper. Even Water UK, an industry body, says that no wet wipes should be flushed.
Water companies around the world have called for a ban on manufacturers calling wet wipes “flushable”.
And when it comes to the environment, the last thing it needs is more plastic material in our waterways. So if you use wet wipes, bin them and don’t flush them.
For our planet it doesn’t matter if wipes break down quickly or slowly, the plastic will cause harm and should not reach the environment, whether land or water.
Wipes that are labelled “flushable” are not eco-friendly.
Biodegradable And Compostable Wipes
You might have seen wipes that are labelled as biodegradable or compostable. These are eco-friendly, right?
Well, not necessarily. First of all, biodegradable and compostable are not the same thing, so we need to look at them separately.
Compostable means that a material becomes soil under the right conditions, such as in a home compost heap or an industrial composting facility.
The problem is often that companies label their products as compostable without specifying if that means home compostable or industrial compostable.
Most of us won’t have access to an industrial composting facility, which means the wipes end up in landfill, where they won’t compost because they don’t have the right conditions.
Even if some wipes are home compostable, there are things to consider. For example, what cleaning substances have been used? You don’t want to add any nasty chemicals to your compost heap.
Also, what have you cleaned? You baby’s bottom? Human excrements should never go on a compost heap, so think before throwing any home compostable wipes on your compost heap.
Biodegradable means that a material will break down with the help of microorganisms, such as bacteria or fungi.
A lot of plastics are biodegradable, even traditional plastics that are made from fossil fuels.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are eco-friendly. It all depends on the conditions the material needs to biodegrade.
Also, it can still take hundreds of years to break down. And some plastics biodegrade into toxins and other harmful substances.
So if wipes are biodegradable, we need to know under which conditions, how long it takes and into what substances it will degrade to. Only this information will help us to decide if a biodegradable wipe is eco-friendly.
Most biodegradable and compostable materials don’t break down in water, so don’t be tempted to flush these wipes either.
There you have it. The answer to the question “are cleaning wipes bad for the environment?” is yes.
Eco-Friendly Wet Wipes
Now that we have established that wet wipes are bad for the planet, let’s look at solutions. Because the good news is that there are solutions.
I know how convenient wet wipes are, especially if you have kids. And thankfully, there are companies out there that make plastic-free wet wipes.
Yes you have read right, there are plastic-free wet wipes. So you don’t have to ditch them completely, just switch to ones that don’t contain plastic.
Most of these plastic-free wipes are made only from plant fibres, so no added plastic fibres.
Even though cleaning wipes without plastic tend to be biodegradable, they still need to be disposed of in the general waste bin.
Eco-friendly cleaning wipes don’t only come without plastic, they tend to also only use natural cleaning ingredients. Especially smaller companies make sure they don’t use any nasty chemicals.
This is good news for parents, as baby wipes are one of the most useful things you could imagine when you are out and about with your kids.
Kinder by Nature non-plastic wipes are a great example. The UK-based company offers water-based wipes that don’t contain any plastic.
Pura is another UK-based company offering plastic-free baby wipes.
Sustainable Alternatives To Wet Wipes
While it’s great that you can buy plastic-free wet wipes that work, they are still not ideal, because they are single use.
Single-use products are one of the worst things for the planet, because they produce such a huge amount of waste.
And even if the wipes are biodegradable, it might still take hundreds of years, especially if the conditions are not right.
So if you can, ditch single-use cleaning wipes completely.
Rather than using cleaning wipes for surfaces, use a reusable cloth and an eco-friendly cleaning product.
You can also get reusable make-up removal pads, most of which are made of cotton. You can wash them again and again, which will reduce your waste by quite a bit.
And instead of using floor wipes, why not use a good old-fashioned mop?
Many of the sustainable alternatives to wet wipes are things our grandparents or great-grandparents might have used.
We seem to have gone a bit too far with some things, and our planet suffers for it. So why not take a few steps back and replace single-use cleaning wipes with reusable and sustainable alternatives.
Conclusion
So, are cleaning wipes bad for the environment? Yes, is the answer.
Most are made of plastic, which stays in our environment for hundreds of years, causing great harm to plants and wildlife.
While there are plastic-free cleaning wipes available, these are still single-use, which means they contribute to the waste we produce.
So whenever possible, we should try to get away from disposable wipes and switch to reusable alternatives.
Want to know more about how you can make sure your sparkling home doesn’t impact on our planet? Here is how to create an eco-friendly cleaning routine.
