Responsible Flushing Alliance Marks Flush Smart Month

July marks the official return of Flush Smart Month, an annual public awareness initiative led by the Responsible Flushing Alliance, a national nonprofit dedicated to educating consumers about proper flushing habits. Every July brings a unique #FlushSmart campaign focused on giving people the knowledge they need to make responsible decisions for their home plumbing and community wastewater infrastructure. This year, the campaign is also helping people address their worst relationship-straining bathroom habits.

“Our goal is to revolutionize public education by keeping it highly engaging, memorable, and fun,” says Lara Wyss, president of the Responsible Flushing Alliance. “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 1300 Americans. Top culprits include:

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

To help save both pipes and partnerships, this year’s #FlushSmart campaign launches Bathroom Bootycamp to educate consumers about responsible flushing and other excellent bathroom etiquette.

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 seven-day challenge to help them improve habits. 

In the home, clearing a clog caused by non-flushable items can cost anywhere from around $300–$15,000 or more. The burden is even heavier at the community level, where local public agencies across the U.S. spend over $440 million annually repairing wastewater treatment equipment damaged by improperly flushed wipes.

Yet research from RFA shows that 50% of Americans are still flushing things they shouldn’t. RFA research also reveals that, while there has been improvement in flushing knowledge over the past five years, there is still widespread confusion about what is actually safe to flush. Many consumers admit they still think non-flushable items — including paper towels (18%), baby wipes (16%), cleaning wipes (10%), and tampons (15%) — are perfectly fine to flush. (They are not.)

This year’s #FlushSmart initiative builds on a successful history of highly creative public education efforts to change behavior at scale.