Lara Wyss, president of the Responsible Flushing Alliance will participate in Nonwoven Substrates for More Sustainable Wipes session on the first day of the WOW conference. The presentation will focus on RFA’s #FlushSmart campaign, the industry’s first national consumer education campaign on flushability.

In May, RFA was part of NACWA’s Pre-Treatment Workshop held in Nashville, TN.  Wyss participated on a panel called “Flushing Awesome: Wipe Labeling and Flushability Progress.” Joining Wyss on the panel was Frank Dick, co-chair of NACWA’s Pretreatment and Pollution Prevention Committee and Cynthia Finley, Director of Regulatory Affairs for NACWA.

As part of her presentation, Wyss highlighted the consumer survey the RFA did last November to gauge the knowledge and behaviors of Californians around healthy and proper flushing. Some interesting findings from the survey include:

• Nearly 60% of respondents say they have disposed of something non-flushable in the toilet during the past year. (Boo!)
• But 60% of consumers say they do check packaging for see if the product is flushable. (Yay!)
• 69% of consumers say they recall seeing the “Do Not Flush” symbol but when we asked them where, we got a variety of answers from airplane bathrooms to restaurants or to somewhere in Europe. And
• Men aged 45 and under as well as parents with children in the house were found to be the most prevalent offenders of practicing unsafe flushing habits.

Later this week, RFA will host a press conference on the west-facing steps of the California State Capitol Building featuring remarks from Assemblymember Richard Bloom, who carried California Assembly Bill 818 to the governor’s desk, as well as California Association of Sanitation Agencies, and National Stewardship Action Council. All four of us coming together represents a critical coming-together of industry, policy, and wastewater to promote real solutions to environmental issues and damaged infrastructure.