A huge ‘wet wipe island’ the size of two tennis courts has been all over the news over the past 2 weeks, after forming on the banks of the River Thames. It’s pretty gross, and described as being a metre deep in places of just wet wipes. Yuck!!
Unfortunately, flushing wet wipes has become a common practice for UK families. 24 million people have admitted to flushing wet wipes without thinking of the consequences, with a different survey finding that 45% of respondents admitting to chucking their wipes down the toilet.
In probably all cases, people aren’t aware of the damaging consequences flushing their wipes has on the environment. But these single use plastic demons don’t break down, resulting in blockages, flooding and sewage pollution.
On top of this, the wet wipes will release microplastics which damage marine plants and animals.
Thankfully the Government are considering a ban on plastic wet wipes, yay! Of course, this means finding an alternative is top of the priority list.
There are plenty of sustainable alternatives to make up wipes out there. Here are the two most popular:
Reusable Microfibre Make Up Remover Cloths
Of course we’d recommend using a microfibre make up remover cloth! They trump wet wipes in literally every single way. Most importantly, they’re not single use. In fact, they can be washed and reused over 1000 times, lasting over a year for many people.
Secondly they’re SO much better for your skin, requiring only warm water to remove even waterproof make up. No cleansers, miscellar water or other make up remover liquid required. Of course if you prefer to use these you still can!
You can check out our super cute cloths here.
Reusable Cotton Pads/cloths
Reusable cotton pads are another great shout. Similar to microfibre make up remover cloths you can reuse these pads over and over again, with a single pad lasting around 300 washes. As they’re made from cotton, they’re a much more natural alternative to wet wipes, and don’t leach micro plastics during the wash cycle, win!
Of course with these you’ll still need to use a cleanser or other make up remover solution to actually take your make up off.
It’ll be a huge moment if/when plastic wet wipes are banned in the UK, and if nothing else we hope that ‘wet wipe island’ will encourage users to start looking for sustainable alternatives!
