4 Reasons why we need to ban plastic wipes - now!

You’ve probably never thought about it, but it’s unlikely you’ll get through a day without encountering plastic of some sort.

Just take a peep inside your change bag. From change mats to nappies and dummies, it’s everywhere. But plastic, particularly single-use plastic, is having a terrible impact on our planet - and our health. 

What’s so yucky about plastic?

Plastic pollutes our landscapes, oceans, air and our bodies. Now for the science bit. Plastic is made from unsustainable, carbon intensive fossil fuels which release greenhouse gases into the air, contributing towards global warming.

What’s worse, when plastics break down they create micro-plastics, release toxins and emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere – contributing to global warming.

 Read on to find out what this has to do with baby wipes! 

1. Holy poops, they’ll outlive us

After we are done with plastic items, those that end up in landfill, or the environment, take ages to break down. A plastic drinks bottle for example can take up to 450 years to decompose! Eek!

90% of UK wet wipes contain plastic fibres such as polyester and polypropylene. This means they take up to 100 years to break down, lasting longer than the babies they were used on.

2. Twinkle, twinkle little microplastic

Plastic that doesn’t reach landfill can instead end up in our oceans. It’s a scary fact, but there are more pieces of plastic in our oceans than stars in the galaxy. When plastic is in the ocean, the sun’s rays break it down, through a process call photodegradation, into smaller pieces. These pieces are mistaken for food by millions of marine dwellers every year. And here’s more food for thought, this microplastic then enters our food chain, eventually making its way into our bodies.

3. We don’t need them

As we mentioned, most of UK wet wipes are made with plastic fibres like polyester or polypropylene. But in recent years, many brands have brought out planet-friendly, plastic-free, biodegradable wipes that perform just as well, cost the same and offer equal convenience.

Switching to non-plastic wipes seems like a no brainer. Yet many people still don’t realise that their baby wipes contain plastic and continue to use them. If plastic wipes were banned, people would still have a massive choice of wet wipes, but none of them would contain polluting plastic. 

​4. Help take a stand against single-use

The embodiment of our throw-away culture, single-use plastics are particularly bad for our planet. Single-use plastics are meant to be disposed of right after use—often in mere minutes. Government has already taken a stand against some of the most polluting single-use plastics by banning plastic straws, cotton buds and stirrers.

However, they are falling short on wet wipes by proposing new product labelling and applying a tax to products to cover the cost of clearing them up.

Pura believes that plastic containing wipe should be banned in the same way as other harmful single-use plastic products – and we need your support!

Please help us create a better world for our children. Sign our plastic wipe ban here.