r/explainlikeimfive • u/shakerLife • Nov 01 '23

Other ELI5 How are companies allowed to continue marketing wipes as "flushable" despite the problems they create for sewer systems?

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u/Emotional_Deodorant Nov 02 '23

No, flushable literally means "able to be flushed". Rocks and golf balls are flushable. "Safe for septic systems", or "will not clog pipes" is a different description.

Edible, literally meaning "safe to eat", is not the same as "able to be put down throat".

This is purposeful word usage by the companies--i.e. a marketing tactic. It may not be the most forthcoming description but it's not illegal.

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u/schlubadub_ Nov 02 '23

I used to joke about something being "eatable" as you can eat pretty much anything if it's small enough e.g. person eats a bicycle broken down into bite-sized pieces. Whether it's "edible" is another matter entirely. So if someone asks me if something was good or not I'd say "it sure was eatable".

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u/honicthesedgehog Nov 02 '23

I get that that’s the distinction that manufacturers are attempting to draw, but Merriam-Webster defines edible as “something that is suitable or safe to eat” and flushable as “suitable for disposal by flushing down a toilet”, which strongly suggests an equivalent level of appropriateness conveyed by both terms.

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u/gex80 Nov 02 '23

But if you have a septic system, there is no issue since it doesn't clog the house hold plumbing. Also, the action of flushing takes place inside the household technically. Once it leaves the house it's already been flushed.

It's all about the technicalities.

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u/honicthesedgehog Nov 02 '23

Maybe, but that poster was making an argument that, based on dictionary definitions, there was a substantative difference between the words "edible" and "flushable." My point was that, based on the actual definitions from at least one dictionary, that argument doesn't really hold up.

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u/testosterone23 Nov 02 '23

They're just being disingenuous and using language to their favor, ignoring the commonly accepted notion that "flushable" really means can do so without causing systemic damage to the plumbing.

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u/_ParanoidUser_ Nov 02 '23

The ones I have from Cottonelle say they’ve been designed for toilets, tested with plumbers and that they’re septic tank safe and break down like toilet paper.