Over the years we’ve collected data and used it to collaboratively campaign for a ban on plastic cotton bud sticks, a charge on single-use carrier bags, and this year we welcomed the ban on the sale of single-use ‘disposable’ vapes after it became the fastest growing recorded litter item. We survey litter levels and types across Scotland and always wonder what the next ‘poster child’ litter will be.
This month, we were approached by Rachael Revesz and invited to sign an open letter to Scottish politicians calling for action on the single-use dental flosser. We were keen to sign up and offer support, joining our Ambassador Laura Young and many others to a call for action on an item that is symptomatic of our unsustainable consumption of single-use convenience items.
In this blog, particularly pertinent as governments from around the world are meeting to discuss the UN Plastic Treaty and how to tackle plastic pollution at source, Rachael covers how she noticed the item was an increasing issue and wanted to take action.
In New York last year, I started to see them everywhere: pink, blue, green yellow, but mostly white. Dental flossers, otherwise known as dental harps, or ‘plackers’: on the streets, in Central Park, discarded next to bus stops. There was even one on the floor of my classroom. I wondered if I was being punked: was I being followed around by someone with very good oral hygiene?
Jokes aside: why were so many people flossing in public, or on the go? And why, years after big companies and governments pledged to turn the tide against plastic pollution, was there now yet another item that was being sold in giant multi-packs and encouraging people to produce more waste every day?
I was worried that this new product would follow me home to Scotland, and it did. I found dental flossers on the pristine beaches of the island of Colonsay, on the coastal path by St Abbs, as well as littered around much closer to home. Even during a trip to visit my friend in Vienna, I spotted one in the grounds of the famous Hapsburg Palace. In Europe, the only difference is manufacturers make more ‘green’ claims i.e. that their flossers contain a certain percentage of recycled plastic, or they are ‘bioplastic’ - not derived from fossil fuels, but still lasting centuries in landfill. For example, a packet of 30 ‘plackers’ from Tesco is described as “eco sensitive”. The clever marketing doesn’t reduce the very real impact of plastic waste.
Governments from around the world are meeting in August - right now, in fact - to discuss how to tackle plastic pollution at source. So, one week ago, I launched my campaign to call for a ban on these items. I drafted an open letter to First Minister John Swinney and Cabinet Secretary Gillian Martin, and it has been signed so far by 22 charities (including Keep Scotland Beautiful), organisations and community groups. I would like to add many more names as time goes on. Can we get to 50?
The first supporter of the campaign was Laura Young of Less Waste Laura, an ambassador for Keep Scotland Beautiful, and who has done fantastic work regarding disposable vapes, which were banned this year. Laura posted about the single use dental flosser on her Instagram - and reusable alternatives - and hundreds of people have liked the posts and left comments. I was fascinated to see one comment saying “this [item] is my biggest litter trigger”.
What an excellent way to describe it - a litter trigger. Suddenly, it made sense as to why I was feeling an almost emotional reaction every time I spotted one, and what was driving me to do something about it. Litter doesn’t just harm our natural surroundings and our wildlife, it harms our mental health. While producers of this product, like Omega Pharma (owned by global company Perrigo), are free to make as many millions of dental flossers as they like, it is the consumer and the taxpayer that have to deal with the ramifications.
There are, of course, genuine concerns about accessibility. Banning items isn’t always the answer. Admittedly, reusable products in the dental market haven’t been as quick to spring up, or as convenient, as their plastic counterparts. But there are a wealth of alternatives, and for the majority of people who don’t have accessibility issues, this is just another daily habit that we need to re-consider.
On Monday 4 August, the day before the Global Plastics Treaty, we encouraged signatories of the open letter, and members of the public, to post pictures of the dental flossers they find out and about, with the hashtag #dontflossandtoss. Please keep doing this - in this way, we can keep this issue in the spotlight.
I’m also pushing for an MSP to ask the Scottish Parliament questions about this item, and will feed back any response I get to that, and to the open letter.
The most heartening outcome of this campaign so far is seeing the united front with so many charities and organisations. We all want to go on a walk without feeling triggered by litter, and feeling helpless to do anything about it. This campaign is my small contribution. Let’s hope the Global Plastics Treaty finally takes much needed action.
You can read more about the campaign in this article in The Herald, or listen to Laura Young speak about it on Scotcast (4 August).
Find out how we use our audits to collect data and evidence, and public perception data to raise awareness of the litter emergency and to call for action, in collaboration with key partners on our litter web pages.
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