The UK's beaches are swamped with washed-up wet wipes

LONDON — Next time you use a wet wipe, do nature a favour and put it in the bin.

The common tendency to flush wet wipes down the toilet is based in the mistaken belief that they easily disintegrate, but in reality, they are causing an influx of the wipes on Britain's beaches, according to a new report from the Marine Conservation Society (MCS).

In fact, the number discovered on beaches grew by more than 50% in 2014, per the report, and averaged out at more than 35 wipes per kilometre of beach. Pretty rank.

See also: Australia, This Is What Plastic Is Doing To Our Beautiful Beaches

More than 5,000 volunteers combed 301 beaches in the UK between Sept. 12 and Sept. 22 last year, collecting 2,457 bits of litter per kilometre, which was an increase of 6.4% compared to 2013. Read more...

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