“A staggering 30,000 wet wipes have been picked up by our volunteers on Cramond beach alone over the last five years. It’s not just a problem here though. At last year’s Great British Beach Clean we found an average of 25 wet wipes for every 100m of Scottish beach surveyed.

Our toilets can still sadly be gateways to the ocean which is why incorrectly flushed items like plastic wet wipes can be found on beaches across Scotland. We need to stop plastic items, like wet wipes, getting into the sewer system and out in the ocean. That’s why we’re supporting the Nature Calls campaign and to ban plastic wet wipes and help reduce the number of wipes mis flushed, show your support for wet wipe free beaches and seas by supporting the campaign too!”.

Catherine Gemmell, Scotland Conservation Officer - Marine Conservation Society

“I’m delighted to see Scottish Water highlighting this important issue, encouraging everyone to be more conscious of the environmental impact of plastic wipes. We want doing the right thing for our environment to be easy and possible for everyone - including manufacturers finding affordable alternatives to plastic free wipes. This will make sure that industry contributes to a future without wipes that clog up our waterways and oceans, harming wildlife and permanently changing our environment.

Scotland is facing a climate and litter emergency, so action to find affordable solutions to plastic free wipes is needed to protect the future of our country. This campaign will help industry and individuals to understand that their actions can and do make a difference.”

Barry Fisher, Chief Executive - Keep Scotland Beautiful

“At every step in its lifecycle, even long after it has been discarded, plastic causes harm to wildlife and contributes to the climate crisis we’re facing today. If we’re to stop climate change and eliminate plastic pollution from our oceans, we need to rapidly phase out unnecessary single-use plastics and that includes a ban on wipes made with plastic.”

Lang Banks, Director - WWF Scotland

“It is great to see campaigns like this become more prominent in tackling the urgent problem of single-use items. At Zero Waste Scotland, we understand just how important it is to ban single-use plastic - and single-use items in general. We champion more sustainable ways of operating, which is why we love to see efforts, like Nature Calls from Scottish Water, grabbing attention and encouraging us all to think about our throw-away culture. Each time we choose to reuse we are one step closer to a more circular economy that will help alleviate Scotland’s contribution to the climate crisis.”

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive - Zero Waste Scotland

“At Royal Zoological Society Scotland we’re inspiring and enabling our visitors and communities to do their bit to protect our planet and the wildlife we share it with. We want to make it as easy as possible to be a champion for nature.

We’re supporting the Nature Calls campaign because one of the most simple actions we can each take is to stop putting wet wipes and plastic products down our drains and we agree that wipes containing plastic should be banned. Not only does flushing these items cause flooding and pollution as they block and break pipes, but they end up littering our beaches and oceans and killing wildlife.”

David Field, Chief Executive - Royal Zoological Society Scotland

“Our lochs and rivers are a crucial part of what makes the National Park, and Scotland, such a special place. Not only beautiful to look at and enjoy, these water bodies are vital wildlife habitats and keeping them as healthy as possible helps us tackle both the climate and nature crises. Sadly wipes can get into these water bodies causing harm to water quality, wildlife and their beauty. We consider them a form of pollution and therefore we are supporting the call for wipes containing plastic to be banned and urge everyone to do their bit by never flushing wipes.”

Simon Jones, Director of Environment and Visitor Services at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.