July is Flush Smart Month - Who Needs a Refresher on Potty Training Basics?

The Responsible Flushing Alliance's campaign, Potty Training for Grown-Ups, aims to reach parents who are flushing the wrong things

SEATTLE, July 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Responsible Flushing Alliance (RFA) kicks off its 4^th annual Flush Smart Month today with a creative campaign, Potty Training for Grown-Ups. The organization is spreading smart flushing tips via social media and engagement with wastewater agencies across the country. Smart flushing is critical for preventing costly damage to our wastewater systems, protecting the environment from pollution and ensuring the uninterrupted flow of vital public services.

To download the Potty Training for Grown-Ups toolkit, visit https://www.flushsmart.org/wp-content/uploads/RFA-Flush-Smart-2025-Toolkit.pdf.

The toolkit includes:

• Ready-to-post social media assets
• Fun potty-training worksheets
• Suggested social content
• Blog post template
• Talking points & FAQs
• Social challenge details for creating your own videos (toilet tunes & kid teachers)

"We know from our annual national flushing survey that 60% of people with children in their households are flushing non-flushable items that should never go in the toilet," said Lara Wyss, president of RFA. "Sometimes, it seems, parents can be even worse rule-breakers than their kids. With our Potty Training for Grown-Ups campaign,  we're asking people to change their habits and inviting them to become part of the solution for healthier infrastructure and a cleaner environment."

Inappropriately flushed items, especially non-flushable wet wipes labeled with the Do Not Flush symbol, can cost hundreds of dollars for homeowners and potentially millions of dollars wastewater agencies. It is estimated that it cost wastewater agencies $441 million to clean up wipes that shouldn't be flushed (like baby wipes, cleaning wipes, and makeup removal wipes).

Potty Training for Grown-Ups

For this year's annual Flush Smart campaign, RFA is going back to the basics: potty training. But this time, we're potty training the grown-ups — and teaching them how to flush responsibly.

Throughout July's Flush Smart Month, RFA is working with social media influencers to educate people through humor and songs with the responsible flushing 101 potty training that a lot of adults seem to need. Often used as a tool for potty training children, music aids learning and helps with retention. RFA's hope is to lodge fun, catchy tunes into the heads of many parents, ensuring responsible flushing stays top of mind.

Check out the Potty Training for Grown-Ups videos from our influencer partners by following #FlushSmart on Instagram and TikTok during July.

Past Flush Smart Month's

Last year, RFA spread the word at VidCon Anaheim 2024 with a creative investigation to uncover the city's elusive underboss, the Clog Monster. Detective Vincent Drains and his trusty sidekick, Mel -- a talking and singing toilet -- solved crimes of flushing.  For Flush Smart 2023, RFA produced a spoof movie trailer to introduce the origin story of the Clog Monster – the embodiment of a fatberg --  villain lurking beneath the streets — and why you should never flush a Do Not Flush wipe down the toilet.

About Responsible Flushing Alliance  

The Responsible Flushing Alliance (RFA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to consumer education focused on what not to flush. RFA's goal is to change consumer behavior to help reduce damage to our nation's sewage systems caused by objects and materials not designed to be flushed. For more information, visit https://www.flushsmart.org or on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and X. 

SOURCE Responsible Flushing Alliance