NJ can have our baby wipes when pried from our cold, clean hands

OK, I’m not going full NRA slogan on this one. I’m not going to die before they take away baby wipes. But I won't give them up quietly.

State Sen. Joseph Cryan, D-Union, recently introduced legislation to outright ban the sale of non-flushable wipes in our state. His background as the executive director of the Middlesex County Utilities Authority has him seeing red on this. These wipes are not supposed to be flushed down toilets. It sometimes says so right on the packaging. Yet people do.

His bill recognizes that people are either ignorant, selfish or both. People flush non-flushable wipes all the time and they are clogging up filter screens at sewage treatment plants and causing a huge problem. He says it's the industry's worst nightmare.

As Cryan puts it, "If you want one of the worst jobs in the world, be the guy who has to go stand in five feet of stuff and take those wipes off the screen that are meant to clean outflow. It happens way too often."

Fine. It's a problem. Conceded. But is a ban on stores selling them the solution? Fines up to $20,000 for selling a baby wipe? Whatever happened to public information campaigns?

Tampons clog sewers too for that matter. They’re not meant to be flushed either. Some women do. Should tampons be banned? All the people who dispose of these products properly need to be punished for the morons? Really?

Now I’m not saying it isn't a problem. Dopes doing this can even clog their own sewer line on their own property long before it gets to a sewage plant. But a number of plumbers will tell you that even the flushable wipes meant to break down don't break down all the way and can also clog systems. We had a number of plumbing experts call in to our show sharing that opinion.

But banning is the Jersey way, isn't it? Some slobs toss plastic bags on the ground so ban all plastic bags for everyone. Some jerks leave plastic straws on beaches so make plastic straws by request only. Some fools flush what's not meant to be flushed so make it illegal to even sell these things.

Babies’ butts need to be wiped. If you’re too dumb to handle the wipes you’re probably too dumb to handle the baby. Don't make it everyone's problem.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey's favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.