You roll off your partner, get out of bed and head for the bathroom. But there’s no bin, so you just pull the condom off, chuck it into the toilet and flush – without giving much thought to the consequences. After all, you’ve just enjoyed a nice session of sex and (hopefully) a great orgasm, so it’s understandable that you brain is on autopilot. While we commend you on deciding to wrap up, and protecting yourself and your partner from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, that’s no excuse.
You might not realise it, but the occasional condom flush can be very damaging to the environment. ‘Our toilets eventually reach the sea, and anything other than biological organic materials cannot be broken down by nature’s recycling pathways,’ says Tom Hird, a marine biologist nicknamed the ‘Blowfish’. ‘While most condoms are commonly made from latex, a natural product from rubber trees, this doesn’t mean they will happily biodegrade in the ocean.’
Hird, who is also an ambassador for the Marine Conservation Society, knows his plastic (and how it affects the environment). He says: ‘The chemicals added to the latex mix, which provide shelf life and stability, stop the condom from breaking down swiftly in the ocean. In fact, scientist are currently unsure how long your sexy sheath takes to break down in the ocean, but estimates put it at around 30 years. ‘In that time, the rubber johnny is free to go on a worldwide jolly of seas and beaches, and if it doesn’t get washed up on shore, then it is extremely likely to be eaten by an aquatic animal mistaking it for food.’ To clarify, this is not us saying you should recycle your condoms by washing them out and putting them back on again, like some people are doing.
Once out of the packet, placed on a penis and having served its purpose, it should be thrown away. Condoms are generally made from two different materials: latex and polyurethane (for condoms made for women and for people who are allergic to latex). Though, there’s also a natural, lambskin type. Majority of latex condoms can be broken down in time and as such, are classified as biodegradable, unless they’ve been coated with additional lubricant or spermicides which can affect how quickly or well the products decompose. Polyurethane condoms on the other hand are made from plastic – but don’t recycle them with your other other plastic waste. Instead, Very Well Health recommends you wrap them in tissue and throw these away in the trash can, too. Same goes for latex.