Maine’s Don't Flush Baby Wipes Campaign Receives National Recognition

The Don’t Flush Baby Wipes Campaign was recently recognized with two prestigious awards, the US EPA Environmental Merit Award and the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence. The outreach campaign was developed by Maine Water Environment Association, the Portland Water District, and national partners to raise consumer awareness about the problems that occur when baby wipes are flushed down the toilet. With the theme, “Save Your Pipes: Don’t Flush Baby Wipes,” the campaign ran January - April with television commercials featuring a game show titled, “What the Flush?!?,” and other outreach efforts.

"This campaign appears to have been successful, but this message is one that needs to reach consumers around the country," says 2014 Maine Water Environment Association President Aubrey Strause. "Consumers need to be consistently reminded that baby wipes are never flushable, so our next step is sharing the campaign materials with everyone else fighting this problem."

Photo Captions:

Top: Gov Award: Yarmouth Water Pollution Control Dept. Superintendent Tom Connolly, Governor Paul LePage, Casella Director of Sales and Marketing Jennifer McDonnell , Portland Water District Public Relations Manager Michelle Clements, Maine DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho.

Bottom: EPA Award:Maine DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho, INDA Director of Marketing Joan Izzo, Maine Water Environment Association President Aubrey Strause, Portland Water District Director of Wastewater Scott Firmin, EPA New England’s Deputy Regional Administrator Deb Szaro

High resolution photos available on request.