Are condoms biodegradable? Do you recycle them with plastics? :)?

Question

I just wondered normally you flush them I wondered was there a better way? More earth friendly. Hey its a real question.

Answer 1

365 make a Goodyear!

Answer 2

When I was an all night radio dj, the morning crew came in and were making cracks about the toilet being stopped up.  They had a morning character who began to say, "Some body's been flushin' them condominiums down the commode."  The program director said he almost fell out of bed that morning.  He couldn't believe his ears.  Wasn't this a family show?  They also tried to accuse me of having done the deed.  They found it great sport.  I found out 20 years later it had all been a gag.  Perhaps the toilet was stopped up, but no "condominiums" were found.  Guess you had to be there.  lol

Answer 3

The total amount of material involved makes it a moot point.  They are compostable, not a plastic.

Answer 4

Condoms? I think my dad owns a bunch of them in New York.

---Paris Hilton

Answer 5

Since they are not made of plastic I would say no, also there is the issue of them being bio-waste.

Answer 6

Don't flush them they will float in the lakes and rivers

Answer 7

Flushing a condom can clog your plumbing or end up in the water supply. If condoms are disposed of via the toilet, they would usually be fished out early on in the water-recycling process and transported to a landfill. Sometimes that waste gets redirected to rivers...etc. Then it could wind up in our oceans.

Latex is biodegradable (when not under water, that is). It is an all-natural substance made from the sap of rubber trees. Latex condoms are not composed of 100 percent latex, though. Another material used to make condoms, lambskin, is also biodegradable, but it does not protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV. Unfortunately, condoms made of polyurethane, a plastic material, do not break down at all.

Lubricant and/or spermicide coated on and/or added to latex and lambskin condoms, however, may alter their decomposition potential.

Try putting the condom in a paper bag or other biodegradable bag before disposing if you dont want to be tacky.

Perhaps someday condom manufacturers will figure out ways to use recyclable or biodegradable packaging materials for their products. But for now, the little bit of foil or plastic you have to throw away and the thought that the condom will take a long time to decompose in a landfill seem like small prices to pay for the protection that condoms offer.

This was not my knowledge, a simple internet search returned this result. The question had me curious too...

Answer 8

I just take my used ones and leave them on the table for a tip if the service sucked.

Answer 9

don't flush!