Don't squeeze the virgin forests!
February 28, 2009 11:52 PM Subscribe
American customers “demand soft and comfortable, recycled fiber cannot do it.”
According to The Guardian (bastion of journalism that it is), Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defence Council says American toilet paper use is "worse than driving a hummer", in terms of use of virgin, old-growth forests to manufacture soft tissue.
Have no fear though, at least if you take it all rough and fibery. Greenpeace has the low down with their toilet tissue buyer's guide (PDF). Wallypop is all about reusable toilet wipes. Of course, some folks have their own solutions. (Previously: 1, 2) Wiping thy arse with fibrous tissue isn't the only thing you can do to save the world though.
According to The Guardian (bastion of journalism that it is), Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defence Council says American toilet paper use is "worse than driving a hummer", in terms of use of virgin, old-growth forests to manufacture soft tissue.
Have no fear though, at least if you take it all rough and fibery. Greenpeace has the low down with their toilet tissue buyer's guide (PDF). Wallypop is all about reusable toilet wipes. Of course, some folks have their own solutions. (Previously: 1, 2) Wiping thy arse with fibrous tissue isn't the only thing you can do to save the world though.
From the Wallypop article:
The company admits there's "a certain ick factor involved."
Yeah, no shit.
Why don't we just use a combination of recycled TP and bidets?
posted by spiderskull at 12:06 AM on March 1, 2009 [2 favorites]
The company admits there's "a certain ick factor involved."
Yeah, no shit.
Why don't we just use a combination of recycled TP and bidets?
posted by spiderskull at 12:06 AM on March 1, 2009 [2 favorites]
for paper napkins, paper towels, and facial tissues, isn't cloth a softer alt?
i replaced my clueless, limbaugh-dittohead parents' TP with seventh generation. there was no mention of the change. I don't understand this.
posted by eustatic at 12:14 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
i replaced my clueless, limbaugh-dittohead parents' TP with seventh generation. there was no mention of the change. I don't understand this.
posted by eustatic at 12:14 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
for paper napkins, paper towels, and facial tissues, isn't cloth a softer alt?
After I finished laughing, I realized that my parents consistently used cloth diapers for me and my two younger brothers. They didn't switch to disposable until my youngest brother was born, mid-1980s.
posted by IvoShandor at 12:16 AM on March 1, 2009
"More than 98% of the toilet roll sold in America comes from virgin forests, said Hershkowitz."
I think this is an extremely misleading quote. The vast majority of paper products in the US come forests that are grown specifically to be cut down to make paper products, no one is turning old growth forest into pulp for toilet paper when they could make much more money selling it as lumber. Who is checking these facts as the reporter does not seem to understand the meaning of the word virgin when talking about a forest?
posted by 517 at 12:25 AM on March 1, 2009 [8 favorites]
I think this is an extremely misleading quote. The vast majority of paper products in the US come forests that are grown specifically to be cut down to make paper products, no one is turning old growth forest into pulp for toilet paper when they could make much more money selling it as lumber. Who is checking these facts as the reporter does not seem to understand the meaning of the word virgin when talking about a forest?
posted by 517 at 12:25 AM on March 1, 2009 [8 favorites]
If this movement gets rid of those commercials featuring the cartoon bear with little bits of toilet paper stuck to his ass, I'm all for it.
posted by hifiparasol at 1:15 AM on March 1, 2009 [14 favorites]
posted by hifiparasol at 1:15 AM on March 1, 2009 [14 favorites]
that's not what i meant by movement
posted by hifiparasol at 1:21 AM on March 1, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by hifiparasol at 1:21 AM on March 1, 2009 [4 favorites]
I'm not even sure I can buy 100% recycled in the ordinary TP aisle---I think I have to go to the special organic aisle and pay a bunch more money. (And I can't use super soft and fluffy even if I wanted to (which I did before this post, as I hadn't really realized how bad it was for the environment): it clogs our pipes.)
posted by leahwrenn at 3:43 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by leahwrenn at 3:43 AM on March 1, 2009
Bleaching toilet paper white with chlorine, so there is a nice solid contrast when it is covered in your shit.
Fuck me, what an insane idea.
posted by Meatbomb at 4:29 AM on March 1, 2009 [12 favorites]
Fuck me, what an insane idea.
posted by Meatbomb at 4:29 AM on March 1, 2009 [12 favorites]
You can take my soft and fluffy TP from my cold dead...
posted by qvantamon at 4:48 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by qvantamon at 4:48 AM on March 1, 2009
Why don't we just use a combination of recycled TP and bidets?
Bidets are old and busted; Japanese toilets are the new hotness.
posted by zardoz at 4:50 AM on March 1, 2009
Bidets are old and busted; Japanese toilets are the new hotness.
posted by zardoz at 4:50 AM on March 1, 2009
The softness issue is clearly something that the right technology could solve. Not that I know what that technology is, but the paper-manufacturer that comes up with it is going to have a great advantage.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:34 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:34 AM on March 1, 2009
It's not necessary to wipe your arse using brand new trees. Even plantation growth isn't a great idea - it replaces proper forests without providing an adequate eco-system for the animals and other plants that used to live there. I don't understand why some people think their crap is too good for recycled office paper.
posted by harriet vane at 5:36 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by harriet vane at 5:36 AM on March 1, 2009
Just buy a bidet and call it good.
posted by drstrangelove at 6:22 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by drstrangelove at 6:22 AM on March 1, 2009
American customers are assholes.
posted by gorgor_balabala at 6:32 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by gorgor_balabala at 6:32 AM on March 1, 2009
I am against recycled toilet paper. I like mine clean.
posted by cogneuro at 6:36 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by cogneuro at 6:36 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
I was just thinking yesterday that toilet paper is such an effin' waste of resources and tried to calculate how many trees I've wiped my butt with in my life.
However, I'm not going to stop buying Charmin anytime soon. Yes, I've used 7th Gen. I've also lived in Europe. THAT STUFF CHAFES. Until someone buys me a bidet, I'm gonna keep wiping my butt in virgin forested comfort.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 6:38 AM on March 1, 2009
However, I'm not going to stop buying Charmin anytime soon. Yes, I've used 7th Gen. I've also lived in Europe. THAT STUFF CHAFES. Until someone buys me a bidet, I'm gonna keep wiping my butt in virgin forested comfort.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 6:38 AM on March 1, 2009
Paper? Poor things.
I wipe my precious bottom with parchment.
posted by Anything at 6:47 AM on March 1, 2009 [2 favorites]
I wipe my precious bottom with parchment.
posted by Anything at 6:47 AM on March 1, 2009 [2 favorites]
How about we just cut fiber and fat of any sort from our diets? That way our poops will be little dry pellets and there will be no need to wipe at all.
posted by sciurus at 6:55 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by sciurus at 6:55 AM on March 1, 2009
I do not understand this "wiping" thing. If you get shit on your hands do you not wash up with soap and water? Why is your bum any less worthy of cleanliness? Clothes stay cleaner, and in the odd moment of frenzied sex there's no sudden reaction from a friend who has just got a whiff of stale, fragrant fecal matter. Really, folks, it's better for you, better for her/him, and better for the planet. Wash up after you use the toilet.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:01 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:01 AM on March 1, 2009
Is it possible to make toilet paper from hemp? I would think the marketing possibilities alone would make this a winner...
posted by Enron Hubbard at 7:04 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by Enron Hubbard at 7:04 AM on March 1, 2009
Bidets are old and busted; Japanese toilets are the new hotness.
Yeah, Americans would want an SUV to drive them from the toilet to the bidet. Japanese toilets make much more sense.
And wouldn't the water pumps on the US models would have to be scaled up to deal with the typical American diet? Those Japanese models are created to deal with people who live on rice and sushi, not Cheez-Whiz and Big Macs.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:08 AM on March 1, 2009
Yeah, Americans would want an SUV to drive them from the toilet to the bidet. Japanese toilets make much more sense.
And wouldn't the water pumps on the US models would have to be scaled up to deal with the typical American diet? Those Japanese models are created to deal with people who live on rice and sushi, not Cheez-Whiz and Big Macs.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:08 AM on March 1, 2009
I've also lived in Europe. THAT STUFF CHAFES.
You don't even know chafes until you've used Izal Medicated. However, when you're all out of Rizlas, give me a roll of this stuff over a quilted roll of extra-fluffy Charmin, any day.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:14 AM on March 1, 2009
You don't even know chafes until you've used Izal Medicated. However, when you're all out of Rizlas, give me a roll of this stuff over a quilted roll of extra-fluffy Charmin, any day.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:14 AM on March 1, 2009
I wish I could favourite hifiparasol's comment about a zillion times. Why do I have to see a bear with paper stuck to his bottom? Too graphic, even with cartoons!
posted by Hildegarde at 7:15 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Hildegarde at 7:15 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
I don't understand how y'all can use that soft stuff. Is that because my parents are from Europe?
posted by Slothrup at 7:29 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by Slothrup at 7:29 AM on March 1, 2009
Great, we got rid of Bush but now we are expected to feel guilty about how we wipe our asses.
posted by Lindalou at 7:32 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by Lindalou at 7:32 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
and in the odd moment of frenzied sex there's no sudden reaction from a friend who has just got a whiff of stale, fragrant fecal matter.
Wait...what?
posted by agregoli at 7:34 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
Wait...what?
posted by agregoli at 7:34 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
Just buy a bidet and call it good.
Srsly. There are many things that Our Swarthy Arab Friends and I disagree about, but this is not one of them.
A bidet in every loo/bathroom/what-have-you, that would be my campaign platform.
posted by atrazine at 7:36 AM on March 1, 2009
Srsly. There are many things that Our Swarthy Arab Friends and I disagree about, but this is not one of them.
A bidet in every loo/bathroom/what-have-you, that would be my campaign platform.
posted by atrazine at 7:36 AM on March 1, 2009
Should I ever be presented with the opportunity to shake hands with Sheryl Crow, I shall politely decline.
posted by Tube at 7:36 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by Tube at 7:36 AM on March 1, 2009
Also: we spent all this effort to make water nice and drinkable, then we shit in it.
posted by Pants! at 7:49 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Pants! at 7:49 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
Isn't this a beneficial carbon sink? All those trees absorbing CO2, growing, getting pulped, and sitting at the bottom of a leach field?
FIGHT GLOBAL WARNING. WIPE TWICE!
posted by jenkinsEar at 7:49 AM on March 1, 2009
FIGHT GLOBAL WARNING. WIPE TWICE!
posted by jenkinsEar at 7:49 AM on March 1, 2009
My mother was raised using newspapers in the outhouse. She now insists on nothing but the softest TP for her precious bottom. If we raise the next generation on recycled sandpaper will they end up using virgin 12-ply as adults?
posted by saucysault at 7:53 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by saucysault at 7:53 AM on March 1, 2009
Soylent Green: It's what's for dinner!
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:58 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:58 AM on March 1, 2009
Hahahahahah I finally did it. I posted in the wrong thread. I have egg on my face, which is better than virgin trees on my butt.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:01 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:01 AM on March 1, 2009
Why don't we just use a combination of recycled TP and bidets?
I don't think that tearing open walls, installing new water delivery lines from the existing ones, tearing open floors, installing new drain lines that tie into existing, buying a couple-few hundred dollar bidet, and closing everything back up again with new subfloor and flooring and drywall and paint, is really a realistic alternative.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:30 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
I don't think that tearing open walls, installing new water delivery lines from the existing ones, tearing open floors, installing new drain lines that tie into existing, buying a couple-few hundred dollar bidet, and closing everything back up again with new subfloor and flooring and drywall and paint, is really a realistic alternative.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:30 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
Wiping your ass with soft toilet paper is important since that is where most people keep their heads.
posted by srboisvert at 8:44 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 8:44 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
Only a goose will do.
Who his foul tail with paper wipes,
Shall at his ballocks leave some chips.
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:46 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
Who his foul tail with paper wipes,
Shall at his ballocks leave some chips.
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:46 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
A bear and a rabbit were taking a shit in the woods...
posted by symbioid at 9:12 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by symbioid at 9:12 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
Seconding eustatic - 100% recycled isn't a notable difference in texture if you're using it. Sunrise 100% premium recycled sells for a few dollars more than the comparable type at Costco, in the same area. The price quoted in that link is not what I paid a few weeks back. It's not made of silk, but it's not the institutional-grade stuff you'd find at public bathrooms.
The level of softness is only understood when comparing options in bright packages, not so much when you're in need of a material to wipe yourself. I don't think that many people are paying attention to the level of softness when reaching for toilet paper.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:20 AM on March 1, 2009
The level of softness is only understood when comparing options in bright packages, not so much when you're in need of a material to wipe yourself. I don't think that many people are paying attention to the level of softness when reaching for toilet paper.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:20 AM on March 1, 2009
cloth wipes are softer than TP -- recycled or no. if you google "family cloth" you will find that there are many crunchy-types who use cloth wipes for their personal toilet-hygiene. some people use cloth just for pee, because they are squicked out by poo in the washing machine. most of these crunchy-types also use cloth diapers, and wash the "family cloth" in with the diaper laundry.
to me, it makes a lot of sense. if you got poo on your hand, would you wipe it off with paper? no, you would likely wash with soap and water. the bum is no different. then you basically just dry off with the little wipe and voila!! shower-fresh!!
posted by fancyoats at 9:27 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
to me, it makes a lot of sense. if you got poo on your hand, would you wipe it off with paper? no, you would likely wash with soap and water. the bum is no different. then you basically just dry off with the little wipe and voila!! shower-fresh!!
posted by fancyoats at 9:27 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
I don't think that many people are paying attention to the level of softness when reaching for toilet paper.
Well, I certainly appreciate any toilet paper over no toilet paper, but I *DO* pay attention to the comfort with which my ass is wiped. 'moonMan has been trained out of buying the cheapo ass-scratching paper in favor of "grabbing the one with the big teddy bear on it." I'll admit to being a pretty pretty princess where my butt is concerned, but hey - a clean butt is a happy butt.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:58 AM on March 1, 2009
Well, I certainly appreciate any toilet paper over no toilet paper, but I *DO* pay attention to the comfort with which my ass is wiped. 'moonMan has been trained out of buying the cheapo ass-scratching paper in favor of "grabbing the one with the big teddy bear on it." I'll admit to being a pretty pretty princess where my butt is concerned, but hey - a clean butt is a happy butt.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:58 AM on March 1, 2009
Put me down in th column of folks who think those cartoon bear TP commercials are stupid.
One of them starts by saying "Kids always take too much TP. But now you don't have to take much, because our TP is all thick and quilted, etc." Folks, the two comments don't segué. If kids always take too much, then they wil take too much of your damn TP, too! Only now, the kids will be wasting the nice soft, more expensive stuff you're shilling!
Another commercial has Mama Bear running after Baby Bear with bits of TP stuck to his bum. Is this really a pressing issue in child-rearing? Is the best selling feature of a brand of toilet paper that, during those few years when your kid is potty trained, yet still not able to wipe effectively, it minimizes particles of TP?
Honestly, the bonehead who approved this marketing plan better be glad they are employed in this economy, that's all I can say.
posted by darkstar at 10:00 AM on March 1, 2009
One of them starts by saying "Kids always take too much TP. But now you don't have to take much, because our TP is all thick and quilted, etc." Folks, the two comments don't segué. If kids always take too much, then they wil take too much of your damn TP, too! Only now, the kids will be wasting the nice soft, more expensive stuff you're shilling!
Another commercial has Mama Bear running after Baby Bear with bits of TP stuck to his bum. Is this really a pressing issue in child-rearing? Is the best selling feature of a brand of toilet paper that, during those few years when your kid is potty trained, yet still not able to wipe effectively, it minimizes particles of TP?
Honestly, the bonehead who approved this marketing plan better be glad they are employed in this economy, that's all I can say.
posted by darkstar at 10:00 AM on March 1, 2009
And for those folks who don't see any difference between shit on your arm and shit on your asshole, I really don't want to know how you spend your Friday nights.
posted by darkstar at 10:05 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by darkstar at 10:05 AM on March 1, 2009
I'm going to have to side with the fluffy paper on this one. Having "enjoyed" the military issue "John Wayne" TP (It's rough, it's tough and it doesn't take shit from anyone) I'll stick with the quilted, fluffed variety thank you. As for bleaching, well, that's just dumb but it's a must if you expect the average consumer to buy anything with significant post-consumer recycled content. I've worked in the consumer paper goods business (disposable tabletop) for almost 20 years and the only segment where recycled paper does well is printed placemats and traycovers. Even there the less ink coverage the brighter the paper has to be. We only use our most "eco friendly" paper (65 bright groundwood) for items that have 100% or higher ink coverage.
posted by MikeMc at 10:43 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by MikeMc at 10:43 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
ROU_Xeno-- buy the Japanese-style bidet that mounts to your toilet. They're easy to install and relatively affordable models do exist.
posted by drstrangelove at 10:49 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by drstrangelove at 10:49 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
It's okay, as a college dorm inhabitant, I have learned to use minimal amounts of single ply tp!
(when I visit my parents, it's like wiping my bottom with some sort of shirt or stuffed animal)
posted by rubah at 10:50 AM on March 1, 2009
(when I visit my parents, it's like wiping my bottom with some sort of shirt or stuffed animal)
posted by rubah at 10:50 AM on March 1, 2009
Look! Another reason why Americans are horrible people!
posted by incessant at 10:52 AM on March 1, 2009
posted by incessant at 10:52 AM on March 1, 2009
Many years ago, an old boss used to say...."You know, in future generations, there will come a time when people will be flabbergasted that we used trees to wipe our asses with."
posted by Malor at 11:00 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by Malor at 11:00 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
"You know, in future generations, there will come a time when people will be flabbergasted that we used trees to wipe our asses with."
It's not so bad if you're wiping with the direction of the bark not against it. That there's the trick.
posted by MikeMc at 11:04 AM on March 1, 2009 [2 favorites]
It's not so bad if you're wiping with the direction of the bark not against it. That there's the trick.
posted by MikeMc at 11:04 AM on March 1, 2009 [2 favorites]
Family cloth?
I'm sorry, but even if I were a crunchy type, there's no damn way I'd be sharing my asscloth with the family. Everyone gets their own colour of cloth, and keep your stinking asshole away from my cloth.
That said, bidet toilet seats, ie. Japanese seats, are the only way to go. If and when I ever finish my master bathroom, it is *so* going to have a top-of-the-line toilet seat. My asshole deserves the best!
Until such time, I shall continue to caress it with fluffy old-growth tissues.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:35 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
I'm sorry, but even if I were a crunchy type, there's no damn way I'd be sharing my asscloth with the family. Everyone gets their own colour of cloth, and keep your stinking asshole away from my cloth.
That said, bidet toilet seats, ie. Japanese seats, are the only way to go. If and when I ever finish my master bathroom, it is *so* going to have a top-of-the-line toilet seat. My asshole deserves the best!
Until such time, I shall continue to caress it with fluffy old-growth tissues.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:35 AM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
I love wiping my ass with silk. It's like swearing in French.
posted by adamrice at 11:46 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by adamrice at 11:46 AM on March 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
I use 100% recycled, which costs me a bit more but doesn't feel any different from the non-recycled at my mother's house. I can well believe that soft paper is worse for the environment, but that doesn't answer the real question: cheap flight to Madrid or soft toilet paper? What's your (planetary) poison?
posted by athenian at 1:30 PM on March 1, 2009
posted by athenian at 1:30 PM on March 1, 2009
I remember seeing a show about methane production using shit in China a few years ago. Mostly they were talking about what a great way to make cheap gas for lighting this was. There was a scene where a little kid squats down and shits in a receptacle, and then his mom picks up a smooth stick off the ground, wipes his bum with it and throws it in the tank. The whole thing was so matter-of-fact it made me 1) laugh, and 2) feel stupid for every worrying about whether there was any paper.
posted by sneebler at 1:43 PM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by sneebler at 1:43 PM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
There's nothing like years in the dorms to get you used to the single-ply institutional stuff.
(I did cross paths on a couple occasions with girls carrying their own toilet paper down the hall to the bathroom. Well, at least I'm saving money.)
posted by oaf at 2:54 PM on March 1, 2009
(I did cross paths on a couple occasions with girls carrying their own toilet paper down the hall to the bathroom. Well, at least I'm saving money.)
posted by oaf at 2:54 PM on March 1, 2009
I just tear off sheets of e-ink from my Amazon Kindle. You?
posted by fourcheesemac at 3:15 PM on March 1, 2009
posted by fourcheesemac at 3:15 PM on March 1, 2009
I think pretty much 100% of the TP in Japan is recycled, and I can't say I ever noticed any problems. I use 7th generation and I can't say I see any relationship to sandpaper.
Having said that, I'd love to have one of the Japanese supertoilet seats. Just haven't had the money to buy one yet.
posted by sotonohito at 4:49 PM on March 1, 2009
Having said that, I'd love to have one of the Japanese supertoilet seats. Just haven't had the money to buy one yet.
posted by sotonohito at 4:49 PM on March 1, 2009
This is one place where you don't want to cut any corners.
posted by Rumple at 9:46 PM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Rumple at 9:46 PM on March 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
Surely there is somebody else in here who has been stricken with mudbutt in a university cafeteria bathroom, where the toilet paper may be recycled but resembles pieces of tissue paper split in half somehow and treated with teflon so as not to apply any friction to the anus
posted by tehloki at 12:16 AM on March 2, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by tehloki at 12:16 AM on March 2, 2009 [2 favorites]
"If you get shit on your hands do you not wash up with soap and water?"
Yes, but really that's a misleading question, isn't it? Better to ask, how often do you greet someone you just met by putting your hand in their ass? How often do you open doors by gripping the knob with your anus? Do you eat by holding the sandwich in your crack?
Recycled paper, not chemically bleached, is the only thing we buy in my house. I also don't use excessive amounts of clean water for dirty jobs. If I had the money to put in a greywater recycling system to flush my toilet with used water, I'd do it, but until then I feel I'm doing OK environment-wise.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:13 AM on March 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
Yes, but really that's a misleading question, isn't it? Better to ask, how often do you greet someone you just met by putting your hand in their ass? How often do you open doors by gripping the knob with your anus? Do you eat by holding the sandwich in your crack?
Recycled paper, not chemically bleached, is the only thing we buy in my house. I also don't use excessive amounts of clean water for dirty jobs. If I had the money to put in a greywater recycling system to flush my toilet with used water, I'd do it, but until then I feel I'm doing OK environment-wise.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:13 AM on March 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
Of all the things I miss about Canada, I miss PC Green TP.
posted by GuyZero at 11:00 AM on March 2, 2009
posted by GuyZero at 11:00 AM on March 2, 2009
Do you eat by holding the sandwich in your crack?
My beloved says she once saw an Indian guru or similar on tv who claimed to sip honey through his anus. Would that be close enough?
This is one place where you don't want to cut any corners.
Unless you live in the Twelve Colonies, one supposes. Have we ever seen colonial tp?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:39 AM on March 2, 2009
My beloved says she once saw an Indian guru or similar on tv who claimed to sip honey through his anus. Would that be close enough?
This is one place where you don't want to cut any corners.
Unless you live in the Twelve Colonies, one supposes. Have we ever seen colonial tp?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:39 AM on March 2, 2009
In Istanbul, in our hotel, there was a very simple arrangement: a knob next to the toilet sent water out a little hole in the back of the seat, producing a jet of water at the right place. Low-tech solution.
posted by Goofyy at 12:01 PM on March 2, 2009
posted by Goofyy at 12:01 PM on March 2, 2009
It attaches to the toilet's water supply
Yes, this. You don't need a whole separate piece of porcelain, you just need a hose. For slightly more money, you can get a metal plate that attaches between the seat the porcelain, has a retractable spout in the bowl and a little knob off to one side to on the water and work the spout. Compatible with most any toilet, no plumbing required.
posted by BinGregory at 11:23 PM on March 2, 2009
Yes, this. You don't need a whole separate piece of porcelain, you just need a hose. For slightly more money, you can get a metal plate that attaches between the seat the porcelain, has a retractable spout in the bowl and a little knob off to one side to on the water and work the spout. Compatible with most any toilet, no plumbing required.
posted by BinGregory at 11:23 PM on March 2, 2009
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posted by mazola at 12:05 AM on March 1, 2009 [4 favorites]