Reusable Toilet Paper: Eco‑Madness or a Smart Way to Save Money?
More and more people turn to a more environmentally-friendly life style. Recycling garbage, giving up plastic bags or any kind of plastic packaging are almost habitual things today. Some of us go even a step further and replace standard toilet paper with… reusable one. It's sometimes called 'family cloth'. To be precise it's not paper – people use cloth squares or strips instead of disposable toilet paper.
Eco-friendly toilet
Using disposable cotton pads, diapers, kitchen towels or tissues does not stir much controversy. That is one of the reasons why we might find reusable toilet paper a bit disgusting. As you probably guess the issue has been a matter of a very heated debate.
Arguments ‘for’
It goes without saying that reusable toilet paper is more eco-friendly. It is estimated that an average adult person uses about 18 rolls of toilet paper per year. To satisfy the demand of the whole Europe for tissues, kitchen towels and toilet paper, every day approximately 270,000 trees are cut (a tree weighing 450 kilos is enough to manufacture about 800 rolls of toilet paper). These figures are impressive even if we neglect the fact that some of us are capable of using a roll of toilet paper within two days.
Moreover, reusable toilet cloths are massive money-saver and a great relief for those who were sick and tired of throwing away the cardboard rolls.
Arguments ‘against’
The opponents of this invention believe that it is really difficult to ensure appropriate hygienic standards. There are plenty of bacteria and other micro-organisms that dwell on it which can be also easily transmitted onto the bathroom environment (the necessity to wash hands becomes even more inescapable). What is more, there is the question of storing dirty toilet cloths. And, once the storage box is full, then comes the question of how to do the laundry. If you don’t do it properly, the microorganisms will spread onto the rest of your clothes. Finally, speaking of laundry, the need to use your washing machine more often definitely entails extra costs (water and electricity bills) and effort.
It’s all about the laundry
The reusable toilet paper is easily available online. Single sheets are in fact nothing but pieces of cotton, linen, flannel or muslin. One roll is enough for 3 – 5 years. Used cloths have to be stored in a separate container and they have to be washed in 60o C (you can run the rinse program first). You can augment your washing powder with an anti-bacterial agent which releases active oxygen eliminating micro-organisms (effective even at 40o C). After you wash it you just dry it and use it again. You can roll it or store in a box.
