It’s a good bidet to stop buying toilet paper

Conscious-living
Written By Heidi Walter

As I am writing this, it is the summer of 2020. Meaning we are still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you lived through (or are still in) the pandemic then you will know the toilet paper shortage that ensued during this time.

For some reason going on lock down made everyone decide they needed to run out and purchase as much toilet paper as humanly possible. Now, don’t get me wrong toilet paper is important, but there are actually other, more environmentally conscious methods of getting clean.

 

Enter the bidet. I am from the United States so bidets aren’t too common here. However, if you happen to be reading this and are from a nation where bidets are more commonplace this idea is probably not new. My family and I invested in a bidet during the pandemic. Honestly invested is a strong word, you can get ones that attach to your current toilet that are very reasonably priced. We primarily did this for environmental reasons but the toilet paper crisis definitely helped push the decision making. Here are some quick facts on TP and the environmental impact it has.

To start with, one of roll of toilet paper requires 1.5 pounds of wood and 37 gallons of water. Although there are some companies that use recycled paper to make part or all of their roll, most large toilet paper companies (Charmin’, Cottenelle, Angel Soft, and Scott) use primarily fresh cut trees. That means the entire 18 pounds of wood needed to make the 12 pack of TP you are purchasing has come from ancient long standing trees and adding to the deforestation epidemic that plagues our planet. Most of these freshly cut trees come from the Canadian boreal forest with is the largest intact forest in the world. This fact unfortunately, won’t ring true for long if companies continue to harvest virgin wood from these areas. Every year over a million acres of Canadian forest is cut down. This results in about 26 million metric tons of carbon being released into the atmosphere.

 

Long story short, toilet paper:

·      Contributes to the deforestation of ancient forests that play crucial roles in the local ecosystems and global climate crisis

·      Uses millions of gallons of water to manufacture

·      Results in the release of millions of metric tons of carbon

 

Needless to say, it is vital we find different more environmentally conscious ways of getting clean after a bathroom break. The bidet provides that and then some. Not only does it arguably get you cleaner than standard toilet paper but it results in zero deforestation. Additionally, a bidet only uses approximately 1/8 of a gallon of water per use (compare that to the 37 needed for one roll of traditional TP). You may still want to have some traditional TP around for guests or skeptical family but having a bidet will significantly reduce the amount of toilet paper you purchase. Less TP purchased will lead to a reduced demand and in turn (fingers crossed) eventually reduce toilet paper production.

Currently, the United States is the world’s largest consumer of toilet paper. In fact, Americans use on average 50 pounds of toilet paper per person a year. That is roughly 37.5 pounds of wood and 925 gallons of water per person per year. This is a dangerous road we are traveling and if continued the results will be irreversible. Bidets come at affordable prices and are easy to install to your common household toilet. I won’t lie; there is a learning curve to using them (more to come on that in the future). But the switch is one I have been able to get behind (pun intended) full heartily.

The bidet I have.

Sustainable TP company

 
Heidi Walter https://www.mindfullybalanced.org
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