I am pretty sure everyone has seen or heard news articles and reports about the Coronavirus or COVID-19. There are frequent mentions of how it has a somewhat lengthy quarantine period and apparently that has led to a run on people stocking up on toilet paper. Cleaning supplies, I can understand purchasing but toilet paper?
I had to make a run to the grocery store this week and on my list was toilet paper. We were about out so it was part of my shopping list. Imagine my surprise when this was what the toilet paper section looked like: picked over, empty sections, and fortunately, still some options left for those of us looking for toilet paper for our regular use. At the time of my shopping, the nearest people identified with the coronavirus were over 200 miles away. Yet, here we are, seeing the impact of panic buying. We have two grocery stores in this town and a friend of mine said the other store’s TP section was just as sparse. So my question for you is how often do you use toilet paper? Even if you were forced to stay quarantined at home for 2-3 weeks, would you really need more than maybe one extra pack of the soft stuff to tide you over?
I did a little searching to see what the average person should defecate and a number of articles said anywhere from three times a day to a few times per week is considered “normal.” It varies per person and each person’s “normal” can be somewhat different. However, would that justify resorting to violence when commandeering all of the toilet paper at your local store like these women did in Australia? It was kind of wild where a mother-daughter duo had a cart filled with toilet paper and the third woman kept saying she wanted just one pack.
It got me to thinking, however, about what alternatives there are for toilet paper. A man named John Gayetty is credited with introducing the first toilet paper commercially available in 1857 but others quickly cottoned on to the concept and it morphed into the rolls of thin perforated sheets that can have fragrance or be infused with aloe that we know today.
Before toilet paper, though, we had to use something and according to toiletpaperhistory.net, it varied depending on where you lived. Apparently, it could be anything from leaves to moss, corn cobs, fruit skins, seashells, snow, and water, to name a few. The site notes that Romans were the cleanest, using sponges on sticks that were soaked in salt water. Historically, people have also used their hands which seems rather unsanitary if you don’t have adequate soap and water available. I also have read somewhere that when catalogs came out, they were frequently found in the outhouses.
So, if you find yourself in dire need of toilet paper, there are plenty of unconventional options out there. I even saw an advertisement online for reusable toilet paper, also known as family cloth, that sounds like a better alternative than using one’s hand. One Australian woman featured online made a business out of creating family cloth while you can even find it on Amazon. The concept seems pretty straight forward and while there might be an initial “ick” factor when it comes to washing the used cloth, there is certainly a lot to be said for how you would not run out so long as you keep up with the washing.
Another reusable option would be to install a bidet where you essentially wipe once in the toilet to remove solid waste then transfer to the bidet and rinse your undercarriage clean. One of my friends installed a bidet in their home and her husband enthusiastically told me it was such a change in how clean you feel after taking care of business. He was a strong believer in the power of the bidet.
So if the panic buying has left you in the toilet paper lurch, think outside the box. You might find some alternative options that become a permanent part of your living green lifestyle!
Going Green In Texas 