Monthly Archives: December 2010

Why I Gave Up Toilet Paper

Japanese bidet toilets are popular in Taiwan. The control panel is on the right!

What would the modern bathroom be without toilet paper? This common household staple has fundamentally transformed our bathroom habits. Toilet paper not only satisfies our innate need for cleanliness, but it also pampers us at the same time. Perhaps that’s why this peculiar wiping habit has become so firmly ingrained in our culture. We can’t imagine life without it. Usually, of course, we take our toilet paper for granted. We hardly notice it until, eventually, it runs out.

Though it’s hard to imagine, people have lived without toilet paper for most of history. Prior to the 20th century, people improvised other solutions to their bathroom hygiene issues, which range from the obvious to the downright bizarre. Those who could afford finer toiletries often used wool and hemp as paper substitutes. Commoners, however, often resorted to whatever they had lying around: old rags, corn cobs, sponges, animal furs, and even their bare hands. Modern toilet paper was a hard-sell at first, since it was considered wasteful to use such elegant sheets of paper for the unclean act of defecation. Many Americans used newspapers and mail-order catalogs instead (1).

From an ecological perspective, toilet paper is extremely wasteful because it can’t be reused. Each new roll of paper requires trees, water, and electricity to produce. Chemicals are used to bleach brown paper to a pure, white color. The New York Times reports that Americans use 23.6 rolls of toilet paper per person per year. That’s an extravagant amount of energy and natural resources flushed down a porcelain bowl.

As wasteful as toilet paper is, it’s difficult to devise a sustainable alternative that is both hygienic and socially acceptable. One blog suggested using reusable cloth wipes in place of toilet paper. Instead of throwing the cloth away, you simply collect the wipes in a bag, then wash periodically. Others suggested using bare hands to cleanse yourself, then washing with plenty of soap and water afterwards. Both techniques certainly work, but I can’t imagine them being popular solutions in our Western culture. Who would volunteer for the dirty job of washing the cloth wipes? Could you shake hands the same way again?

The problem with either method is that once something becomes soiled, it is extremely unpleasant to wash. The solution, then, is to build a toilet that sprays water directly instead. These fixtures are known as bidet toilets, and they are popular in Continental Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. These cultures realize that spraying water is gentler and more hygienic than wiping with paper. Coincidentally, bidet toilets help conserve water, since bidets use less water than is used in paper production. Bidet toilets, then, provide a sustainable and hygienic alternative to toilet paper.

It’s unfortunate that bidet toilets aren’t popular in America. This is probably due to cultural attitudes and our unusual affection towards fluffy, white paper. However, it is possible to retrofit an existing toilet with an attachable bidet that hooks up to your shower or sink. Low-end models are very affordable, starting as low as $50; portable bidets start at just $20. Lastly, if the idea doesn’t bother you, you can always just shower after using the toilet. Bidets are worth investing in, since you’ll recoup your investment with money saved on toilet paper.

I’ve given up toilet paper for about a week now, and I don’t think I’ll go back. This experiment made me realize that, sometimes, the forces that hold us back from green living have nothing to do with convenience or comfort. At times, cultural attitudes make all the difference.

Is anything holding you back from living without toilet paper?

1 The Sears catalog was a favorite toilet paper substitute in America. See the Wikipedia article on anal cleansing and toilet paper.

Marketing Scams

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There's no such thing as eco-friendly disposable bottles. Get a reusable one instead.

Be a skeptic when it comes to environmentally-friendly products. Now that green living is going mainstream, more businesses are masquerading themselves as environmentalists in order to bring in big profits. These businesses lack a genuine commitment towards green living. For them, green living is just another rising fad they can exploit. Greenwashing is one name for a new form of marketing designed to deceive consumers into wasting money on products that sound environmentally-friendly. If you don’t want to get scammed, you need to educate yourself as a consumer.

I’ve encountered two forms of greenwashing. In the first category, a company blatantly lies about its environmental practices. For example, some vegetables sold in Walmart were labeled organic though in fact they were sprayed with pesticides (1). The second type of greenwashing occurs when a company actually does make some greener changes. The changes, however, are so minor so as to be inconsequential. Overall, the product is still extremely bad for the environment, but its advertising is not technically false.

Advertising for bottled water is a good example of the second form of deceptive advertising. Before we look at the advertising campaigns, let’s consider 4 reasons why bottled water is bad for the environment:

Bottled water is stored in plastic, which requires oil and energy to produce.
If the water bottle is not recycled, it will end up in a landfill.
Recycling a water bottle still wastes energy.
Bottled water must be hauled over long distances as freight, which wastes fuel.

Most of the problems created by bottled water stem from the fact that the water bottle is designed to be disposable. But the good news is that this inherent design flaw already has a simple, inexpensive solution: if you filter your own tap water from home and carry it in a reusable mug, you avoid the environmental problems associated with bottled water.

Some bottled water companies are trying to fix their negative image by using less plastic per bottle. Arrowhead, for example, has introduced the Eco-Shape Bottle as part of a green marketing campaign (2). Improved water bottles definitely helps reduce environmental impact, but no matter how you design a disposable plastic product, it’s still inherently wasteful. Reducing plastic doesn’t completely solve any of the four problems above; it only reduces impact instead of eliminating it altogether.

Consumers are now constantly being bombarded by wasteful products that have been given a green makeover. Instead of reusing cloth towels, we are buying disposable paper towels made with recycled paper. We are also buying fuel-efficient hybrid cars instead of walking or cycling. Even oil companies want to give their energy a green spin. Instead of telling us to reduce our wasteful energy consumption, they sell us energy with reduced carbon emissions. This is the tactic that BP pursued prior to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (3).

So how can you avoid being tricked by the marketer’s wiles? Here are a few rules that can help:

Don’t buy heavily advertised products
Don’t buy anything disposable
Don’t waste resources, no matter how “clean” those resources appear to be
In general, stick with old-fashioned solutions

This guideline isn’t flawless, but it can help you avoid being tricked most of the time.

The worst part about marketing scams is that they are usually very expensive. With a little practice, you can skillfully dodge marketing hype to save that other important green in your life: money.

Are marketing scams stopping you from going green?

1 Organic food from China currently can’t be trusted: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_6357.cfm

2 http://www.arrowheadwater.com/DoingOurPart/EcoShapeBottle.aspx and http://www.arrowheadwater.com/KnowH2O/Be-Green.aspx .

3 http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1209454,00.html

Minimalist Fitness

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You can get a good workout anywhere in the world, at any time of day, at absolutely no cost. The secret is to practice minimalist fitness. You don’t need fancy fitness equipment, expensive gym membership, or even much open space. All you need is yourself.

Minimalist fitness is working out with absolutely no equipment. This spartan fitness program lets you:

Workout anywhere in the world, at any time
Save $360+ each year (it’s free)
Avoid wasting electricity
Save space and declutter your house
Avoid producing noise

Like the rest of society, I once thought that in order to get a decent workout, I needed to spend thousands of dollars on specialized equipment. My inner voice kept prodding me to buy more stuff. My natural reflex was to reach for my wallet before I reached for my sneakers. Want to run? Buy a treadmill. Climb stairs? Buy a stair machine, never mind the real stairs you already have. Push-ups? You can’t do those without a push-up bar. Professional athletes might need expensive stationary bicycles, ellipticals, rowing machines, and weight benches, but I certainly didn’t.

Now that I’m a Greenimalist, I practice these workout routines instead:

Walking
Running
Push-ups
Crunches
Stretches

When I’m indoors, and there’s limited space, I just run in place.

From an energy standpoint, fitness equipment makes no sense. Modern society is overweight largely because we eat processed food and drive cars, activities which waste oil. When we eventually burn off that extra fat by exercising, we power treadmills, which waste even more energy. The average treadmill uses 1500W of power, the same amount of power that a hairdryer or toaster oven uses. Casual jogging on a treadmill might waste as much energy as leaving a widescreen TV turned on for 5 hours. Over the course of a year, a treadmill can increase your energy bill by over $200 (1).

There is also the direct cost of purchasing the equipment itself. A high-quality machine can easily cost a thousand dollars. Even if you’re sharing equipment at a gym, $30 a month membership translates to $360 each year.

Most importantly, a minimalist workout will encourage you to exercise more often. People often backslide from exercise programs because getting to the gym takes too much effort. However, unlike a gym, a minimalist fitness program can work anywhere, at any time of the day. When outdoors, you can run on a trail, and when at home or at the office, you can pace indoors or do stretches. It’s totally flexible.

Minimalist fitness is fun because, like other forms of minimalism, it’s all about distilling down to the very basics. And when it comes to exercise, you really are all that you need.

Does minimalist exercise fit your life?

TreeHugger says that treadmills use 1500W of power. Michael Bluejay reports the average widescreen television uses somewhere between 260-340W, so I assume it uses around 300W. An hour of jogging uses 1500W * 1hr = 1500W*hr of energy. A widescreen TV left on for 5hrs uses 300W*5hr = 1500W*hr of energy.