While toilet paper use has not increased due to the coronavirus crisis, there are still panic buying, hoarding, empty store shelves and even reports of thefts from rest stops and restaurants while they were still open.
Manufacturers say they produce toilet paper as quickly as possible. However, U.S. toilet paper sales rose 213% in the week ending March 14 compared with the same period last year, according to the Nielsen Market Tracking Company.
In a recent YouTube video, an “old truck driver” took a roll of paper towels and cut it to the size of a toilet paper roll. (“I’ve been doing this for years,” he said.)
The Survival Dispatch channel has a video on “How to Make Toilet Paper in a Crisis.” The trick is to scrunch up the phone book pages until they’re nice and soft. (You remember the phone book. You probably have one next to your landline.)
Polar explorer Aaron Linsdow recently posted a video in which he explains how he made four rolls of toilet paper over the past three months. In Antarctica, Linsdow explains, large chunks of snow and ice must be used for “initial clearing.” (Damn. If only it were still winter here.)
Linsdow says all you need to stay away from the polar ice caps is soap, water, wet wipes and a few pieces of toilet paper every day.
You may also find survival websites offering reusable, washable “house rags” or homemade toilet paper recipes that involve boiling newspaper with grass and leaves until it forms a pulp, which you can then roll out and dry. and cut into thin strips.
(We recommend the Star Tribune, but obviously that doesn’t apply to a digital subscription. Thank goodness the print version isn’t dead yet.)
Store-bought toilet paper is designed to dissolve in water. Local sewer and plumbing experts say this is the only thing safe to throw down the toilet, other than urine and poop.
If you try to flush with paper towels or even Kleenex wipes, you risk clogging toilets, pipes, and even the city sewer system.
“You may end up with a backup,” said Elizabeth Weifel, who lobbies for environmental protection with the Greater Minnesota League of Cities.
”Tissues, phone books, newspapers, God forbid, socks can be a big problem,” said Adam Gordon, manager of the Metropolitan Council’s environmental services department, which manages sewer pipes and wastewater treatment plants in the Twin Cities.
Even wipes labeled “flushable” don’t break down like toilet paper and should be kept away from toilets because they can cause costly problems in sewer systems, Gordon said.
Due to concerns about people flushing, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recently released a statement reminding people that there are only three R’s (pee, poop and toilet paper) that can be safely throw it down the toilet.
The PCA even has a web page, www.pca.state.mn.us/wipes, dedicated to discussing the headaches that disposable wipes are causing for municipal sewer lines and wastewater treatment plants.
So what’s the answer if you’re out of toilet paper and have to resort to paper towels or, say, in the grocery aisle?
“These are things that could easily end up in the trash,” Gordon said. “It’s no different than cleaning up after having a baby. We throw away diapers every day without thinking.”
If you’re nervous about keeping a trash can full of dirty toilet paper alternatives in your bathroom, consider investing in the Odor Control Diaper Genie Pail, which conveniently seals your waste in a disposable plastic bag, suggests company owner Joe Whitters. Drain Busters, a drain cleaning company in Eagan.
Or use a bidet toilet seat or bidet attachment that sprays water instead of wiping. You can find it for just $25 at Home Depot. Whitters has even seen people install kitchen sink sprayers in toilets to create makeshift bidets.
Barry Kudrowitz, an assistant professor of design at the University of Minnesota, swears by the $200 shower toilet seat he uses at home, which lets you adjust the water temperature, heat the seat, and blow warm air to dry you off.
“It’s amazing. This dramatically reduces the amount of toilet paper we use,” said Kudrowicz, who writes about the history of toilet paper and its alternatives.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, bidets can reduce impacts on forests, and since the toilet paper manufacturing process uses less water than cleaning with toilet paper, using bidets can reduce impacts on forests.
Of course, Kudrowicz understands that many Americans find it weird to use anything other than toilet paper.
Research shows that the United States ranks first in the world in toilet paper consumption, with each person flushing nearly three rolls of toilet paper per week.
Bogna Haponiuk, a Polish civil engineer, recently created an online toilet paper calculator to try to reassure people that they have enough toilet paper and don’t need to hoard it, which he says may be because we We don’t eat enough fiber. .
“The American diet is notoriously high in sugar and fat and low in fiber. So if you want to cut down on TP, try changing your eating habits!”
Barry Kudrowitz, a toy designer, associate professor and director of product design at the University of Minnesota, found toilet paper so interesting that he wrote a history of the product online.
His research included data on back-to-front and front-to-back wiping, paper under or over the roll, and padding and folding.
1857-1999: Toilet paper era, including perforated rolls (1890), “shatterproof” paper (1930), double-ply paper (1942), scented rolls (1964).
Richard Chin is a reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He is a longtime Twin Cities reporter covering crime, courts, traffic, outdoor recreation and human interest stories.
Post time: May-31-2024