Would you use reusable toilet paper?
Here at Over60 we’re all for recycling, but there are some things that, if you ask us, shouldn’t be included under the “reduce, reuse, recycle” umbrella – and toilet paper is one of those things.
But, as BuzzFeed recently found out, that’s exactly what some people are doing, swapping two-ply for “family cloth”, a cloth wipe used once per bathroom visit, thrown in a hamper, then washed in the machine to be used all over again.
One woman told BuzzFeed her family of four has been using the family cloth method for almost a year (for number ones only) and said they’re never going back.
“In my mind, buying and using disposable toilet paper was literally flushing money down the toilet!” she explained, clarifying that they didn’t all use one single cloth but rather lots of smaller strips of cloth.
“If you’re wondering, ‘Why would you want to reuse something that you wipe your genitals with?’, I’d answer this question with my own question: ‘Do you throw away your underpants after each use?’”
And if you’re wondering how a family of four deals with a whole week’s worth of reusable toilet paper, the woman (who chose to remain anonymous) said it doesn’t make much of a dent in her usual laundry routine.
“Even a week’s worth of cloth doesn’t add much volume to the load of laundry, so we don’t need to do it more often than we did.”
And it seems it’s a growing trend.
"I use cotton cloth for number one," Instagram user zerowastevegetarian wrote. "I have black cotton cloth I use for my period. I use normal toilet paper for number two and for when I have company over."
However, while the method works for these women, BuzzFeed readers weren’t quite onboard with the idea.
“I read this entire article curled into my chair with a horrified look on my face,” one person commented. “SHE WASHES THESE ‘FAMILY CLOTHS’ WITH THE KITCHEN LINENS. At least have the courtesy to wash them by themselves with bleach, vinegar, and a sprinkle of plutonium.”
Another woman questioned if it was really eco-friendly, after all. “I wonder if anyone has actually done a life cycle analysis to see if this is actually helping the environment. The amount of hot water and cleanser you’d need to disinfect the butt cloths (getting faecal bacteria anywhere else is a recipe for a UTI) has to have some impact on the environment.”
Tell us in the comments below, could you see yourself ever using a “family cloth” instead of toilet paper?