Alternatives to Toilet Paper

It is hard to believe that we have managed to go four months without buying toilet paper, and have just recently run out.  It was something that I discussed with Trevor at the onset of this project - what are we going to do when we run out of toilet paper?  Soft plastics aren't recyclable in Kamloops and toilet paper comes packaged in a plastic bag. Trevor agreed to using cloth wipes, as long as he didn't have to wash them.

The time has come to make the switch and to be honest I am a bit excited about the whole idea of ditching another disposable product.  For the past few years I have been buying toilet paper made from recycled content, which is better than cutting down trees to wipe my you-know-what with, but still requires a lot of resources in its production.  Read this link if you want to know more about how toilet paper is made.

I spent a lot of my early twenties travelling the world.  I somehow managed to settle in Bangkok for a few years teaching English, and while I was there, the only time I used toilet paper was when I was in a fancy restaurant or hotel that provided it.  Bathrooms had either a spray nozzle or bucket of water and some sort of scoop next to the toilet. I never got a lesson in how to wipe my bum, but I assume that the nozzle or scoop is held with the right hand and the left hand is used to wipe.

Many people in our Western society would be appalled at the the rinse method of using the toilet.  But that is a matter of perspective, illustrated by the following story.

Last year our family took a holiday in Thailand.  Elianna was just a baby and still in diapers (as an aside, we did bring cloth diapers with us and washed them daily by hand).  I remember the looks of disgust the Thai women would give me when I changed Eli's poppy diapers using a wet cloth wipe.  When I asked what I was doing wrong, the Thai woman replied "she is still dirty".

If the Thais thought that it was disgusting to wipe a baby's bum with a wet wipe, I wonder how appalled they would be to know that most Western people wipe their bums with a dry piece of paper?

I grew quite accustomed to the rinse method while living in Thailand.  Anyone who uses a bidet would likely agree that it is much cleaner to use a little water - it certainly helps on those occasions when it feels like you have gone through half a roll of toilet paper and are still not clean.

When Eli was born I bought a spray nozzle for our toilet to avoid the dunk method of rinsing poppy diapers, which has served us well.  (The nozzle attaches easily to any toilet and you don't have to be a plumber to hook it up, simply screw an attachment onto the water supply.)  A little spray and a wipe with the cloth and my bum is as clean as a Thai's, and my hands as clean as a Westerner's! Win-win-win.