and the cleanest solution for you and the Earth!
“every toilet, even in the retail stores, has a bidet hand-sprayer attached to the toilet”
How do you feel when you pick up your mail and have to riffle through a barrage of advertisements, flyers and direct mail envelopes that you long ago decided you never use and don’t want? As annoying as that is, most of us never consider putting a large printed note in our mailbox to say “NO FLYERS, NO JUNK MAIL – THANK YOU!” That simple message reduces all the paper clutter, the sorting into a recycle bin and most importantly, eventually sends a message that consumers will not support the waste of virgin Canadian forests. Admittedly, it was a postal carrier that finally told me this answer to annoying junk mail. It was that easy! You’ll be surprised at other destructive and wasteful habits that are this easy to change….and much better.
It’s true that we are learning and improving, as with consumers who now have their own carry-all bag for shopping, helping to reduce the plastic bag overflow in landfills that endanger our wildlife. We see it in those who choose copy and printer paper made from recycled products. It seems obvious that recycled paper for any product, including toilet paper, is the more responsible choice. Stats are showing, however, that the chief concern is ‘softness’. So that’s the focus here….the softest answer. You’re going to love it!
Early this year a Canadian documentary was aired on the subject of toilet paper, describing the vast quantities used by each Canadian every year. As shocking as it was to hear the figures and of the clearing of wide swatches of ancient virgin forests as a source of toilet paper, the ‘green eco’ label indicated by manufacturers was also disappointing in both the harvesting method and especially the replanting efforts.
It was explained that the eco-labels that make a consumer feel better in selecting a particular product may be doing no more than letting us feel environmentally responsible. The company may re-plant trees on land it has cleared but there is no guideline on what they are planting. No guideline and no one to verify the outcome. The original varied forestland of hardwood and softwood mix is not replaced. Trees planted to replace those ancient mixed forests are usually softwood because it grows faster than hardwood. Instead of nature’s variety, the forest is replaced with one tree species while diversity is lost for both woodland and wildlife that relied on it.
What is the alternative? How could our progressive North America society have missed something softer than the wonderfully soft toilet tissue from virgin hardwood forest?
Let’s consider that when you step out of the bathtub or the shower, would you dry off with toilet paper…. even for your bottom end – or reach for the towel and facecloth? If you get feces on your hand when changing the baby do you wipe it off with a tissue or do you wash your hand? Then let’s ask why we wipe our bottom with toilet paper instead of washing it clean with water ….. like they do in Europe and the other countries where every toilet, even in the retail stores, has a bidet hand-sprayer attached to the toilet. What is softer than water? No need for multiple wipes and no comparison for cleanliness.
Taking it one step further as a therapist, I have met people who cleared irritated bottoms that wouldn’t recover with prescription creams by merely changing their toilet tissue brand. We forget how often companies-for-profit turn to pesticides to ensure a ‘bumper crop’, tainting the source of the product with toxins and eliminating the variety of species within nature that support what is considered nuisance bugs. That’s another great reason to use water instead of paper to clean yourself.
It used to be a matter of space and cost. But today, don’t you need to buy a bidet the size of your toilet. The hand-sprayer version is gradually becoming available in North America, sometimes in a small portable container unit that sits by the toilet to provide warmed water. At this time, our North American water supply to the toilet is too strong a pressure to use with the hand-sprayers used in Europe that attach to the toilet’s incoming water.
Where can you check out these unparalleled designs for bathroom hygiene? Have a look at the incredible selection and varied prices that start in the $200 range, including the Biffy Bidet section that even has a portable ‘Travel Bidet’. Visit:
www.sanicare.com
For more information on paper, where conservation really is today and the latest on ‘green’ news, visit:
www.conservatree.org
