Alternatives to Toilet Paper

[zeno]

I've been trying to devise alternatives to toilet paper for a long time now. Of the techniques I've experimented with: using my hand (as they do in India and other countries), using a re-usable handkerchief, using water or a bidet, using leaves and grasses like (I'm assuming) Native Americans did and lastly re-usable wipes that are washed regularly.

Out of all of these, re-usable wipes may be the most appealing for the average person because of the cleanliness, comfort and lack of waste. Here is the article that inspired the use of re-usable wipes. When I'm not at home I generally use my hand and be sure to wash my hands.

The fact that toilet paper gets broken down and put back into the water system; toilet paper is wasteful; and toilet paper is always made with bleach and recycled papers are generally made with BPA caused my concern.

I keep a stack of wipes on my toilet and when I use them, I soak them in a water and natural anti-bacterial solution until I need to wash a load.

[raw-al]

Thanks Zeno for the thread.

My GF said "Oh God here we go again".

You can take it a step further and do as Robert Jenkins "Humanure" fame
http://humanurehandbook.com/
and eliminate (sorry) the problems associated with the fragile sewage / water system by using waterless compost toilets.

You can buy beautiful factory made models complete with low wattage exhaust fans, augmenting heaters to speed up decomposition and basically once or twice a year emptying or it can be as basic as a bucket with a seat on it.

Here are some models to choose from, ranging from waterless to 1/2 cup per flush.
I researched this for awhile and this was the best systems I could find. There are lots of others.

http://www.envirolet.ca/enmod.html

I believe that the future holds this for all of us as the destruction of city water systems can not go on forever.

As a side benfit you end up with a small quantity of mature compost at the end of the cycle.

[raw-al]

My GF takes old shirts and bed sheets now and makes them into snot rags for the house.

She simply runs her sewing serger, which simultaneously cuts out the cloth and then runs thread around the perimeter to keep them from fraying.

They are far superior to TP anyways as the soft and since we only use cotton they are as natural as you can get nowadays.

[sabertooth]

We started using cotton reusable baby wipes in our household,along with clot diapers for the children. The cloth wipes were so effective on the kids that me and the misses have been using them as well. You just have to moisten it a bit and throw it in the diaper wash when finished. Because I only go #2 about every other day its not much more laundry. I had not bought TP for too years. I now hate having to use it when I am out in public.

The wife also has been using cloth pads, and swears they are so much more comfortable and less trouble than disposables.

[van]

use a quart water bottle with smaller opening, filled with warm water.  Hold with one hand and let drain out while the other hand is guiding the water over anus. The last half of the bottle really is needed to really rinse well...   Haven't used toilet paper since I first went to India in 77.  I keep a small towel near toilet to dry with.  makes using toilet paper seem like your only pretending to clean yourself. 

[KD]

use a quart water bottle with smaller opening, filled with warm water.  Hold with one hand and let drain out while the other hand is guiding the water over anus. The last half of the bottle really is needed to really rinse well...   Haven't used toilet paper since I first went to India in 77.  I keep a small towel near toilet to dry with.  makes using toilet paper seem like your only pretending to clean yourself. 

I was going to suggest a bidet as both environmentally sound and for any other concerns. Never thought of such a simple solution.

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For me, its best when I have one single large well formed movement every morning, Its usually not in need of much anyway and I just hop in the morning shower (preferably cold of course). Sometimes this isn't the case and I'm going more than once or later in the day, odds are I'm not going to carry wipes or a bottle into other stalls.

I would never stress about this issue as working in other environments etc...as no other solution is going to be available all the time. same with skipping on soaps etc...If I lived in a cabin with no other people I wouldn't use these things. I find when I tried to only use my shower (which was filtered) I would try to avoid showering elsewhere which became a problem. Hemming and hawing about taking a shower with a beautiful woman you know you are a little off.

Although its generally best to always do the best you can in every situation, to some degree unless you can always ensure a pure situation devoid of all environmental stuff, you probably won't notice much of a difference. Maybe this issue has more consquences than we know. I would tend to think good posture (squat) and intakeing less oral BPA is probably better for long term health than what can be absorbed there in BPA.  but yeah TP seems to be in the least sort of ineffective in times when its needed the most - for me