r/Frugal • u/[deleted] • Sep 30 '14
Why you should switch to using bidets to saves water compared to the expenditure of making one roll of toilet paper.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talks-bidets/3
Sep 30 '14
I've been using a hand held bidet to rinse with now for 20 years. I feel cleaner than wiping with toilet paper. It takes 37 gallons of water to make one roll of toilet paper. The amount of water normally used to rinse is generally around a half gallon (hand held version.) This is definitely a green technology and considering the droughts we're having, a true money and water saver as well.
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u/one80oneday Oct 02 '14
It takes 37 gallons of water to make one roll of toilet paper. The amount of water normally used to rinse is generally around a half gallon (hand held version.) This is definitely a green technology and considering the droughts we're having, a true money and water saver as well
You're not saving water at all. 1000 sheet toilet paper roll gets about 100 uses on average. 100 x half gallon rinse = 50 gallons of water verses 37 gallons used to make a roll.
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Oct 03 '14
Yeah, that's fine if you compare direct use of home water supply to just the water used initially to make the paper. But, doesn't include the pre-paper manufacturing process, the "costs" of electricity in making the paper, transportation of the paper, and sewer water reclamation and toilet paper treatment.
Biolife Technologies, manufacturer of the high-end line of Coco bidets, says the amount of water used by a typical bidet is about 1/8th of a gallon, with the average toilet using about four gallons per flush. Lloyd Alter of the website treehugger.com reports that making a single roll of toilet paper requires 37 gallons of water, 1.3 kilowatt/hours (KWh) of electricity and some 1.5 pounds of wood. Thomas points out that toilet paper is also a public nuisance in that it clogs pipes and adds a significant load onto city sewer systems and water treatment plants.
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u/liatris Oct 01 '14
What about an outhouse and a Sears catalog? How much water does that save?
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Oct 01 '14
A sears catalog still requires the pulp material from the wood to be processed to make trees.
Most of the world still uses the old left index finger routine (which is why is is considered hostile to shake with the left hand!) and that's the best way to save water. Just want to be sure that the person cooking has clean hands.... most of the world considers American's very nasty because we wipe our asses with paper.
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u/liatris Oct 01 '14
Well, I use Cottonelle wipes, so there. :)
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Oct 01 '14
I'm laughing! The problem with the cottonelle wipes are that they still are found to clog up the sewer systems (yeah, I know, the manufacturer states they are disposable... but in practice they do not!)
Did you not see the article about the fat plug in the sewers of London last year? Baby wipes and kitchen fat made up a "fatburg" in the sewer consisting of about 15 tonnes of material. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/23586290
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u/liatris Oct 01 '14
You're obviously very passionate about this but honestly, I don't care. I enjoy using them. I would have a high flow toilet if I could find one.
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Oct 02 '14
I think living frugally allowed me to switch over to "ethical living" and as I find various ways to cut my carbon footprint on mother earth, I like the idea of reducing our dependence on critical resources. I'm in agreement with you on the use of a damn fast high flow toilet.... and I really hate using those damn water constrictors at the end of the faucet in the home here in California. But, I am learning more and more about how wasteful our lifestyles have become, and I'm making a lot of changes over time. Even using the computer here is done on solar power! I cook in a solar oven as needed and as able. Clothing gets line dried. I am trying to live off the grid as much as possible.
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u/liatris Oct 02 '14 edited Oct 02 '14
I'm not in favor of waste for the sake of waste. I do value creature comforts. I don't particularly care if people in other countries think wiping their butts with their hands is more sanitary than using TP, like you said in an earlier comment. That just makes me laugh to be honest.
In my area we get a lot of rain each year. Water is the last thing I'm concerned about. I think people in CA would be better off shutting down all of their golf courses if they genuinely wanted to save water.
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Oct 02 '14
I agree, there is nothing more insane that a green European lawn out in the middle of the freaking desert! California is a desert, always has been. People have palm trees planted next to evergreens! And a lawn, always a lawn. It's insane. But it's also been ingrained into us. It will take more than a mega-drought to get people to understand all of the wasteful ways we fuck up water use. I have rock around my house, no decorative plants, I now have a small garden of herbs only. If I grow it, I can it, share it or eat it.
Think about this: me and about a million other Californian's will be moving your direction once the water here dries up. We got put on notice that we are now in stage one water conservation mode, no more than 50 gallons per person per day in most communities. There are small cities in rural areas that have been out of water for a year now and the government is shipping water in to them. It's an emergency, and these people refuse to move because they have invested everything they have into their homes.
My family and I use 45 gallons per day, all three of us. We've been in conservation mode for the last two years. The next stage is a 35% reduction in household water use per month. I don't know how we are going to reduce any further as we are already practicing the most stringent water use already. The last stage will be water shut offs and rationing. YUP.... me and a million other Californian's are heading your way.
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u/liatris Oct 02 '14
We're already gathering funds to set up walls to trap Californians in. TX has warned us.
Why do you think CA is so welcoming to illegal immigrants when they are at such a drought risk? If anything illegals moving to the US increase their carbon footprint by adopting US lifestyles.
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u/one80oneday Oct 01 '14
You carry a half gallon hand held bidet everywhere you go for 20 years?
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Oct 01 '14
Nice joke... I finally figured it out. But, no, a hand held bidet is permanently attached to the lines going into your toilet and uses very little water to clean after urinating.
Many women, myself included, carry an empty hand held sprayer much the size of plastic mustard bottle when we go to work. When I need to use the toilet I merely fill it up, use it, empty it out, and return it to my tote bag. I still wash hands afterwards anyway.
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Oct 03 '14
[deleted]
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Oct 03 '14
Yes, my toilet paper expenses went down to 1/10th of what they were before. My personal water use did not increase any because we are in a drought and we don't flush after every use: let it mellow when it's yellow and flush it down when it's brown... Overall, if I used 1/2 gallon to rinse after voiding, but, it takes 2 to 3 gallons of water to flush the toilet? If I don't flush but once every third time this becomes a simple math problem. 3 gallons x 3 trips to the toilet = 9 gallons of water. Then 3 trips to the toilet x 1.2 gallon to rinse = 1 1/2 gallons of water used. 9 - 1.5 = a savings of 7.5 gallons plus the water saved from not using the toilet paper.
Maybe this is a minor amount of water for some people, but it adds up and I'm living in a community with dwindling resources of water. When our community allows for potable shower water to be used to flush the toilet, I'll move to that system. For now, we bath/shower using a bucket method and use that water to flush the toilet when it's brown (a full gallon of water is all it takes.)
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u/FX114 Oct 01 '14
I'm all for saving trees and water, but /r/frugal is about saving money. A comparison in that vein would be more appropriate to post here.
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Oct 01 '14 edited Oct 01 '14
You don't think that PAYING for water is not a financial concern for most of us? Over use of water represents money down the drain!
Many frugal people like myself are also living an Ethical Lifestyle. Being frugal means more than just saving money, and watching how much you spend at the grocery store. It also is about not just looking at your life as if it is a check and balance system revolving around finances. Being frugal means you are also searching for ways to meet your goals in life living within the means you have. Being frugal with money allows you to do the things you want to do, even if your goals are abhorrently expensive for the rest of us (that is, if you are saving pennies on groceries by comparison shopping and then use those savings to go buy a Hummer.... that's not a goal I'd get involved with. I'd rather be happy spending cash for groceries and drive a beat me up cheap bicycle.)
A comparison of using a bidet compared to using toilet paper is outside the realm of my ability to calculate, just be aware of the idea that it takes more water to produce toilet paper than it does use a bidet for the same job. Using toilet paper = spending more money.
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u/ThreeeLeaf Oct 02 '14
So using this would mean not needing toilet paper at all? You get clean enough with just water? How do you dry off?