Toilet Paper is something we use every day but not enough thought goes into
it. Some people just buy whatever is on sale or what feels soft. Some of us are concerned about recycling things and we use
recycled toilet paper. Others of us, want organic tissue but can't seem to find it on the market. (Some people reuse their wipes, and I included a link for that. It is not what you think and yes it would take some getting use to for most of us.) What is the skinny on
toilet paper after all?
I would like to start by saying that any product that has
cotton in it may also have glyphosate (RoundUp) or Bacillus thuringensis in it, if not organic. Much of the cotton on the market is from RoundUp Ready or BT cotton. This includes your toilet paper if it contains cotton. Some toilet papers do have cotton
in them. Many do not have cotton in them and are made from trees or recycled paper.
Consider that our forests both natural forests and our monocrop forests have insecticides and herbicides used on them. Additionally, when there are fires, horrendous chemicals are used to put the fires out. All of this can get into our toilet paper. Most of us know of the issue of herbicides and pesticides in tampons, sanitary napkins, diapers and clothing. We have complained and organic alternatives were created. Why have we not clamored for organic toilet paper?
Hemp paper is a choice. It can be grown organic, and I have read it can be processed without chemicals and be rather soft. According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture one acre of hemp can produce 4 times more paper than one acre of trees. There is hemp TP on the market. What about organic hemp TP?
What about recycled toilet paper? Many of us use it. Toilet paper uses more
than 8 million tons of trees to make the
toilet paper each year in the United States. All toilet paper is usually
bleached during the process. Both the TP made from fresh, new trees or from
recycled paper contains chlorine unless you purchase TP that goes through a
non-chlorine process. Additionally recycled toilet paper has Bisphenol
A (BPA) and or Bisphenol S (BPS) in it. It appears to be coming from thermal paper
which is coated with BPA(S). Thermal paper reduces fading and is found in business
receipts, some newspapers (ink), magazines, flyers etc. When these various
papers get recycled, the BPA(S) can get recycled along with it. When it gets
into your toilet paper, this means you are wiping yourself with paper that has
an endocrine disrupter in it. You are rubbing it on your sensitive skin
multiple times per day.
So what is a person to do? Well there are bidets. They are not used so much in our country but becoming more popular. This is understandable since toilet paper is so toxic. I have seen them for sale at Home Depot. There are attachments you can buy for your toilet to turn it into a bidet. People seem to like this one on Amazon.
Using reusable cloth toilet paper is another alternative. Yes, you read correctly. Before you get entirely creeped out, I suggest you read this article. I found it quite interesting.
By the way, some companies selling toilet paper such as
Paseo toilet paper are being boycotted as they are cutting down forests that
are needed for some of the last remaining tigers, elephants and other
endangered species. (There is so much more to know about toilet paper than just picking it up off the shelf.)
Please do let me know if you find organic toilet paper. Perhaps it is out there.
