During the Corona crisis in particular, toilet paper became a notorious everyday companion.
You could do without it.
Munich - The Corona crisis made a very specific everyday product a coveted commodity last year: toilet paper.
For weeks it was so scarce in supermarkets and drugstores that some people spoke of “white gold” in jest.
Panic hamster purchases were primarily to blame for this shortage.
Although the situation has calmed down again, the question remains: So what can you do if you run out of toilet paper?
There are a multitude of alternatives that are worth a second look.
Wet wipes, kitchen roll and newspaper - not a suitable substitute for toilet paper
In addition to the corona crisis, the thought of the environment can also be an incentive to think about alternatives. Because toilet paper not only causes large amounts of rubbish, but also costs
valuable resources such as water and energy during production
, according to information from environmental protection
organizations
such as
Greenpeace
or the
Bund Naturschutz
. Much toilet paper is still not made from recycled paper, but from fresh fibers. To do this, trees have to be felled. So it's high time for a change of perspective.
When toilet paper ran out last year, many people in need turned to wet wipes, kitchen rolls and handkerchiefs or even newspaper.
But these have no place in the toilet, because they clog pipes, sewage treatment plants and sewage pumps, as an employee of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment told
Deutschlandfunk
.
At some point, the wastewater would then back up, even into the apartments.
In addition, some of these products are made from tear-resistant plastic fibers.
In contrast to toilet paper, these do not dissolve in the water.
So if you use these alternatives, they should definitely be disposed of in the trash.
Better water than paper - thanks to these ideas you save toilet paper
But there is also a better way of doing this: because other options completely circumvent this problem. For example, the so-called butt shower has been found in drugstores for some time. This consists of a bottle-like container that is filled with water before every visit to the toilet. Thanks to a jet, it is then used for cleaning. It doesn't need electricity or batteries.
You can also clean yourself well with a damp washcloth after using the toilet.
This was common in Germany long before toilet paper was introduced.
After use, the washcloth should be cleaned in the washing machine at 90 degrees.
If you don't like these options, you can just take a quick shower after the business.
Rinse off once and you are clean again, because water cleans much better than paper.
Toilet paper can also cause skin irritation.
In the long run: This is how you can leave out toilet paper completely
If you want to think a little more long-term and are willing to invest a little, you also have other options.
It is possible, for example, to install a bidet, a low seat washbasin, in the bathroom.
In Europe, this is particularly common in Italy, Portugal and France.
After using the toilet, you simply sit on the mini tub and clean yourself with water.
In Asia or North Africa, on the other hand, you often see hygiene showers, a kind of hose next to the toilet through which water flows.
The advantage here is that, unlike the bidet, the toilet does not even have to be left.
+
The bidet is located on the right next to the toilet.
© Maksym Yemelyanov / imago
You can also save toilet paper with the shower toilet, which combines the toilet with the advantages of a bidet. After using the toilet, buttocks and intimate showers are automatically cleaned. Modern versions even have an integrated hairdryer function. These devices and alternatives may take a bit of getting used to, but in the long run you save a lot of toilet paper, do something good for the environment and never have to worry about buying hamsters again.
(mam)
