The Observation Deck

Forget the economy, rumors of war, educational and financial crises. Here's a new crisis that seems to have caught us with our pants down.

As the columnist who brought you "Over The Top And Down The Wall" some time ago in the Lakewood Observer about the age- old controversy as to how one should display their toilet paper, it has come to my attention that, of late, there have been several articles now reporting that the use of soft toilet paper, made from non-recycled wood, might not be the most environmentally constructive idea.

It seems that fresh trees are needed for establishing that special softness in paper that some people love to experience.

What, therefore say you?

Is it time to return to corncobs and catalogues, as in the old outhouse days?

Or perhaps, to those ubiquitous brown butcher-paper wrappers?

Since the ethanol industry seems to be presently having a rough time, perhaps all of those corncobs could have a new life once again...

Now this should be a controversy that we can all sit down and discuss...

Jim------------ban this guy from the Deck!!!!!!!

Ouch Stan.....

...and from such a friend as you....

Actually, and this is the honest truth,

I once actually wrote a musical composition on toilet paper,

The details of which, I will mercifilly leave unwritten.

Some things are best left to the imagination.

(Well, some people read books, you know... )

yes it is too soft

The soft comes at a big price. Millions of trees need to be harvested. Although soft toilet paper can be made at the same cost of recycled material, it is the fiber taken from live trees that help give it that soft feel. So having soft toilet paper means more trees get cut down.

My understanding is that almost all paper made from wood is made from wood that is grown as crops. I.e., the tree is grown, harvested, and replaced, grown, harvested ...

So if there was no market for wood pulp for paper, those acres would just be planted with another crop. The implication that if we stopped using paper made from virgin wood, the forests would remain, undisturbed, is not accurate. Even premium hardwoods, such as teak, are now plantation grown, although some from the teak forests gets into the supply, because of the value of the lumber.

Gary Rice wrote:Is it time to return to corncobs and catalogues, as in the old outhouse days?

Please no corn cobs and sears catalogues...lol.

Will, the problem is not just the fact that we are using too many trees (which I would still say we are despite you being right that people would keep on being destructive in other ways), but also that we throw away so much and by not buying recycled products, you fail to support the market for products made with recycled materials, which then encourages people to throw things out rather than recycle them.

Will Brown wrote:My understanding is that almost all paper made from wood is made from wood that is grown as crops. I.e., the tree is grown, harvested, and replaced, grown, harvested ...

So if there was no market for wood pulp for paper, those acres would just be planted with another crop. The implication that if we stopped using paper made from virgin wood, the forests would remain, undisturbed, is not accurate. Even premium hardwoods, such as teak, are now plantation grown, although some from the teak forests gets into the supply, because of the value of the lumber.

How long does it take for a tree to grow before it is ready to be harvested?

How often do we use soft toilet paper?

Personally I switched to Scott years ago when we had a septic tank and I found out that Scott is biodegradable. Also I was tired of changing the roll everytime it ran out because, obviously, it was too difficult for anyone else to do.

In addition, even though initial outlay for a pack is more, I found out that each roll lasted twice as long which was a huge cost saving for someone who was raising three kids on her own.

This is probably WAY too much information for anyone, but...

point of fact...

In many parts of the world, simply splashing one's self with water is deemed to be sufficient.

Add to that the fact that in a great many parts of the world, a latrine is simply two porcelain or metal footpads straddling a hole.

Although, chances are, you won't find that information in your colorful travel brochures...

We should all be thankful for just having toilet paper soft or not. It wasn't that long ago all we had was a corn cod and a Sears catalog to wipe with. Some unlucky people were said to used a mussel shell and/or even a sharp rock....ouch!

Be thankful we do not live in 710 Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet_paper

The corn cob was for sanitation. The Sears catalogue was for reading. In my rural travels, the Sears catalogue was on glossy paper and didn't do a good job of wiping, or so I was told.

Yes the corn cob was for sanitation. But I am sure they used the sears catalog for wiping as well, though like you said when sears changed to color glossy print in the early 1900's, using the catalog for sanitation was not as satisfactory.