The Unseen Price of Paper and the Bidet Solution

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Ever wondered what your bathroom habits are costing you, both in dollars and environmental impact? As a mother of three and the eco-conscious owner of Life Essentials Refillery, I've crunched the numbers and I'm ready to shed light on a common household item that's quietly draining wallets and the planet: toilet paper. This episode isn't about guilt-tripping over your TP use, but about an eye-opening comparison and a solution that's gaining momentum worldwide—the bidet. We'll explore how this bathroom game-changer can help save hundreds of dollars and reduce paper waste, and I'll share my personal experience with making the switch.

We're all about engaging discussions and practical sustainability here, so join the conversation as we ponder the journey of bamboo toilet paper from far-off lands to our homes—is it really the eco-friendly choice it's made out to be? I'd love to hear from you about your steps towards a zero-waste bathroom. Whether you're team bidet or the idea still has you squirming, reach out at Life Essentials Refillery on all platforms. Let's navigate the less-talked-about side of zero waste together, and remember, embracing even the smallest sustainable practices can create a ripple effect in our quest for a greener future.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, lovely listeners, and welcome to Zero
Waste Imperfectly, the show thattalks about all things zero
waste with kids.
I'm your host, sheila.
I'm the owner of LifeEssentials Refillery and a mom
of three.
So, as you can imagine, in ourhouse we go through a lot of
toilet paper.
And I was just doing the mathon it.
On average toilet paper costs75 cents a roll and if we were
to calculate on average, we use141 rolls per person in the

(00:23):
United States.
So that would cost our familyof $5, $528.75 a year on toilet
paper.
And then I did some researchonline and the country that uses
the least amount of toiletpaper is Japan, and that is
because they rely heavily on theuse of bidets and a lot of
people they come in the storesand they're like bidet, ew,
yucky.
But once you've actually usedone and you've converted over,

(00:45):
you can't go back to just theregular way of using the
bathroom.
So it's a huge financialsavings to invest in a bidet.
So if you think on average inJapan the cost of toilet paper
I'm going by US prices, notJapanese prices Um, the the cost

(01:06):
there if we were to only use 49rolls of toilet paper per
person at the cost of 75 centseach is $183 for our family
versus the 528.75.
You can go online.
I know a lot of folks don'twant to go online, but you can
go online and you can buy abidet for around $40.
And it's really simple toinstall.
So you are saving a lot ofmoney and a lot of paper.
And I know the big thing rightnow is to switch over to bamboo
toilet paper versus the regulartoilet paper that's sold here in

(01:28):
the US.
But where do you think that thetoilet paper comes from?
Most of it is not produced inthe US, so it is produced in
countries that grow bamboo, andmost of that's going to be Asia
or, more specifically, china.
So that means your toilet paper, before it ever reaches your
house, has traveled maybeanywhere between five and seven
thousand miles.
So that's not really thatsustainable, if you think about

(01:49):
it, that it's been shipped thatfar to come to your home.
So is it more?
Maybe it makes more sense tobuy traditional toilet paper to
begin with versus the bambootoilet paper, and definitely
makes more sense to switch to abidet than using toilet paper
for all of your bathroom needs.
So what?
What are your thoughts?
Have you tried a bidet.
Has your family switched?
Are you cringing at the thoughtof having a bidet?

(02:10):
I would love to hear yourthoughts.
You can reach out to us on allplatforms at Life Essentials
Refillery.
Have a great day.