In the “TP Scare of 2020,” I think it’s a great opportunity for Americans (in particular) to examine their default expectations about the availability of resources … and how much of those resources they currently use without thought or consideration.
I’d heard, a good decade or more ago, that hands down, American women use vastly more TP than is used by women in other countries, so for myself, I’ve had more awareness each time I grab the roll of TP.
Even though, personally, I’m stocked, I still think this is a most-excellent time for my fellow country(wo)men to LOOK AT OUR SMALL DAILY ACTIONS, such as our TP use.
Talk to your kids. Talk to yourself. Talk with your friends. Discuss: How much do you really need per wipe?
Can you reduce your usage by 20% per wipe? 40%? Some of you, most particularly women, I’m sure, are easily — EASILY — using 50-60% more TP per wipe than you need. What are your solutions?
Can you get a simple toilet add-on bidet (on Amazon for about $30)?
Can you pee only when you need to, and for that matter, drink less water! (Yes, I know this is a controversial statement, though I have every confidence that this drink water-drink water-drink water all day long myth will eventually be busted… by science.)
Can you add some micellar water to your TP to increase its effectiveness?
Can you learn how to fold your TP rather than bunch it. Folding produces “more yield” per square than if it’s just grabbed and bunched. Seriously: sit down with your family and talk about this. Practice folding. If you have kids at home, maybe have them do the math over the next weeks and months on how much TP is used by the family and see if you can use less, month over month for a few months.
To me, this issue about “TP Scare of 2020,” is not really about TP, per se; rather, it’s about a gnawing realization, a growing understanding, Americans (and others in highly industrialized societies) are having about our wanton, excessive use of resources amidst a quickly shifting reality that is giving us all the clues in the world (if we listen) that supply chains and product availability (or our ability and financial wealth to purchase them) are diminishing.
It may be that you never want for TP again and this incidence is but a blip of a distant memory years hence.
Or it could be the dawning of a new understanding of a shifting landscape for the world we now occupy.
Me, I’m going with the latter perspective as a precautionary measure, and if it turns out I’m wrong, at least I will have been prepared and my environmental impact will be less.
What about you? Where are seeing daily opportunities to save, to shave, to adjust your behaviors to be more resource resilient?
The US, apparently, leads the world in TP consumption.
