How did people wipe their butts before toilet paper?

I have been thinking about what I can do about the excessive toilet paper use in my house. With 6 kids and my nephew here 5 days a week, we go through at least a roll every other day. One of my girls-who will remain nameless-believes that her butt is never clean enough and therefore uses half a roll wiping herself. I finally told her to go get a washcloth and wash her butt after she pooped. That is working for now.

The bigger problem is the actual waste of resources and money. I am convinced that toilet paper is bad for the septic system, our bodies and the planet. So I did a little digging...

An obvious drawback to toilet paper is an issue that I am passionate about in regards to disposable diapers and it never occurred to me that it pertained to toilet paper, derrrrrrrrrr. DIOXIN!!!!!!!!! Dioxins cause cancer, learning disorders, decreased immune response, diabetes and all sorts of other nasty problems in the environment.

Sometimes I am so dingy I swear.

As I was searching online for banana leaves or something equally "safe" to wipe our butts on I learned that 424,000 trees would be spared by replacing a 500-sheet roll of virgin fiber toilet paper with recycled toilet paper.


When shopping for earth friendly toilet paper look for statements such as "unbleached", "processed chlorine-free" or "totally chlorine free" otherwise they might slip some dioxin in on the down low.

This is all great and informative but I want to know what alternatives we have to toilet paper. Seriously, how gross is it to keep stacks of rags in the bathroom and just throw them in the diaper pail after using them? I could handle it. The kids could get used to it. Chuck would grump but he'd come around. What would guests think? Do I care? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....

I am going to do a little experiment. When I switched my family from paper towels and napkins to cloth, I just said we ran out and use a rag. They are now so used to rags as napkins and paper towels that no one has asked in months when I am going to purchase some paper ones. I wonder if I can pull the same trick with toilet paper.

I am going to try, stay tuned for an update.

My search for the perfect period panties

Like the majority of American women I used disposable pads and tampons for most of my life. Melissa made it her mission to convert me to cloth. I was skeptical. She sent me half dozen home made cloth mama pads. They are made of bamboo velour and backed by PUL. They have wings and are secured to my panties by a snap.

The next time Aunt Flo came around I was anxious to try them out. The first day I felt strange, like I was flowing and nothing was catching it. I did notice that my flow was considerable less then with disposables but I still wasn’t convinced that I could handle washing and reusing feminine hygene products. Luckjily I have a baby, so I can throw them in the wash with the diapers every other day.

I stuck with it though because I really wanted an alternative to the chemical ridden disposable options out there. By day three I was convinced that cloth period panties was the way to go. My flow was significantly lighter, I had NO CRAMPS-I am usually plagued by cramps in my first few flow days and my period lasted four days instead of my ususal six.

So I did a little reading. The average woman throws away about 275 pounds of tampons, pads and packaging in her lifetime and spends approximately $3000 on sanitary products. According to Michelle C. Larson LAc, LMT in Tucson Green Magazine. Additionally she reported that these items create a significant environmental impact. In 1998, 6.5 million tampons and 13.5 billion pads, plus their packaging were discarded in the U.S.

That doesn’t even touch on the women’s health aspect. There are trace amounts of Dioxin in disposable sanitary products is a carcinogen. Also, the super absorbant quality that makes a tampon so effective also tends to dry the walls of the vagina which can lead to some serious bacterial infections and increases the monthly flow.

Aha! So there was some truth to my flow being lesser then before.

After using only cloth for several months now I can confidently report that my periods are permanently lighter, are shorter and my menstrual symptoms of cramps and overall aches have disappeared. I recently was surprised by Aunt Flo while at a friend’s house. The only option I had was to borrow a disposable pad from her. ICK! After using cloth for so long, the pad felt rough and uncomfortable. I couldn’t wait to go home and get a “real” pad.

Summer is upon us and with that comes swimming season. I am hopeful that I will find a sustainable tampon alternative.