tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686726701092380039.post62811077147600969..comments2023-10-09T08:42:09.819-06:00Comments on Life on the Mountainside : The Hidden Costs of the "Family Cloth"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686726701092380039.post-8466756977944704682014-06-13T10:13:08.359-06:002014-06-13T10:13:08.359-06:00Sorry I've taken so long to reply. Water is b...Sorry I've taken so long to reply. Water is becoming a more scarce commodity for many people, including us. A bidet would waste gallons of water that we just don't have. I live on a low yield well, with a 300 gallon holding tank. The tank is often not full, especially in the middle of summer. We make conscious decisions about showering, how often the toilet gets flushed, running the dishwasher (which uses less water than handwashing).<br /><br />In a areas of California this spring, they were telling people to NOT shower. That's a shortage.<br /><br />Then there is the cost of water for some folks - a rising price for many people who do not live on a well.<br /><br />In these cases, the cost of toilet paper is actually MUCH less. One time use of the bidet could use up my allotment of toilet water for half the day, easily.<br /><br />It's a nice idea in areas where water is plenty, but for half the country, we're in a several year drought. Extensive use of water is not suggested.Del Rio Preservation Societyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16357125000243812289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686726701092380039.post-48298216056973616972014-02-21T23:56:28.642-07:002014-02-21T23:56:28.642-07:00One important thing you did not factor into your a...One important thing you did not factor into your analysis is that it currently requires 37 gallons of water, 1.3 kilowatt/hours (KWh) of electricity and some 1.5 pounds of wood to make a SINGLE roll of toilet paper? [1] Not to mention all the energy it takes to process it from our sewer system (for those who do not have septic systems).<br /><br />The "green" side of this is the not having to create/use as much of the actual toilet paper and resources to create it as listed above. Additionally, using family wipes/cloth in conjunction with a bidet sprayer on your existing toilet actualy cleans you better and is more sanitary (more than half of the world uses some additional wet form of cleaning themselves instead of just dry toilet paper like Americans). In this scenario, the family cloths are used essentially as a drying cloth and are very easy to wash with existing cloth diaper load or underwear load as they are not icky.<br /><br />Finally, the nice thing about having a bidet sprayer in conjunction with drying family cloth is that if there is ever a power outage where our well pump will not work, the bidet sprayer will still work to clean ourselves and we can dry with the cloths This is a good back up plan for emergencies even if people do not care about the environmental impact that their toilet paper usage has on the world. <br /><br />Thank you for highlighting some valid points and I hope I brought up some additional information you may not have thought about.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686726701092380039.post-19393348837647599852014-02-08T09:16:27.086-07:002014-02-08T09:16:27.086-07:00very good analysis! thanks for breaking it down to...very good analysis! thanks for breaking it down to the simplest terms!!!Heatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01648710369494452073noreply@blogger.com