‘Disposables’ isn’t a perfect term, but essentially I refer to things such as underwear, toilet paper, tissues, and other such things that tend to have a lifespan of either one use, or one person.
I am fortunate enough to have been insulated by the possession of many things from youth, but as the years go by things begin wearing out or needing replacement, and eventually that safety net will fade, so I would like to ask from the zerowaste community, what is your approach to common things that are typically used to short lifecycles?
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I try to find home-compostable disposables, which I can just throw in my compost pile, and eventually adds organic matter and nutrients to my various garden beds and pots.
Nearly all clothing contains synthetics, which I do not want in my soil, so I try to buy higher quality, more durable clothing.
I do not do humanure composting, and just buy the cheapest toilet paper :)
I generally try to avoid disposables if there’s a practical alternative.
A bidet will cut way down on toilet paper use. Source: im an alcoholic man who loves greasy spicy food, and used to use a ton of toiletpaper. Now its often a one or two wipe job.
I wash my butt in the shower right after a shit and then just dry up with a towel as I do after any shower. Somehow, I don’t even mind the water being completely cold if it’s just my butt hanging into the shower. I do I eat a lot of fibre though.
It would be interesting to do a proper comparative lifecycle analysis. Treating, pumping and heating water isn’t zero-carbon (especially if you run it for a while waiting for it to get up to temperature) and I’d be curious to know when is the break-even point that the carbon costs of a bidet beat a few sheets of paper
Mine doesnt do hot, but yeah id be down to see a study. I think paper production uses a bunch of water though.
