Zero Waste Toilets, Is It Achievable? Here are your options
Can we actually have zero waste toilets in our home? What would it mean?
From deciding to refuse plastic wrapped toilet paper to cutting off paper completely to parting ways with water run toilet there are many ways to approach the issue. I will be honest, searching through data and reading about water pollution makes me want to only talk about dry toilet, but I also don’t see the point of discouraging everyone from doing better, especially when even I have not passed that level yet. So, if you’re curious to know more about the shape of worldwide water supplies, I invite you to Ecosia it. In the meantime, let’s focus on improving our habits, and see how we can turn our toilet to become a little more zero-waste friendly.
Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below, but these are all products I highly recommend. I won’t put anything on this page that I haven’t verified and/or personally used.
Say no to plastic.
One of the easiest way to have a better and more sustainable bathroom is to refuse toilet paper sold in plastic packaging. There are great brands out there like Who Gives A Crap that we have been using for a while now, and another brand that I really enjoy, Tushy. Both brand offer one time and subscription based offers and make their toilet paper with no plastic wrapping and bamboo fiber, a lot more eco-friendly that average products.
I’m sure they are other great brands out there, but these are the ones I tried and really appreciate. Plus, they make donations and are doing what they can to be a force for good, and that’s worth supporting. Note, these links are affiliated, we’ll both get a reward if you try them.
Reduce
Switching to better brands is great, but we can bring it a step further by reducing our consumption of toilet paper. How? Have you heard of Bidets? This invention is great (not just because it’s French). From an environmental and health point, the bidet is a great addition to the toilet. Design to clean private parts, it consequently reduces the amount of paper needed and leaves your tushy cleaner than with the single use of toilet paper.
One of the most famous brands is Toto, but if like me, you don’t have $600 to spend in a bidet, Tushy carries elegant ones for less than $100. If this is still too expensive, we carry two types of bidet in the greener shop, for travel and for the home.
The Bidet With No Paper
This is when things get a lot serious. I’m personally struggling with this step going back and forth and applaud anyone who’s fully past this milestone. Removing fully paper required to change your habits post bidet. Instead of using disposable paper, we switch to reusable cloth that we wash and reuse! I also created a butt-spray to finish the process and will try to remember the recipe so I can share it with you. Weirded out? Actually it is not that gross, I think our pre-judgment is more powerful than facts here. The bidet already clears a lot and therefore the cloth mostly clears the water left on your private area. But best thing would be for you to give it a try and make your own judgment.
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Dry Toilet or the Compost Toilet
Ok, this one is only for people who are already advanced in the waste reduction process. I wouldn’t suggest you start with this at all! This being said, as we work on our passive home and try to incorporate as much eco-friendly and off grid alternatives, this will very likely become our main toilet option (more on that matter coming soon). Why? Because, instead of polluting drinkable water with our waste, we feel that it would make more sense to use it to created fresh free compost for our garden. We could have written long sentences and made shitty comments (oh come on, you know I had to make that pun) about what is dry toilet/compost toilet, but instead I will let you watch this video I found recently on youtube. It debunks the myths and answers the most common questions folks have.
If you liked this post and want to learn new ways to can reduce your waste and a more mindful lifestyle, join the journey here.
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