Going to the toilet is universal but how often do we take the time to reflect on the environmental impact of our bathroom habits? Talking about your toilet exploits would not get you many invites to dinner parties, but what we do in there has significant effects on the environment and our health. Until the last century, going to the toilet was not the cosy comfort that most Europeans know today.
Researchers believe that fragments of ceramic known as 'pessoi' were used to clean oneself in Roman times. It sounds more agreeable - until you learn that the sponge was often communal. The existence of the modern private bathroom with a flushing toilet and other luxuries is very recent, only becoming widespread in the last century.
The way we clean ourselves has also evolved. Ward was struck by the rapid pace of change in our hygiene habits when his grandfather divulged he only used to have two baths a year as a child. As a mass consumer economy saw a vast array of hygiene products come on to the market and toilet paper became widespread, the question of its environmental impact needs to be raised. The European Environmental Bureau says turning wood into paper is a polluting process and adding fragrances to toilet paper often uses unnecessary chemicals.
Some of the main global producers of tissue have been criticised by environmental organisations for contributing to deforestation and in some cases for being linked to human rights abuses. However, their introduction was threatened last year, a move which sparked a toilet paper protest in the European Parliament by environmental activists. The ban has now been accepted but the implementation has been delayed by a year until 30 December for large and medium companies and 30 June for micro and small enterprises to give them more time to become compliant.
In large parts of the world bidets or the so-called bumgun a kind of handheld hose used to clean yourself are popular. However, Giovanni De Feo, associate professor of environmental and sanitary engineering at the University of Salerno, argues that the benefits of toilet paper should also be remembered while discussing its environmental impact.
