Toilet Paper vs. The Bidet: Bathroom Facts
Jul 7, 2011
I’m sure just about everyone knows what a bidet is, however I have never used one, and neither has anyone that I know. Using toilet paper is simply ingrained in our society – we can’t picture using something else. With all of the talk lately however about eco-friendly products and being more environmentally conscious, the bidet warrants a bit of discussion.
I’ll be honest – the only experience I have had with a bidet is seeing one in the scene of the Crocodile Dundee movie, where he is in the hotel in New York trying to figure out what it is. Personally, the thought of using one would make me cringe a bit, and I imagine the majority of Americans feel the same way. However, in European, Asian, and Latin American countries where the bidet is common, they probably feel the same way about toilet paper.
Advantages of a bidet:
- Less irritating than toilet paper.
- More hygienic than toilet paper.
- Reduces toilet paper usage greatly: America uses approximately 26 billion rolls of toilet paper per year – about 23.6 rolls per person. Roughly 10 million trees have to be pulped to accommodate this much toilet paper. Bidets being the norm would greatly reduce these numbers. Even if everyone began using recycled toilet paper the amount of natural resources needed would be greatly reduced.
- Saves water: You might think a bidet would cause more water consumption, but you likely won’t have to ever flush twice due to large amounts of toilet paper, and if bidets were used more they would cut down on the amount of water needed for the process of creating toilet paper itself. Each year alone almost 470 billion gallons of water are used to create toilet paper.
-Save yourself money: Depending on the size of your family (and the model of bidet you get) a bidet could pay for itself after about 1 year with the amount of money you would save by using substantially less toilet paper.
Bidets certainly do have advantages. What are your thoughts on them? Post your opinion in the comments section!










