Article

2010-04-22 Science & Technology

Toilet Paper Shortage: Good Raw Material Being Wiped Out

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Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2010-04-22 01:59|| || Front Page|| [11129 views ] Top

#1 I guess we'll just have to start using both sides then.

Posted by gorb 2010-04-22 02:17|| 2010-04-22 02:17|| Front Page Top

#2 Consumers once could fill up large bins with their recycled newspapers, magazines and print paper. But as electronic communication surges, these sources of recycled paper are becoming scarce.

From my observations, the demand was never there for the last decade or so. Used to watch Boy Scout et al drop off bins fill up and stay filled with the old stuff for weeks/months on end till the bins were removed. Apparently, it wasn't economical to handle it, so the process died out many places.

Posted by Procopius2k 2010-04-22 07:19|| 2010-04-22 07:19|| Front Page Top

#3 We'll be able to use dollar bills before too long. Then fives.

Posted by Glenmore 2010-04-22 07:50|| 2010-04-22 07:50|| Front Page Top

#4 Happened in Iraq following the first Gulf War. The Sheridan Baghdad doubled their supply by sawing the scruffy rolls in two pieces with a hacksaw. Becomes a bit more painstaking when the 40mm econo-roll is employed.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. Catalogs were widely used in outhouses years ago, and rag bags became common for other purposes as well. I hope we never see those days again.

Posted by Besoeker 2010-04-22 08:08|| 2010-04-22 08:08|| Front Page Top

#5 When "raw material" and "toilet paper" are in the same headline, you know bad things are going to happen.

Posted by no mo uro 2010-04-22 08:16|| 2010-04-22 08:16|| Front Page Top

#6 There is an alternative. Naturally it's from Japan.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2010-04-22 09:13|| 2010-04-22 09:13|| Front Page Top

#7 A hundred years ago, when my grandmother was growing up in Brooklyn, her mother always used the German language newspaper for toilet paper, saying that it was less irritating. Whether the difference was in the ink or in the paper stock, I don't know.

Posted by mom 2010-04-22 09:46|| 2010-04-22 09:46|| Front Page Top

#8 2 things. First of all, just pre-washing with warm water from a hanging enema bag reduces TP use to just one wad, just to pat dry, rather than several, to wipe off.

This was an inexpensive trick used during the "Johnny Carson" TP shortage of the early '70s. Because of the oil embargo and other shortages, the public was very shortage conscious, so when Carson cracked a joke about a TP shortage, the next day stores were stripped of their TP, and it took weeks for the supply chain to catch up.

This especially hit the "Depression Babies", who had lived through a real, extended TP shortages during the Great Depression. They freaked out at the thought of no TP.

The other thing is that there is a superb alternative to wood pulp paper, that is both eco-friendly and better than wood pulp paper. Refined hemp paper. It feels a lot silkier, and is better for both high quality paper and silk-like cloth.

Hemp grows in marginal farmland, requiring little or no fertilizer, pesticide or even irrigation. It grows just about anywhere in the US, and for us to use it would save trees for much higher valued products like lumber.

Posted by Anonymoose 2010-04-22 10:01|| 2010-04-22 10:01|| Front Page Top

#9 I understand that before TP came along folks used corncobs. Hopefully before they totally dried out.

Posted by gorb 2010-04-22 10:09|| 2010-04-22 10:09|| Front Page Top

#10 The lack of TP made Sears Corporation. Their idea of sending out free catalogs was hugely popular among rural Americans, as they could be recycled as TP. And they got into the habit of reading a page before using it, and discovered that Sears sold a lot of stuff that they wanted.

This got another boost whenever electrical plants were built, as the plants wanted consumers to get and use electrical appliances, so even subsidized the sale of things like lamps, toasters, and other appliances, sold mail order by Sears.

Posted by Anonymoose 2010-04-22 11:23|| 2010-04-22 11:23|| Front Page Top

#11 The Roman legionnaire used sponges in the latrines. Wash and recycle.

Posted by Procopius2k 2010-04-22 12:20|| 2010-04-22 12:20|| Front Page Top

#12 The problem with using newspapers and magazines nowadays is that, when wiping, they always smear left.

Posted by swksvolFF 2010-04-22 12:56|| 2010-04-22 12:56|| Front Page Top

#13 Think "Junk Mail", a fresh inexhaustible supply delivered to your door every day, except Sundays.

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2010-04-22 13:16|| 2010-04-22 13:16|| Front Page Top

#14 LOL @ swksvolFF.

Posted by gromky 2010-04-22 15:55|| 2010-04-22 15:55|| Front Page Top

#15 The Obama administration plans to deal with the shortage by supplying VERY large quantities of a perfectly good substitute called US currency.

Posted by DMFD 2010-04-22 19:16|| 2010-04-22 19:16|| Front Page Top

#16 swksvolFF wins the thread!

"For those who prefer the eco-brands"

"Eco-brands" - that chaps my a@@ right there. :-(

Posted by Barbara Skolaut 2010-04-22 20:21|| 2010-04-22 20:21|| Front Page Top

23:59 gorb
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