Over or Under? The Great Toilet Paper Debate (Infographic)

brainz.org — Unfortunately, the brilliant engineers who came up with toilet paper left one problem unsolved: the problem of orientation.


Via: Engineering Degree

One Toilet Paper Company Decides to Ditch the Tube

by Stephen Messenger
from http://www.treehugger.com/

In an attempt to cut down on back on consumer waste, one toilet paper manufacturer has unveiled perhaps the biggest change the product has undergone in over a century -- replacing that old cardboard tube with, well, nothing. If the advancement in TP technology seems unremarkable, consider just how much waste it will keep from the landfill. Each year, a million miles worth of cardboard tubing is tossed out -- that's enough to circle the Earth over forty times.

Seinfeld's George Costanza once pointed out how little TP has progressed over the decades. "Do you realize that toilet paper has not changed in my lifetime? It's just paper on a cardboard roll, that's it. And in ten thousand years, it will still be exactly the same because really, what else can they do?" On that last point, he was wrong.

Kimberly-Clark, the company which produces Scotts toilet paper, will begin testing its oddly revolutionary Tube-Free TP next week in Walmarts and Sam's Clubs across the North-eastern US. Depending on how well it's received, soon the trend might spread globally.

According to a report from USA Today, while it may seem fairly innocuous, Americans have been tossing out a lot of those cardboard tubes each year -- and it really adds up.

The 17 billion toilet paper tubes produced annually in the USA account for 160 million pounds of trash, according to Kimberly-Clark estimates, and could stretch more than a million miles placed end-to-end. That's from here to the moon and back -- twice. Most consumers toss, rather than recycle, used tubes, says Doug Daniels, brand manager at Kimberly-Clark.

A consumers demand for less wasteful products is apparently what has driven the toilet paper maker to update a product which has gone without any major improvement since it was invented over 100 years ago. "We found a way to bring innovation to a category as mature as bath tissue," says Daniels.

While the new tubeless rolls won't always be perfectly round, they'll have no problem fitting on standard toilet paper spindles -- and they can be used to the last square. The trick is in the special winding processes, but the company is keeping their technique a secret.

With any luck, soon other toilet paper manufactures will get on board with less wasteful alternatives to the tradition roll, whether it be by using more recycled material or ditching the cardboard tube altogether. And, as consumers demand more eco-friendly products, perhaps more manufacturers will continue to find more ways to cut unnecessary materials from the things they sell.

And who knows, maybe one day people will have conversations like this about us.

9 Bizarre Methods Once Used to Wipe (Ass)

We’ve all been a situation where someone forgot to restock the toilet paper. Thankfully, we can usually get around this situation by banging on the stall door “Hey need a little TP here please.” If you’re at home with no TP, you might even skip wiping completely by hopping in the shower, spreading your butt cheeks, and letting the warm water do the rest.

Our ancestors weren’t that lucky. We’re going to take a look at some items that were actually used, when it came time to clean up a crack, after a deuce had been dropped.

Lambs Wool - When the Vikings weren’t destroying stuff they were eating, drinking, and shitting. Not having anything to wipe with was never really an issue. They’d simply do what they do best (slaughter something), take the wool, and throw the rest in a stew. Seconds please.

Frayed Anchor Line - “Ahoy matey! Me have to wipe my butt taaaaarrr.” Thats right, sailors and pirates often resorted to the frayed ropes from sails and anchor lines. We can only imagine what one of those looked like after a handful of uses.

Stones - The Greeks made use of their surroundings by picking up smooth rocks and stones. Seeing that perfect rock to skip across a pond may have sparked an inner monologue.

• Dude this rock is going to skip a pond like a mofo, I should get at least 5 hops out of it.
• Wait, I may have to take a dump later.
• Screw it I’ll toss this one into the lake, and find another one if I have to shit.
• On second thought, breakfast is starting to knock at the backdoor - skipping stones can wait.

Sponge Sticks - Ancient Romans were pretty open about where they pinched a loaf. They also didn’t mind placing something into their buttocks which had recently cleaned up another mans number two. After wiping with a sponge that was attached to a stick, they would place the sponge back into a bowl of saltwater. Using saltwater is much more sanitary when it comes to using recycled poo sponges.

Corncobs - So you thought that corncobs were only used to plug an orifice when it came to Japanese porn right? Wrong. In the wild wild west you might have been stuck using a corn cob. You never hear a cowboy say “Hey Earl that gun fight scared the shit out of me.” That isn’t because hes tough. They knew that they should only drop the kids off at the pool when they absolutely needed to, for a raw rump was on the horizon.

Hemp - For those of you reading who enjoy the herb, you may want to skip this one. As shocking as it may sound, the French often used hemp. In their defense, this wasn’t the kind that is being enjoyed at this very moment, by the campus stoners under a large oak tree.

Coconut Shells - Hawaiians really did some out of the box thinking when they decided that coconut shells would be their TP of choice. Why settle for soft ocean sea weed when you can really get up in there with a jagged coconut shell?

Tundra Moss - Eskimos, much like the sailors really didn’t have a lot to work with. Luckily, the vast tundra plains are covered in a relatively soft moss. And if we’re being completely logical, you really wouldn’t have to gather the moss if nature gave you a call, while outside. Simply drag your turd cutter across the moss once you have finished (sort of like a dog with worms on your moms white carpet).

Left Hand - Mideastern cultures found it acceptable to wipe with their left hand. This method is often still practiced in India. Why the left hand? Because touching shit with your right hand was supposedly disgusting (while rifling through your dingle berries with your left was fine). If you visited India today you may even find yourself in a situation where there isn’t any TP. The only difference is: Instead of tossing some paper under your stall - the guy next to you might mutter:

- (which translated means “I feel you dog”) before cramming his left hand into his crack.

Conclusion: Next time you’re about to burst a blood vessel because your roommate didn’t restock the WC, be creative - you’ve got a lot of options. You may even give the old left hand a try, shortly before handling his toothbrush.