{"id":104603,"date":"2024-12-07T15:02:49","date_gmt":"2024-12-07T15:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/12\/07\/the-people-growing-their-own-toilet-paper\/"},"modified":"2024-12-07T15:02:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-07T15:02:49","slug":"the-people-growing-their-own-toilet-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/the-people-growing-their-own-toilet-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"The people growing their own toilet paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Meru, a town in eastern Kenya, a lush, leafy plant sways over the landscape. Benjamin Mutembei, a Meru resident, is growing the\u00a0Plectranthus barbatus<\/em><\/a>\u00a0plant<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 not for food, but to use as toilet paper. He started growing the plant in 1985. \u201cI learned about it from my grandfather and have been using it ever since. It\u2019s soft and has a nice smell,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Plectranthus barbatus<\/em>\u00a0is a leafy plant that can grow up to 2m (6.6ft) tall. Its leaves are roughly the size of an industrial toilet paper square and emit a minty, lemony fragrance. Covered in tiny hairs, the leaves have a soft texture. This plant thrives in warm tropical temperatures and partial sunlight and is\u00a0widely grown across Africa<\/a>, where it is sometimes used to demarcate property boundaries.<\/p>\n

Mutembei is growing the Plectranthus barbatus plant to use as toilet roll in Meru, Kenya (Credit: BBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been an African tissue for a long time, and everyone in my household uses the plant. I only buy modern toilet rolls when the leaves have all been plucked,\u201d Mutembei says.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Plectranthus barbatus<\/em>\u00a0plant has provided Mutembei with a cost-effective alternative to purchasing toilet paper in Kenya. Like many commodities,\u00a0the price of toilet paper has risen<\/a>\u00a0across Africa, largely due to the high cost of imported raw materials, such as wood pulp, which is essential for the production of toilet roll. Raw material costs now make up 75-80% of the final cost of tissue products in Kenya, according to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers.<\/p>\n

Toilet paper made from virgin wood pulp currently dominates the global industry. \u201cTypical toilet paper is made of 70-80% short fibre hardwood and 20-30% long fibre hardwood,\u201d says Ronalds Gonzalez, a professor in the Department of Forest Biomaterials at North Carolina State University.<\/p>\n

According to research by the environmental impact consultancy Edge, roughly\u00a0one million trees are cut down worldwide<\/a>\u00a0each year to make toilet paper.<\/p>\n

The pulp and paper industry is the world\u2019s largest consumer of virgin wood, using\u00a0roughly 35% of harvested trees for paper production<\/a>. This is driving deforestation, biodiversity loss, soil erosion, species extinction and widespread ecosystem disruption according to the latest Ethical Consumer report on\u00a0ethical toilet paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Martin Odhiambo, a herbalist at the National Museum of Kenya who specialises in traditional plants, thinks the solution to the environmental impact of cutting trees for toilet paper may already be here.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlectranthus barbatus<\/em>\u00a0is the African toilet paper. Many young people nowadays are unaware of this plant, but it has the potential to be an environmentally friendly alternative to toilet paper,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

There is no official data on exactly how many people use the plant as toilet paper in Kenya; however, it is widely grown in various parts of Africa and continues to be used in many rural areas where it is easily accessible, says Odhiambo.<\/p>\n

Plectranthus barbatus<\/em>\u00a0grows to its full height in 1-2 months from a cutting and the cutting itself costs around 50 Kenyan shillings ($0.37).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe leaves are similar in size to an industrial toilet paper square, making them suitable for use in modern flush toilets or for composting in latrines,\u201d says Odhiambo.<\/p>\n

The potential of the plant is also being explored in other countries.<\/p>\n

Robin grows over 100 Plectranthus barbatus at his nursery in Florida (Credit: Robin Greenfield)<\/p>\n

Robin Greenfield, an environmental activist who runs a non-profit advocating for sustainable living in Florida in the US, has been using the leaves of\u00a0Plectranthus barbatus<\/em>\u00a0for five years.<\/p>\n

Greenfield runs a \u201cgrow your own toilet paper\u201d initiative and cultivates over 100\u00a0Plectranthus barbatus<\/em>\u00a0plants at his Florida nursery. He shares cuttings for free or for voluntary donations, encouraging people to grow their own toilet paper. So far, he says he has distributed cuttings to hundreds of people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many people who associate using the toilet paper plant with poverty,\u201d says Greenfield, though he points out that industrial toilet paper is ultimately made from plants too.<\/p>\n

2:15The people growing their own toilet paper<\/p>\n

Greenfield says he\u2019s had positive feedback from people who have used the plant. \u201cFor anybody who feels a little hesitant to try this plant, I would say to drop your worries about what people think about you. And simply by saying, \u2018I\u2019m going to be me, and that might mean wiping my butt with some really soft leaves that I grow,’\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But how realistic is it that this plant might become more widely used?<\/p>\n

Large-scale production has not yet been explored. Instead companies such as WEPA, one of Europe\u2019s largest toilet paper manufacturers, are reducing the environmental impact of conventional toilet paper in other ways. WEPA has developed a\u00a0new method using recycled cardboard to produce toilet paper<\/a>, which does not involve bleaching the fibres, a spokesperson says.<\/p>\n

Typically wood pulp is bleached before it is turned into paper, which releases\u00a0chlorinated compounds into the environment<\/a>. These compounds can react with carbon-based materials,\u00a0creating dioxins which are highly toxic chemicals<\/a>\u00a0associated with cancer and other health risks, according to a report by the non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council.<\/p>\n

The toilet paper plant, meanwhile, is expected to have a \u201cminimal\u201d impact on the industry, says a WEPA spokesperson.<\/p>\n

One drawback is that wastewater and disposal systems, especially in Europe, aren\u2019t designed to handle this type of paper, as only soluble items can be flushed through the system, the spokesperson says.<\/p>\n

Greenfield says that\u2019s where compost toilets come in. \u201cI use a compost toilet. The leaves go back to the earth and produce soil, which can then support food growth. It\u2019s a closed-loop system, and I think using these leaves could lead us to a conversation about the environmental benefits of composting.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are also limitations on the locations and countries where of\u00a0Plectranthus barbatus<\/em>\u00a0can be grown, says to Wendy Applequist, an associate scientist at the Missouri Botanical Garden. In South Africa, for example,\u00a0Plectranthus barbatus<\/em>\u00a0is regarded as an\u00a0invasive species<\/a>, and growing or selling it is banned. Invasive species cost\u00a0the global economy more than $423bn (\u00a3333bn) every year<\/a>\u00a0and are a major driver of biodiversity loss. (Read about the proven ways to stop biodiversity loss<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Applequist suggests that growing the plant in a controlled environment, within a designated area, and monitoring its growth to limit expansion into the existing ecosystem could help mitigate environmental risks.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the biggest challenge to going mainstream, though, remains public acceptance. But from his plant nursery in Nairobi, Odhiambo remains hopeful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know some people see using leaves as toilet paper as a step backward, but understanding the benefits of this plant, I believe it could become the next green alternative,\u201d says Odhiambo. \u201cI\u2019ve been growing it in my nursery and sharing it with communities across Kenya, and people have been amazed by its convenience. If we keep an open mind and continue promoting this plant, we could eventually mass produce it for widespread use.\u201d<\/p>\n

This content was created with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Meru, a town in eastern Kenya, a lush, leafy plant sways over the landscape. Benjamin Mutembei, a Meru resident, is growing the\u00a0Plectranthus barbatus\u00a0plant\u00a0\u2013 not for food, but to use as toilet paper. He started growing the plant in 1985. \u201cI learned about it from my grandfather and have been using it ever since. It\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104603\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}