How to grow your own toilet paper
BY Robin Greenfield
18th Jan 2024 Environment
5 min read
With toilet paper a hot commodity during the pandemic and toilet paper creating a waste product many of us don't think about, Robin Greenfield is offering an alternative—growing your own toilet paper plant
Who remembers the “Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020”? All of us, right?
We remember going into lockdown worried about this new COVID-19 illness, and
then, BAM! Everyone was hoarding toilet paper and the supply chain was
completely shut down, so we weren’t getting replacements fast enough. Now,
three years later, toilet paper is
still a hot commodity, and prices continue to rise for this
single-use household staple.
But, what
if you could grow your own toilet paper? According to environmental
activist Robin Greenfield,
you can do just that.
"You can grow large enough "toilet paper plants" to save you from buying toilet paper for life"
Greenfield’s Grow Your Own
Toilet Paper Initiative is about supporting thousands of
people in switching to homegrown toilet paper by providing cuttings or
seeds (depending on the climate where you live) for a nominal donation. These
provisions can grow large enough “Toilet Paper Plants” to save participants
from buying toilet paper for the rest of their lives.
Robin Greenfield with the toilet paper plant
When I
moved to Orlando, Florida in 2018 I planted two cuttings of the Toilet Paper
Plant that a friend gave me, and within one year I had a TP bush abundant
enough to support a family of five, plus cuttings to share with hundreds of
friends each year so they could grow their own TP too!
Here are a
few of my favourite reasons to grow your own toilet paper:
- These plants are easy to grow. They are great for beginner growers or
even as a first plant! They can be grown in the ground or in pots.
- These plants thrive! Even if you aren’t ready to make the switch to your
homegrown TP, you can plant it now so you have it in case there’s a pandemic
with a TP shortage. But let’s be real, we don’t need to wait for that. These
leaves are the Charmin of the Garden!
"Growing your own toilet paper is like printing money—the average person works two months of their life to pay for toilet paper"
- Growing your own TP is like printing your own money! The average person
works two months of their life at a 40-hour job just to pay for the paper to
wipe their butt.
- Opt out of consumerism! According to one study, the average U.S.
household of 2.6 people uses about 400 regular rolls of TP per year. Growing
your own TP is one more step in breaking free from the consumer lifestyle.
- We are flushing our planet down the toilet. We’re chopping down trees,
burning fossil fuels, and polluting our waterways by pooping in clean water.
The compost toilet and toilet paper plan are a step forward in living in
harmony with Earth.
- Wiping your butt with leaves is humbling. If yoga hasn’t humbled your
ego enough yet, try these leaves.
Which plants and why?
For warmer
climates, like Florida, we recommend growing the Blue Spur Flower (Plectranthus
barbatus). Why? Because it is one of the easiest-to-grow plants, it’s great
for beginners. It can be grown in the ground or in pots, and it thrives.
If you’re
not convinced, here are eight reasons why to use the Blue Spur flower:
1.
The leaves are very soft—softer than many toilet papers on the market.
2.
The leaves are strong and
durable. (Your fingers will not break through when wiping.)
3.
The leaves often grow about the
same size as a store-bought piece of toilet paper.
4.
On dewy mornings, these furry
leaves hold onto moisture, so they double as a wet wipe.
"The leaves are soft, strong and durable and they also hold onto moisture, so double as a wet wipe"
5.
It is in the mint family
(Lamiaceae), so it has a fragrant minty smell!
6.
The flowers attract
hummingbirds!
7.
The leaves are used in Brazilian
culture as tea for an upset stomach. (Not after using it on the bum of course!)
8.
The leaves can be harvested and
last up to three weeks before use, retaining their softness, durability, and
strength.
For areas
with cold winters that freeze over, we suggest mullein (Verbascum thapsus),
which has been used as toilet paper for hundreds of years, due to its large,
soft, fuzzy leaves.
If you live
in cooler climates, here are four reasons to grow Mullein:
1.
The leaves are some of the
softest growing in the northern hemisphere, perfect for the sensitive spots of
the body.
2.
Grows quite easily from seed.
3.
Prolific, self-seeding plant
(once established), meaning your toilet paper supply will multiply.
4.
It’s an herbal medicine that
millions of people work with.
5.
Drought tolerant, and does best
in dry soils.
How to grow the Toilet Paper Plant*
The Blue Spur plant. Credit: Krzysztof Golik
- The Blue Spur plant is low maintenance and it doesn’t require highly
fertile soil, needs minimal water, and we’ve rarely seen any insect damage
except a few bites here or there.
- The plant starts via a cutting. We provide cuttings of the plant to get
started, which are simply a 6″-9″ cutting of one of the branches. These
cuttings can then be planted in a small pot (such as a 4”x4” pot) to be
nurtured for a few weeks to a couple of months until it has established roots
and leaves. Then it can be transplanted in the ground or to a larger pot.
- We’ve seen two 8″ cuttings grow into a 10-foot by 6-foot Toilet Paper
Plant patch within a few years, while it was still being heavily used for both
toilet paper and propagation.
- Proper pruning will create a bushy plant that produces ample toilet
paper for at least one person.
- Once established, you can easily take cuttings from your own Toilet
Paper Plant to plant more of it and provide cuttings to help others grow their
own TP, too. Plant people know that plants create abundance, so much so that we
have plenty to share with our communities.
*Additional
instructions for growing Mullein can be found here
How to use the Toilet Paper Plants
Like any
plant, some people may have an allergic reaction. Be safer than sorry, and
before you try the leaves on your bottom, swipe the leaf
across your hand or wrist, and wait 24 hours. If no reaction occurs,
the leaf will most likely be safe to use on more sensitive areas (but it’s best
to test that as well before regular use).
"Swipe the leaf across your hand and if no reaction occurs, it should be safe to use on more sensitive areas"
- Simply wipe your butt, and then have a plan for where you’re going to
put the used leaves.
- Our favourite plan is to use them with a compost toilet. Simply drop the
leaves into any compost or dry toilet.
- If you have a flush toilet, you can place a small bucket next to it for
used leaves. Then take them outside and compost them or bury
them in the yard. Having a bucket for used TP is a common practice throughout
many regions of the world where the septic systems need more gentle care.
- We have not experimented with flushing the leaves and our recommendation
is to not flush them.
Additional
Resources from Robin Greenfield:
Looking for more ways to share? Check out
Shareable’s growing collection of over 300 how-to guides to
save money, reduce waste, and build community through sharing.
Banner photo credit: Rob Greenfield
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