How far would you be prepared to go to save the planet? For most of us, the changes we'd make to our own lives would be comparatively minor. You might want to start recycling a little more, start picking up the trash you see on your commute to work. Maybe you'd avoid non-reusable materials and think about installing some solar panels. But now 30-year-old nurse Daisy May Taylor has taken things one step further, by getting rid of toilet paper and now sticking with reusable cloths to wipe their backsides with. Instead of flushing the paper down the u-bend, they've elected to wash the poopy-cloths and use them again.
Daisy first started using reusable cloths after the birth of her daughter Eliza, whom she had with her husband Warren. Daisy was a conscientious environmentalist, and she did some research into environmentally friendly disposable nappies and she was shocked to discover how dangerous non-biodegradable diapers actually were. Now, the couple wipe by dampening the cloths and wiping themselves clean, before placing them in a sealed bin with a generous dollop of essential oils to combat the faecal odor. The cloths, which cost around £10 ($13), are washed in the washing machine daily along with Eliza’s nappies and cloths, before being dried and returned to the bathroom again.
Commenting on her unusual environmental decision, Daisy stated: "I think you feel cleaner. It’s a bit like using a toilet wipe, but you don’t have that feeling of it ruining the environment. We were worried about the environmental impact of nappies when Eliza was born and that has filtered down. Using reusable wipes after going to the toilet works with our lifestyle and reduces what we are throwing or flushing away. I did a lot of reading before having her and I was worried about the amount of waste using disposable nappies creates. They take between 200 and 500 years to decompose, sitting in landfill sites, so cloth nappies seemed like a better option to me."
She added: "I looked up a company online that uses only environmentally friendly materials and also donates 50 per cent of their profits to help build toilets for those in need. That did seem like it was a step forward, but I realised that I was already washing the cloths for Eliza and maybe I could just use them, too. So, I started using them in January. My husband was a bit unsure at first, but within a few days, he decided to try them too."
"We bought more of the cloths we were using for Eliza from an online site called ‘Cheeky Wipes,’ that specialises in different types of reusable wipes. Now there’s always a pile of clean ones in the bathroom and some in the wash ... I wash everything at 40 and we don’t use anything in particular to clean it. We just clean the washing machine out periodically."
However, despite her unorthodox lifestyle choices, Daisy has admitted that she does have a few rolls of toilet paper in the house, just in case any guests aren't comfortable using the cloths instead. So what do you think? Is she doing her bit to save the planet? Or is this gross and she's taking it too far. It all depends on your point of view.
