"Wiping your butt with leaves isn't crazy."
Environmental activist Robin Greenfield wants to change the way you you wipe ...
Environmental activist Robin Greenfield wants to change the way you you wipe ...
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00:00I'm not going to wipe my butt with my money anymore.
00:02So yeah, I look crazy, but the reality of this is
00:06wiping your butt with leaves isn't crazy.
00:09That compared to pooping in clean water.
00:12Environmental activist Robin Greenfield is sitting on a compost toilet in cities around Florida
00:17to demonstrate how people can stop spending money on toilet paper
00:20and cutting down waste by growing their own.
00:22For years, he has been using the leaves of blue spur flowers,
00:25also known as the toilet paper plant, as a toilet paper alternative.
00:29So what I love about this toilet paper plant is that the leaves come off
00:33about the same size as a piece of toilet paper.
00:36Secondly, they are soft as can be.
00:40So, I mean, just soft as can be, yet durable.
00:46Watch, like they can really take a wiping so your fingers will not break through.
00:53Well, you use your homegrown toilet paper to wipe your butt,
00:58as you would do with toilet paper.
01:00After you're done, you drop it into the bucket.
01:04In there is your poop and your toilet paper.
01:07And you take that sawdust, just like in a kitty litter box,
01:11you cover your poop with that sawdust.
01:15That takes away smells.
01:17If you don't have a compost toilet, you can still grow your own toilet paper.
01:22And what you can do is have a little bin next to your flush toilet,
01:26where you put the used pieces into the bin,
01:29and then you could take that out to your yard,
01:31and you could just dig a hole and bury it.
01:33Or you could compost just the leaves.
01:35So even if you have a flush toilet, you can use this.
01:38The U.S. leads the world in toilet paper consumption.
01:41The process of harvesting, making, packaging,
01:44and shipping toilet paper involves significant energy use,
01:47as well as reliance on fossil fuels for transportation.
01:51He says that utilizing the toilet paper plant not only cuts down on waste,
01:54but can also cut back on environmental issues like red tide,
01:58a type of algae that produces toxins that can kill fish and is harmful to humans.
02:02I flipped open to the front of the local newspaper, and it said headlines.
02:07Three million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the river.
02:11Underneath that, it said, fourth largest spill in two years.
02:16So people believe that our flush systems work.
02:21Yeah, they work at making a problem, a big problem for society.
02:26Yeah, I look crazy, but the reality of this is
02:29wiping your butt with leaves isn't crazy.
02:32That compared to pooping in clean water,
02:35polluting all that water, and then ending up dumping it in our oceans,
02:38and then making ourselves sick by swimming in our own pooped water.
02:42And here in Florida, it contributes to red tide.
02:45And this is my way of saying, like, no, it actually is a very real issue.
02:49And this is one way of being a part of the solution.
02:52Robin estimates that within a year,
02:54two cuttings of the toilet paper plant can grow into enough toilet paper for a family of five.
03:00The plant is low maintenance and grows in many warm regions in the U.S.,
03:04including Florida, but can also be grown in pots indoors.
03:07I'm a big advocate of water, but this is my
03:10full closed loop cycle where I'm able to deal with all of what's called waste on site,
03:17where there is no such thing as waste.
03:19And it all goes back into the soil,
03:22creates nutrients that then I can use to grow food with, like fruit trees.
03:26So that's why I'm here with this plant, not just for you to wipe your butt with it,
03:31but to actually use it as a tool to break free from capitalism and consumerism.