No more logs in our toilet

We've given up toilet paper. Keep that in mind as you request a third helping of beans at our potluck parties...

All the extreme efforts we go to trying to reduce our impact on nature, yet we still flush down needless amounts of tree product that had been clear-cut, transported, processed in a smog factory, packaged in plastic, and transported again. I've used water, leaves, paper, even (gasp!) bible pages in various countries and stages of my past, so why has this paper carnage been necessary?

We started out first class, with soft cushy organic cotton washable wipes from LunaPads (also makers of the eco-obvious Diva Cup for you ladies). Next came an old purple flannel blanket cut into little squares. They all end up in the same place - a little wooden bucket with 3 squirts of vinegar for odour control, then a short-cycle hot water wash, 2-hour drying time on the deer fence, and ready for action again.

We re-wash our babies' diapers, our snot-ridden hankies and the occasional underwear mishap, so why not our toilet wipes? I'm sure the nice marketing folk at Charmin and even Seventh Generation will say that it's not eco-friendly to use so much hot water and detergent to wash them, but it pales in comparison to the processing, packaging and multiple-transport emissions of toilet paper (even recycled).

So come on over to our house and, uh, take a wipe on the wild side.The emergency stash (purchased in the spring) for grandmas and visitors
not quite ready even to hug trees let alone go to third base,
and for those particularly messy times...