Bottom wipe

I'm not that old, but I remember the outdoor dunny; a cold sprint down to the backyard dunny; usually a wooden building with a galvo iron roof. Make as much noise as you like and no-one would hear you, except for someone passing in the laneway; a lane that was built to service the adjoining houses. Water, power and later sewerage pipes ran down these service lanes.

There were long drops and later water flushing was added as modern amenities became available.

Back in those days, before we had pine plantations to make gloriously soft toilet tissue, we had to make do with left over paper - usually newspaper that was cut into squares and placed on a spike fixed to the toilet wall. It was an art form, whilst sitting on the wooden seat, to gently massage the paper and make it soft for wiping the bottom. The trouble with newspaper is that it left an ink print greyness on the bottom. Sometimes, it was absolute joy when there was some soft brown paper or fine tissue paper like that which comes with a new pair of shoes. Sitting on the dunny was full of surprises. There was always something to read. Comic pages got read again.

Today it is a different world.

I recently received my water bill and SA Water explained its latest problem; people are now using hygiene wipes. They never breakdown and clog-up the system; they clog our pipes and their processing equipment. Toilet tissue breaks down quickly, but the wipes need expensive processing to separate and then disposal to landfill.

SA Water is asking that we don't put wipes down the toilet; put them in the bin just like sanitary products.

The big question is why?

Why are we now dispensing with toilet paper and using those bad for the environment wipes on the bottom? Is it a growing cultural issue or is it just succumbing to advertising?

Do the right thing by the environment and stop using wipes; they must be more expensive. Use a nice 5 ply soft toilet tissue.