Stop using toilet paper with the help of a washlet
Mon, Feb 15, 2010
Image: TOTO usa
What is a washlet?
I am sure that the majority of people are going to read the title of this article and think to themselves “what the heck is a washlet?!?”. Don’t feel bad, you are in the same boat with most North Americans.
A washlet is basically a bidet built into a toilet seat. The first washlet was called the “Wash Air Seat” and was developed by the American Bidet Co in 1964. TOTO Ltd. of Japan imported this product and started working on its own version. In 1980, TOTO introduced their version to the Japanese market and branded it the washlet.
It is estimated that approximately 60% of Japanese homes today have a washlet installed. They are also commonly found in many public washrooms as well, if they in fact have a western style toilet.
In North America however, they are rarely ever seen in homes but recent marketing efforts by TOTO are trying to change that. According to a Harvard Business School article , some Hollywood stars that have Washlets installed in their home are: Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lopez, and Whoopi Goldberg. Google headquarters also known to have them installed throughout their facility.
How does it work?
A washlet has a wand that extends from the back of the toilet seat when you activate it by pressing a button. This wand will cleanse your bottom with a stream of gentle, warm water. Nothing touches you except the water, ensuring the whole process is very sanitary.
Higher end washlets also have the ability to then air dry your bottom, eliminating any need for using toilet paper. Even if you do not have this feature, a very minimal amount of toilet paper will be used to dry yourself.
Environmental benefits?
- Reduce Toilet Paper Use = Saving Trees
If using a washlet in your home could totally eliminate the use of toilet paper, or at least greatly reduce it, the environmental impact is huge! According to treehugger.com, Americans use 34,000,000 rolls of toilet paper per day and the chart shown indicates the environmental strain resulting from this.
Image: treehugger.com
- Reduce Energy Usage
In Japan, the majority of houses / apartments do not have central heating and cooling. Most Japanese cities do not experience temperatures drop below the freezing point so it is not all that necessary. To top it off, electricity is extremely expensive in Japan and central heating would probably bankrupt most families. Instead, Japanese install a unit on their wall that performs both heating and cooling in each room as required only. (The main producer of such a unit is Toshiba and they call it a Daiseikai ). These units are sold in the UK and other parts of Europe as well since many homes do not have central heating and cooling.
Bathrooms never have these heating and cooling units so as you can imagine, that toilet seat can be pretty uncomfortable when you sit on it and its ice cold! Many washlets have an the added benefit of having a heated seat. This makes the trip to the washroom more comfortable without the need to waste energy heating the entire bathroom.
We can learn from the Japanese here. North Americans can take advantage of the heated seat for toilets in the basement of a house. You only need your butt to feel warm to be comfortable so keep that thermostat low in the washroom and save energy!
While these washlets themselves require energy in order to operate, the energy consumption is minimal if you compare it to what is required to produce toilet paper.
Tags: bidet, energy, environment, green home, green ideas, green ideas today, restroom, toilet paper, toilet seat, TOTO, washlet, washroom, waste reduction
But what about the extra water used and the electricity that the wand uses? How much do these use? I would think a composting toilet would still be much better than one of these.
Thanks for your comment Dee. I really enjoy your challenges and i think its great to discuss further.
You bring up a good point about the use of a composting toilet. The developments of self contained toilets have come a long way and they are most definitely an alternative that should be considered as well. One downside that i can see is that many condo and apartments may not allow tenants to switch over unfortunately. (I for one was refused when i asked my condo management).
I would love to have you create a “community written” article on the topic if you would like. (Feel free to contact me at info@greenideastoday.com if you are interested).
In terms of the electricity used by the washlet, this can vary a fair bit depending on the brand / model / features you get. There are very simple units available as well that are quite affordable and do not actually require any electricity.
My point with the above washlet is that the energy used by the unit will definitely be less that the manufacturing footprint required for producing toilet paper (cutting down trees, transporting them to a mill, converting it to paper, chemicals to bleach/produce paper, transport to a supermarket, etc). Also, if the seat warmer results in people not heating their bathrooms, then this is further reduction.
Thanks again for your contribution to the green ideas today community!
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Thanks much for this entry. I honestly had never really heard about a washlet before and find it to be an interesting way to possibly reduce toilet paper usage in my home.
I dont think a lot of people in north america know much about washets/bidets, etc. Maybe they just seem strange to us over here but i can see that they definitely have a lot potential to reduce toilet paper waste, etc. The ones that do not use any power are ideal as they dont even use energy, etc. I also live in a condo/apt so there is no way that a compost toilet would work for me!!!!!
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Thank you for making info on this easy to take in… i never really thought about the effect of toilet paper to be honest.
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