The Necessity of Toilet Paper

[Northmountain]

Read a well written article on the Preparedness Pro blog by Kellene Bishop about toilet paper.

See: http://www.preparednesspro.com/blog/...-toilet-paper/

The article also discusses the need of handling and disposing of human waste in a very careful manner.

"To understand why planning on using a rag as opposed to TP or another like product, I think I should first point out a few things about feces and urine that some folks may not realize. First of all, sewer treatment employees receive HAZARD PAY because of the danger of their work. In fact, sewer treatment employees receive more “disaster prevention training” annually than police officers do to improve their firearm skills. In other words, working with urine and feces is not a task to be taken lightly. The hazard in working with sewage isn’t just about the chemicals used to treat the sewers, but it’s also about working with the unavoidable—the waste itself."

"Bottom line, in the event of true emergency scenario, having ample toilet paper will NOT be the least of your concerns. It falls in line with the Physical and Medical aspects of preparedness which puts it in the position of priority number 3 and 4 out of the Ten Areas of Preparedness."

Do you have a functioning or functional plan in place or facilities to handle sewage in a disaster or extended failure of city / community services situation?

Here's a link to outhouse plans developed by the Habitat for Humanity and UAA Students in Alaska.

http://teamfrostbite.uaa.alaska.edu/...w%20wheels.pdf

[AZ Prepper]

There are some basics that you should know about dealing with human waste, mainly:

• How far away from home, garden & waters sources to bury waste
• How deep to bury waste
• What can you add to the waste to kill as many germs as possible
• What can you add to help manage the smell until proper burial

Some answers are:

• You should bury human waste at least 12 feet from your home, garden, etc.
• You should bury it at least 18 inches deep (animals can sniff through 15-16 inches of dirt)
• Lime helps break it down
• Borax helps with the smell

Now, I'm sure there will be people who will argue and protest that Borax isn't "environmentally friendly"... but being dead isn't much use either.

And if you don't think you have a rat, disease spreading problem now, just wait until an emergency occurs and sanitation is out the window...


(Thanks to Kenneth Moravec for this information... someone who KNOWS what he's talking about, for sure!)

[Rizzo]

I wonder how I survived all those years of changing my babies diapers. I came into close personal contact with human waste on a daily, sometimes hourly basis.

Its sad to see the derision in her post. Everyone has a different point of view, and she makes some good points....but making fun of the original post was unnecessary. We're all working towards the same goal here aren't we?

Back to storing TP and rags. Because you can use BOTH for many different useful reasons.

[AZ Prepper]

Having flannel pieces of towel that you can use would be very important and useful in these types of situations. And having a bucket with the proper cleaning and sterilizing solutions will be just as important. This is especially true for young children still in diapers. I can just see someone trying to wipe a chapped baby's bottom with corn husks. Not the best solution and can cause more problems for the poor baby.

And because during times of great stress and hardship, adults may go through some "stomach problem" stages where a little more delicate attention may be needed. These, although seemingly insignificant now, may be quite significant when in the middle of the dilemma.

I'm sure that paper, corn husks and many other things out there would work after supplies of TP have been used up, but having other cloth solutions will be just as important (even more important in many cases). And it will prevent diseases if properly managed and keep the user more comfortable and in better health. It's all about having a well thought out plan.

[ssprepper]

I thought she did kind of throw it out of proportion. There are many ways to do things. The point is to do something. I liked your idea, especially for long, long term sanitation Thanks for the thoughts.

[wildcat]

Well; somebody better come up with a solution before the "time comes"!