Sustianable Upgrades for the Home or Office

Benjamin Roman of metaefficient.com brings us this incredible infographic on ways to upgrade buildings to save on energy bills, heating and cooling, and water bills. The coolest part of these sustainable systems is that they will pay for themselves in the long run. Check it out!

Note: the figures in red, or "added cost" denotes the initial investment in the technology. 

Give up the TP for a Sustainable Alternative

Could you ever go without toilet paper? Most Americans wouldn't dream of it, and you may even be shocked that I asked such a heinous question.

Yet in the rest of the world, toilet paper would be a novelty as bidets, the superior hygiene and environmental choice, dominate.

In case you are unfamiliar with this foreign piece of technology, it is like a cross between a toilet and a fountain that cleans you thoroughly, much better than with toilet tissue, without using your hands. For obvious reasons, the bidet is the much healthier option, especially considering that about half of all people do not wash their hands after using the loo. But is it any better environmentally? Wouldn't using water to wash after ever visit to the rest room just waste a lot more water? 

The Beautiful Bidet, Credit

According to Justin Thomas of metaefficient.com, Americans cumulatively use 36.5 billion rolls of TP every year, which equals 15 million trees, 573 BILLION gallons of water, and 253K tons of chlorine for bleaching the paper a nice white color. This process uses 17 terawatts of energy, and even more power and materials to package and ship the bathroom tissue. All in all, it takes about 37 gallons of water and 1.5lbs of wood to make a single roll of TP.

Bidets, on the other hand, use about an 1/8th of a gallon per usage.

Let's get math-matical, shall we? If your average roll of two-ply contains 500 squares of paper, and the average person uses five to ten sheets per visit to the loo, then the roll would be gone in 50 to 100 usages.
The same number of usages of a bidet would result in using 6.25 or 12.5 gallons, respectively, instead of the 37 gallons it takes to make a roll of toilet paper. It also saves all that electricity, wood, plastic, and other materials it takes to produce TP.  

Bidets come in a huge variety, but can cost as little as $69 (if you don't mind unheated water). At such an low one-time cost, its a wonder that America hasn't yet embraced the cleanliness and efficiency that is the bidet.

If you're not convinced yet, here is a review of the Japanese super toilet written by an American man.