“Love the toilet”. Would seeing that message above the roll of toilet paper in a public bathroom make you use less paper? Kooky as it is, a Japanese group campaigning to save toilet paper as part of the country’s fight against global warming believes that ‘toilet poems’ can inspire conservation.
According to a study done by research center Japanese Toilet Labo, they might be right. The study showed that putting a ‘toilet poem’ at the eye level of the person seated in the restroom stall cut toilet paper use by up to 20%. The poems say things like “That paper will only meet you for a minute” and “Fold the paper over and over and over again”.
From Reuters:
“We asked ourselves what we could do for the environment in the toilet?” said Ryusuke Nagahara of the Japan Toilet Labo. “The answer is to save toilet paper and save water.”
Toilet paper use in Japan has been increasing in recent years, according to an industry body, possibly because of a rise in the number of public toilets, where people tend to use more paper.
“It’s because it’s free,” said an official at the Kikaisuki Washi Rengokai. “At home, people are more inclined to scrimp.”
I suppose what makes this work 20% of the time is simply the reminder not to mindlessly tear off way more sheets than you really need. Some people really do use unbelievably excessive amounts of toilet paper – I know this because I used to work in a small office with just a handful of women and as a group we went through astonishing amounts of toilet paper. It really is wasteful.
Japan Toilet Labo hopes to get their poems up in 1,000 public bathrooms across the country. Hey, if it works even a fraction of the time, why not? Everyone else will at least get a giggle.
Link [Reuters]
Photo credit: AllFunnyPictures.com
