Recycling Archives
Why does recycled paper make such crappy toilet paper?
By Michael Fumento
"I remember the importance of toilet paper while being shelled a few times, a couple of times while on the throne. I don't understand why they can't do re-cycled AND fluffy. Why are they exclusive?"
 | | One 122 mm mortar round can ruin that beautiful experience on the throne |
That's from an officer I befriended at Camp Corregidor in Ramadi, Iraq, where it rained shells so often we had to wear body armor at all times outside of fortified buildings. He saw my blog "Enviros want to wipe out soft toilet paper!" concerning the greens wanting us to use recycled toilet paper instead of the softer kind from older - but not "old growth" - trees. Older trees are better carbon sinks, meaning better at soaking up CO2.
It's all about fiber length. Longer fibers mean fewer knots and it's those knots you feel, whether in TP or in your bedsheets or in clothes - albeit not in Army uniforms, which are part polyester anyway.
That's why Egyptian cotton is the best, because it has the longest fibers. Recycled paper products inherently have fiber of short length, hence lots of knots. Not so important when you're writing on it, but rather more so when wiping with it and - although I personally haven't had the experience - doing so with 122 mm rounds dropping around your throne.
October 1, 2009 09:53 AM · Permalink
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