A post in another thread reminded me of this. My freshman year of college I shared a dorm apartment with four other guys; we all shared one bathroom. One guy would, instead of flushing his used toilet paper, instead throw it into the little wastebasket next to the toilet. It was disgusting – he wouldn’t even make an effort to ball up the paper and hide the “evidence” of its use; instead the garbage can would be piled high with visibly stained brown and green TP. It was gross to look at and it smelled. Once we figured out who was doing it the rest of us discussed it privately; I said it was gross, but someone else said it was just a cultural thing – the guy had grown up in a somewhat isolated house in the country, and it was thought that maybe his septic tank couldn’t handle toilet paper, so he’d always only thrown the TP away.
I have always only ever flushed the TP. Even on airplanes where you’re supposed to put it in the garbage can, I sometimes flush it anyways. Is the garbage can alternative popular? Is there any real rationale for it?
Mod, not sure if this belongs here or GQ; move at will.
In this area we have quite a few Hispanic people of lower socioeconomic status. My husband has worked as a custodian in the local schools, and he learned that some Hispanic children will throw their TP in the garbage can rather than the toilet because they are used to substandard plumbing where flushing TP isn’t a good idea.
What’s that sign you sometimes see over marine toilets – something along the lines of “Do not flush anything down the head that you haven’t eaten first”?
I’ve been in most of Eastern Europe. The practice is widespread there, for the reason that their septic systems cannot handle large quantities of paper.
Although given the quasi-cardboard nature (which I prefer, BTW) of their TP, this doesn’t surprise me at all. I doubt American systems could handle it.
I’ve even seen signs in upscale hotels exhorting the guests to please use the wastebasket provided for used TP, and not to flush it.
In Mexico (and most of Central America) the standard is that toilet paper goes in the wastebasket because the septic system can’t handle it. Trash is dealt with on a daily basis.
Apologies for a fatuous hijack, but I happened to be in a supermarket in Slovakia last week, somewhere north of Preśov, where I spotted some toilet paper with the brand name “FANNY”. Probably works better in American than in English.
Someone where I used to work would throw the TP next to the toilet on the floor. Every Day. I wonder if this is the same phenomonon, only lazier and more disgusting.
Yup, I lived in Greece for the summer of 1990. A group of other students and I had an apartment in Athens, and we got to experience the day-to-day life of the Greeks.
The toilets did indeed not handle toilet paper very well, and this was in a relatively new apartment house. After the first couple weeks, you got used to the whole ‘throw it in the garbage’ thing and the Ick factor went away. You just got used to wadding it up, and you took out the garbage at least once a day.
We had a small garbage can in the bathroom, and we lined it with plastic grocery bags. Given that there were a mimimum of 4 of us living in the apartment, it got taken out pretty often.
I never knew this was so common. I’ve travelled fairly extensively in Eastern (and Western) Europe, but I don’t remember ever seeing this (or, at any rate, not noticing it – maybe it was there but I just missed it). Either I was just staying at all the right places, or times have changed since some others have travelled in the region.
Normally when you have to throw out the TP, do you use a garbage can with a lid?
I still don’t think it quite excuses my roommate, because even if he did grow up in a house with this system, he had done some travelling, and it should have been obvious to him that he was the only one not flushing it. Besides that, there’s no reason for him not to at least have wadded it up if he wanted to throw it away, right? If you have the option, it’s always polite to flush, correct? Or is there an environmental/ecological reason for putting it in the garbage can even if the toilet can handle it?
Where I work the few blacks will dry their hands on the paper towels and toss the towels behind the bathroom door. When the empty trash can is actually handier. I never considered it cultural until now, but it might be. I’d always assumed it was a form of venting anger and frustration.
Well, in parts of Mexico. Middle class Mexicans – like middle class Americans – maintain their property. My in-laws would never think of putting paper in the trash can. Yuck! On the other hand, it explains why they have garbage service every, single day of the week. That’s central Mexico. Here in the northwest when I was shopping for rental houses, the real estate agent was offended when I asked about the TP-in-the-toilet situation here. And the plumbing has no problem with it (in my previous house at my real home, I always had events until I installed a pressure assist toilet). Finally, given all that, there are signs in every stall at the plant exhorting everyone that for safety and hygeine, please deposit the toilet paper into the toilets. So there are a fair number of people even here that must need a reminder from time to time.
Yeah, I’ll go with the Eastern European cultural angle. My MIL keeps a wastebasket next to the toilet for that purpose. She used to, in her previous residence, claim that this was necessary since, she claimed, the plumbing wouldn’t handle it. A few years back she moved into our neighborhood, into a house that had once belonged to someone we know, so we are positive that’s not the case there. At least she’s stopped putting little notes telling us to put used paper in the wastebasket. I think it’s an icky practice for the reasons previously mentioned.
It occurs to me that if they found themselves in a situation where the plumbing couldn’t handle toilet paper, and they had access to whatever they wanted, Americans would:
1.) order parts for new plumbing
Instead of garbage cans, start stocking those continuous-feed baby diaper disposals, like Diaper Genies. Completely lock up the smell, and easy disposal.
Some people don’t want to touch the door handle on the way out, so they grab a paper towel, use it to open the door and just let it drop on the way out. This would explain the paper towel behind the door.
I don’t see this…“the garbage can would be piled high with visibly stained brown and green TP. It was gross to look at and it smelled.”…as an option.
As much as I was turned off by the instruction for using the mug of water down the crack method form another thread, even that option would come before piles of soiled paper stacking up in the house.
At an absolute minimum (if forced to use the garbage can) I’d line it with 10-12 bags at all times and if anybody used it they would have to “flush” it by removing that individual bag, tying it shut, and removing it to an outside trash can. No way am I stocking soiled paper in the house for some bizarre germ and reverse potpourri experiment
Just adding my voice to the “perhaps your roommate grew up where the plumbing couldn’t handle TP” crowd… a few years ago, my stepdaughter had a friend over (they were probably around 13 years old at the time) and the friend threw her TP in the garbage can. Drove Mr. Kitty crazy until he figured out where the smell was coming from- he thought one of the dogs had had an accident. He finally realized what the source of the problem was (he had also grown up in a similar situation) and took care of it (when I arrived home, I was quite curious as to why our bathroom garbage can was sitting out on the porch filled with bleach water).
So, in somewhat rural Georgia there are still families that have to engage in this practice.
Some woman where I used to work did this. I was flabbergasted. Why not just carry the towel with you to the next trash can? Sometimes she didn’t even drop it behind the door; I nearly broke my leg once slipping on the dam(p) paper towel as I walked in. After a while somebody thoughtfully put a wastebasket near the door, and there was still a little pile of paper towels beside the wastebasket.
My husband works with Mexicans in a warehouse. He said they do the toilet paper in the garbage thing, too. Can someone put up a sign, in Spanish, that says, “Hey! It’s OK to flush here!” I can understand why they do it, but someone has to let them know that the plumbing is different here!