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Discussion (97 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews
Wastefulness is a national pastime.
Can any average american or german person comment on how this actually works? Do you wipe like 15 times per visit, or is it just a very high amount (folded?) of sheets per wipe?
That's only about 50% more than Japan uses, and that's a country that's the most famous user of bidets.
This doesn't mean than the average American uses that much paper. I believe it just means a lot of it is wasted (probably just thrown away without even using it) unsure why though
There don't appear to be any reliable stats or studies, which I find surprising; the few studies I could find had people use way less tp, eg https://www.radiohamburg.de/aktuelles/hamburg/Wie-scht-Hambu...
So I'm inclined to believe the 134 is hogwash; no idea if the numbers for the US are more reliable.
Same energy as a 13-year-old boy bullying his little brother just because of his own hormone-driven insecurity.
Other than the current tariff narrative, it's fairly standard CIA play when we look at what they did to Latin America already.
Donald Trump wants to make the USA bigger. It will put him in the history books. He also wants a lot of chaos so he can be bribed to stop(he won’t).
There is no master plan, just greed.
This is a thought terminating cliche. This is just the latest move in a long term strategic effort to undermine Canada's sovereignty. Zoom out, and that in it of itself is part of an even broader strategic effort to reorganize alliances which built the world order.
Everywhere there are criticisms of Trump, his administration, and their goals, there is always this commentary which not only fails to serve as an accurate representation of present situations, but more importantly, it serves to distract from the chronology of events which led us here, blinding the broader conversation from creating inferences of what will happen next which stifles the conversation from its most natural next reply: What are they actually doing, and what do we do if it does not benefit us?
You are underthinking this.
Everyone is going to lose here.
>Everyone is going to lose here.
I believe in sovereign states well enough to have 100% respect for Canada-first policies as well as America-first in the US.
Things worked so well for so many decades with much lesser rebalancing, that the only explanation would be some serious defect arising that was not there until recent years or days.
This is just Trump's way of telling Americans, if they can't afford to pay way more going forward for everything into the foreseeable future, toilet paper is the least of their worries.
He doesn't have to detail it out loud, but there are plenty of good old American corncobs which have fallen into disuse for this purpose, and it wouldn't be nearly as unpleasant as it was in the outhouse days.
Except for those who may not be able to afford a rising water bill at some point :(
In the end it confirms his idea of "winning" amounts to shit on a stick.
Let's hope victory against Canada looks better than victory against Iran else we'll be paying $10/roll for toilet paper as well as $4/gal at the pump.
China is the long term winner here.
I thought this was a fun tidbit:
I'm not sure if using a bidet would be better for the environment but maybe this is a blessing in disguise on the environmental front.I'm also curious, is there any reporting on increases in Canadian prices as a result of their tariffs on American products or does that only go one way? I always read (especially in international papers like the Guardian) about Americans seeing price increases but I see very little reporting on price increases/decreases or changes in other countries.
Also maybe someone can remind me, in the past (before Trump 1 even) were there any tariffs on American products that anyone can point to? I see on the news channels discussion about how Canada has historically placed tariffs American dairy products. Did that result in higher prices in Canada? How did their economy handle the lack of American dairy imports at lower prices (if they were lower)?
The current counter-tariffs haven't taken effect yet, but yes, various products saw price increases with the previous sets.
Though TBH, I personally saw more increases in prices from American tariffs on Chinese goods where American sellers couldn't be bothered to sell goods to Canada without first importing to the US and just tacked on a price increase for all buyers. To the best of my ability I've avoided those products/sellers.
I tried a bidet previously because people rave about them. But when trying them, there seems to be two problems. The water that hits you sprays around on impact. So that immediately-sullied water now has a bit of blast radius to it. I also can't see down there, so having done what certainly felt like a pretty thorough job bidet-ing, I would wipe and discover the job was not so thorough. So although you could potentially use a bidet to reduce your toilet paper usage, toilet paper itself allows you to actually check whether or not you got everything, which just seems impossible with a bidet alone. And if I only used the bidet, then what am I supposed to do to dry myself? It feels like TP needs to be in the mix at least a little bit.
Am I just using it wrong? Does a lifetime of using it give your brain a clearer sense of where the water has hit and what "clean" feels like.
The main benefit is those times you'll otherwise go through half a roll (also means you don't rub through the skin).
We use so much less tp since we got one.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bidet+kit
Canada has the same issue in many industries, where the need/desire for Canadian firms to compete against US firms - even though Canada has a population roughly a tenth the size of the US - results in a handful of bloated monopolies/monopsonies that the Canadian population has to deal with.
For an alternative perspective you can look at the US healthcare system, where the US has a protectionist system that props up its healthcare industry (insurance, providers, pharma companies, etc) at the expense of its population, to the tune of about 2x what Canada spends per capita.
Canadians who live near the border will commonly hop over for some shopping and fill up their tank with cheap gas, while Americans try to fill their prescriptions from Canadian pharmacies and travel to Mexico for procedures they can't afford to get done in the US. It's all a matter of what the system is set up to do.
I'm curious what options Canada has to break up these monopolies and lower prices with respect to their ongoing protectionist policies?
Think of the Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier. Canada wants to keep a domestic aircraft manufacturer around so they have a backup in case of US shenanigans (like what just happened with the F-35) so the government ensures there's ongoing contracts for those domestic aircraft as well as subsidies for things like manufacturing plant expansion or modernization. But Canada's population only needs so many aircraft, so why would they waste government resources on a new upstart rival aircraft manufacturer? Bombardier knows this too, so why would they spend their own resources on R&D or modernization when they know they can get the government to pay for it instead? It's a feedback loop, and not necessarily a good one.
I contemplated a bidet during the lockdowns, and some YouTubers were touting their convenience and comfort. But ultimately, I rent an apartment with a landlady, and there's no way a bidet could get installed and survive my lease agreement.
So I decided that a good compromise was to start buying wet wipes. I found the "Sensitive" Huggies to be fairly good. Unscented and gentle. There's also "Honest" brand at Target, marketed to adults. Supposedly flushable. I don't flush them.
It's been working out so well that I carry around the wet wipes in my pocket, everywhere I go. They have saved me in many situations in many public restrooms. And they can also clean up my hands if I happen to get muddy or gritty while I'm out and about.
B) They make bidets that are trivial to install/remove. I have one that connects inline with the water lines and it took like 4 minutes to install. But you can also get a portable one. They range from squirt bottle for your bum to fancy battery powered devices with USB-c charging.
As someone on the border, the tariffs do screw over individual folks on both sides of it.
Canadian grocery prices are awfully high and they've been known for various price-fixing scandals (the Loblaws bread-fixing apology gift cards come to mind) so there's often a lot of Canadian Walmart/Sams Club/Local Grocery shoppers.
One of the odd things is that Americans had it better coming back to the US from Canada after a day out shopping - we could bring back $800, but the Canadians going home could only bring back $50 or so, unless they were out for more than 48 hours then got $800. US Customs was also hilariously lax on actually enforcing things ("anything to declare?" "ah, I spent $200 at IKEA" gets a handwave) compared to the Canadians that'll fine-tooth comb the vehicle to pull every penny of duty they can coming home to Canada.
I'm simultaneously surprised and not surprised that this exists (we buy washable paper towels and beeswax items and similar for reusability) but even I think that's even a bridge too far. More power to anyone who is using those products though.
I've personally always found US customs easy to deal with for purchased products. When we came back from France last year with around a case of wine my wife was worried and I'm like what is there to worry about? we're not smuggling anything and the worst case is we just pay a duty on the wine of a $1 or $2. You just declare it and if duties are applicable you just pay them. It always seemed to me they were really there to just keep people from doing crazy things or outright breaking import laws. Similar to your experience, coming back from Toronto with a few purchased items, US customs just did not care at all.
I saw some spirits that were quoted at $40-80+ a bottle, depending on a bunch of factors, when you go over the relatively small limit. Bringing home a case of Kentucky sipping burbon to Toronto will hurt you right in the wallet a few times over.
Insiders say he's bored of being president, bored of his Iran war, and has no interest in going out stumping for others in the midterms since there is nothing in it for himself.
The only enjoyment he's got left is trying to get a rise out of the press and get some adulation from his base with playground antics like his "Lake America".
At this point it's not just that he started out stupid (even his own mother said so), but that he's pretty seriously suffering from dementia - I'm sure any nursing home staff recognize the symptoms.
Edit: I mixed up my words originally -- switch _from_ wood-based TP to bamboo is what I meant
I should use AI to write my HN comments and avoid typos :p
Also even though the fire was in Ontario CA, it was Ontario California not Ontario Canada.
OTOH, upgrade to a TOTO, or other 'smart' toilet. Need less paper that way.
https://www.consumerreports.org/home-garden/toilets/best-sma...
I use the 3D-printed one for travel (I'd gladly pay extra for hotels that have bidets) and outdoor use.
Using a bidet is such an easy life upgrade for anyone relying on TP.
I think it could use something more, like a lever/handle/button at the top, and a C02-cartridge. Or pump.
Like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soda_siphon
My experience with these has been that I use more paper, because I always feel "wet" afterward.
Whereas with a good, solid, no-nonsense beef bomb, I can skimp a little as long as there's a good pinch at the end.
after a bidet you can dry with one square
As for the bidet, the ones I've used in Japan make me wipe more, again, because it's all wet back there, and even the ones with the air dryers don't seem to get the job done.
Get enough for a year for a family.
400 rolls would be a good start.
Act now and save money.