Sheryl Crow: One Square of Toilet Paper Per Visit to Fight Global Warming

Associated Content | Apr 23, 2007

In a blog posting over the weekend, singer Sheryl Crow unveiled her plan to help everyone combat global warming. It involves toilet paper. I’ll let Sheryl tell it in her own words:

“I have spent the better part of this tour trying to come up with easy ways for us all to become a part of the solution to global warming. Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating. One of my favorites is in the area of conserving trees which we heavily rely on for oxygen. I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don’t want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required.”

Crow is not the first to consider the possibility that toilet paper might be one of the root causes of the .6 degrees (Celsius) the Earth has warmed over the past century. Last month, the New York Times featured a family living in Manhattan – Colin Beaven, Michelle Conlin, and their 2-year-old daughter Isabelle – which is attempting a year-long project they call “No Impact.” The goal of the project is to live an entire year without making any impact on the environment.

According to the New York Times article, this involves the family eating only organically grown food (grown within 250 miles of Manhattan), no shopping for anything except food, producing no trash except compost, no carbon-based transportation and no paper use.

The lack of paper is perhaps the most difficult. Not only because both parents work in publishing (he is a writer of historical nonfiction and she is a writer at Business Week), but because the ban on paper includes toilet paper. As the author of the article says, “Nothing is a substitute for toilet paper, by the way; think of bowls of water and lots of air drying.”

Although the gesture is noble, of course, one has to wonder exactly how effective it is. The 250 mile rule for food purchasing is the distance the family feels a farmer can drive in a car from the country in one day, while a loophole exists that allows the family to accept gifts. Still, their complete lack of toilet paper is impressive, as is Sheryl Crow’s single square of toilet paper per bathroom visit, if – one assumes – just a tad bit smelly.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/garden/22impact.html?ex=1332216000&en=e77725051fe1a853&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
http://www.sherylcrow.com/news.aspx?nid=7786