The Un-Toilet Paper Business – Ethical Innovation
About 3 years ago, before the pandemic, I started thinking about how I could help reduce carbon. I am worried for my children and grandchildren’s future. Very worried. I came upon the idea of stopping using toilet paper. Things evolved from there. I have been using a modified version of the “system” for 3 years, very happily.
Facts:
Women use 65% of all toilet paper produced, just when they pee. Women are also leading the growing revolution in eco-lifestyle changes that are being incorporated into homes and lives. At roughly 28,000 sheets per year, for each woman urinating, the cost and environmental damages are huge. This amounts to 30 million trees cut every year, again, the woman’s portion only. Proctor &Gamble (Charmin) and the Kirkland brand (Costco) are clear-cutting the Canadian Boreal Forests for paper products. These are deemed the most carbon-rich forests of the world. The statistics don’t even account for the huge supplies of water and chemicals need to process toilet paper, even the recycled kind. Bidet buy-in is low in the US, also, though this product would go well with bidets.
The system is designed as a single-walled, stainless steel container, powder-coated in a variety of colors, with a two-part lid and an attachable/detachable container for the clean, organic bamboo, 4.5″ x 4.5″ double-layered cloths used for the wipe. The used cloths then go into the container that has a solution of water plus an environmentally ecological additive for soaking until it’s wash time. The pod is then drained through the unique drain and the lid is flipped and the cloths are put directly into the wash along with all the other wash. No special treatment needed. Once dried they simply go back into the clean cloth container and are ready for the next week of use. (I have been using the same cloths for 3 years!). It’s anticipated that 30 cloths will be included in the system with more available should a user want them. We will set a price that will reflect a savings to you during the first year of use. And extend into the future as a much deeper savings.
Have I mentioned how soft and sensual the cloths are?
Our company is incorporated as MyLifeLab, LLC. Two patents have been filed: one for a Design Patent and one for a Utility Patent. In addition, we are developing media ideas including videos, emails, blogs and instructional materials for packaging. It’s my belief that the women purchasing this product will see the overall benefits to not only Nature but to their pocketbooks, their sense of utility, their belief in woman power, their sense of style and the sensual feel of the product.
People are getting freaked out about the cost of living. Toilet paper became a symbol of the recent hoarding spree that Covid started. And it’s super expensive – just to be flushed away down the toilet. While we haven’t achieved the Hundredth Monkey level yet, the ideas around the climate crisis and what individuals can do to help is growing. A recent survey indicated that most people believe in the climate crisis and want politicians to do something about it. The category of eco-products is growing and there has been a recent slowdown in new products for this category. There is an opportunity here.
I like the company LastObject; it is woman run out of Denmark. They do not have a product like this one in their line-up., however. I contacted them, early on, but they very politely told me it wasn’t a direction they were going in. I believe that might change in the future. The competitors in this tiny space are all marginal with simplistic products that do not include a “system” like I am proposing. I am interested in wholesale and licensing mostly.
I’ve had experience running a business for 20 years and greater experience in co-running other businesses for many more years than that. My weaknesses are in the day-to-day operations and in marketing. I need a co-founder and would love another woman but the statistics on woman-founded start-ups being funded is terrible. I think I have enough personal money to get to having a prototype in hand but not much past that. One of my next tasks is looking for eco-conscious product expositions to go to.
I am excited to be doing something for the planet and humanity!
Suzie Heumann / Aka: Marcia Ludwig
Sebastopol, CA
