As people start getting their supplies in order and stocking up on those non-food items that are essential to survival, they may learn that some of these items don’t have long shelf lives. In fact, some of these supplies may start to degrade or dissolve within months and toilet paper is one of these items. Toilet paper only has a shelf life of 2 – 5 months. Even if you stock up on it, a year into a state of emergency you might find it useless or that you can’t find toilet paper anywhere.
It’s important to have a plan b when it comes to having enough toilet paper on hand to sustain you.
Toilet paper was first invented by the Chinese in 50 B.C., but toilet paper as Americans know it wasn’t manufactured and sold until 1916. Even with the Chinese and American manufacturers Kimberly Clark most people used other materials to clean their private areas until the use of toilet paper became more mainstream in the 1930s.
Over the years materials such as newspaper, book pages, wool, linen, corncobs, leaves, water/ice, hemp, sand, and sponges were all used at one point or another.
Once an emergency hits, you could probably also use these items again, but remember that you’ll have to find some place to discard bulkier items such as cloth. You may not be able to rinse the materials out to reuse them because that may use up precious water resources. Remember that once an emergency hits every day conveniences such as plumbing, running water, and trash pickup may not be available to you.
There are a couple of ways you can actually make your own toilet paper and most of the methods use newspapers. Newspapers should be one of your must-have items that you keep in bulk. You can also just use newspaper instead of making toilet paper which can be time consuming. For recipes on how to make your own toilet paper, please go to: www.shtfmovement.com/diy-how/topic9617.html.
Now once you have your toilet paper, you also have decide on which type of receptacle you will use for a toilet. There are a couple of options. You can purchase a portable toilet. These can be costly and range anywhere from $50 to a couple of hundred dollars. They are also built to sit close to the ground and if you suffer from arthritis using them can be difficult. Portable toilets can be purchased at any store that sells camping equipment.
Another option is a raised toilet seat or what is referred to as a commode chair. These are the ones that are used in hospitals and at homes for those who can’t make the trip to the bathroom. These chairs are also a lot cheaper. You can purchase them at any store that specializes in medical supplies and they run about $30-40. These chairs are higher off the floor and come with their own bucket that slides out from under the seat.
The cheapest alternative are the plastic paint buckets that are sold at Lowe's, Home Depot, or Ace Hardware stores and cost only $10. The best part about them is that they come with metal handles, are extremely durable, have lids, and can be stacked neatly in a corner when not in use. Just make sure that you don’t use these buckets for anything else once you have used it as a make-shift toilet.
You will also need a place where you can dispose of your business and in an urban environment such as Philadelphia, the best place to do that is a sewer drainage area that can be located at the end of any residential neighborhood.
Make sure that whatever you decide to use, don’t keep the toilets around any food storage.
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