This TreeHugger is a big fan of bidets (and I really like my Toto). Now Scientific American looks at the issue, when a reader asks “Wouldn’t a return to installing bidets in bathrooms at home go a long way toward cutting disposable tissue use and saving forests?”
To be pedantic, it is not a return to installing bidets, they have never been popular in America; in fact, they were always a niche market among the rich who did European tours. Harvey Molotch, a New York University professor, studied the bidet and it’s trip to America and the New York Times summarized:
That’s a lot of water, far more than is actually used by the bidet itself.
Lloyd Alter/ toto toilet with washlet/CC BY 2.0
There are also the health benefits (summarized here) and the fact that one is far less likely to get any fecal bacteria on their hands. When I designed my bathroom with the bidet/toilet in a separate water closet, readers complained that I wasn’t washing my hands before I touched the doorknob. But in fact it is not a problem because the entire operation is hands-free. As they note in Scientific American:
For the record, I still wash my hands.
