{"id":72151,"date":"2022-10-16T00:03:01","date_gmt":"2022-10-16T04:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/?p=72151"},"modified":"2022-10-16T00:03:01","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T04:03:01","slug":"why-are-new-yorkers-still-using-toilet-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/72151\/why-are-new-yorkers-still-using-toilet-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are New Yorkers Still Using Toilet Paper?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In New York and throughout most of the rest of the United States, most people are still using toilet paper to clean themselves after using the bathroom.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/275965\/us-households-use-of-toilet-paper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only 2.19 million people<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the U.S. reported not using toilet paper regularly, with 326.38 million people using toilet paper regularly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using a bidet is almost universally superior as a cleaning option, so why aren&#8217;t more people using it?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Advantages of the Bidet<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In most countries throughout the world,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bidetmate.com\/blog\/how-different-countries-clean-their-bums-without-toilet-paper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">toilet paper isn\u2019t commonly used<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. There are a variety of cleaning strategies being used today, but in most developed areas, people heavily rely on bidets for their bathroom cleaning needs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bidets are advantageous for several reasons:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <\/span><b>A more thorough clean.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> For starters, cleaning with water always results in a more thorough clean than cleaning with paper. You probably already know this intuitively, since your hands feel cleaner after washing with water than they feel after wiping them off with a paper towel. Ultimately, bidet users are more comfortable and they feel cleaner.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <\/span><b>Less wasted paper. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toilet paper isn&#8217;t exactly expensive, but the cost of this resource adds up when you use it every day. You&#8217;ll still need a bit of toilet paper to dry off after cleaning with a bidet in most cases, but switching away from toilet paper means you&#8217;ll use far less of it. That means you&#8217;ll spend far less money every year and you&#8217;ll live a more sustainable lifestyle.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <\/span><b>Positive health outcomes.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Using a bidet is also associated with more positive health outcomes for millions of people. People who use a bidet are less likely to experience hemorrhoids and other negative health complications that can come from wiping.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So why aren\u2019t more New Yorkers and Americans making the switch?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is Toilet Paper Still the Dominant Option<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are some of the reasons why toilet paper is still the dominant option in most areas:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <\/span><b>Lack of knowledge about bidets. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some people don&#8217;t even know that bidets exist. They&#8217;ve been raised in a world where toilet paper is still the most common option, and they haven&#8217;t had the opportunity to travel to other areas. Accordingly, they may not even know that a better option exists.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <\/span><b>Misconceptions on cost.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Some people believe that bidets are ridiculously expensive. And if you&#8217;re tearing up your plumbing and redoing your entire bathroom to make an installation, this might genuinely be the case. But modern bidets are designed to attach to your toilet directly, so they&#8217;re much more affordable than they used to be.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <\/span><b>Misconceptions on installation.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Others have lingering misconceptions about how bidets are installed. They might consider purchasing one if they were renovating an entire bathroom, but since they don&#8217;t want to start a renovation or hire a professional plumber, they never pursue the option. In reality, many bidet devices can be easily installed on an existing toilet with no previous plumbing knowledge or experience.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <\/span><b>Inexpensiveness and availability of toilet paper.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> We also need to acknowledge the inexpensiveness and widespread availability of toilet paper. Because this is such a valued and common resource, we find it in abundance in stores all over the country. A single roll of toilet paper is very cheap, and this price is even cheaper when you buy toilet paper in bulk or on sale. Because it&#8217;s so easy to find and buy toilet paper, people aren&#8217;t prompted to think of potential alternatives to this solution.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <\/span><b>No immediate incentive to switch.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> There&#8217;s also no immediate incentive to switch. For most people, using a bidet for the first time is a bit uncomfortable, since they don&#8217;t know what to expect from the experience. Most of the benefits of using this alternative cleaning device only reveal themselves after repeated use.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <\/span><b>Status quo bias.<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Status_quo_bias\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Status quo bias is an emotional bias<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that incentivizes people to stick with whatever they know. You probably experienced this to some degree in your own life; you may resist a potentially positive change simply because you want things to stay the way they are. If you&#8217;ve used toilet paper since you were a kid, the benefits of a bidet probably aren&#8217;t very persuasive to you; you just want to keep doing what you&#8217;ve done your entire life.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can We Make the Switch?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So can New York make the switch away from toilet paper? And will the rest of the United States be able to follow suit? It&#8217;s hard to say for sure, but bidets are slowly gaining recognition and momentum in our society. As these devices become more available and more affordable, it&#8217;s only a matter of time before more people start using them. That said, status quo bias is strong, and toilet paper may remain the norm for many years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In New York and throughout most of the rest of the United States, most people are still using toilet paper to clean themselves after using the bathroom. Only 2.19 million people in the U.S. reported not using toilet paper regularly, with 326.38 million people using toilet paper regularly. Using a bidet is almost universally superior [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":72152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[849],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-72151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-shopping-2"},"acf":[],"mv":{"thumbnail_id":72152,"thumbnail_uri":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Why-Are-New-Yorkers-Still-Using-Toilet-Paper-350x230.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}