by Jane Herz at nypost.com
alk about a green thumb.
Environmental activist Robin Greenfield, 36, has been wiping with leaves instead of toilet paper for a decade now — and he has no plans to stop.
Greenfield first began his journey to quitting toilet paper in 2013 by first using leftover napkins and tissues instead.
However, five years ago, he realized that the leaf of a blue spur flower was perhaps an even better substitute due to its size and shape, so he started using it as his permanent solution.
“Consumption of toilet paper fuels deforestation and massive usage of fossil fuels in transportation,” Greenfield said, according to South West News Service.
“So the message to grow our own at home and find alternatives to consumerism has never been more relevant.”
Greenfield revealed that the blue spur flower can be grown in your own backyard, which means that you theoretically could have toilet paper to last you for your entire life.
The plant is native to South Asia and Africa, according to SWNS, and it’s something that Greenfield dubbed “the toilet paper plant” in a recent video appropriately titled “Grow Your Own Toilet Paper.”
Greenfield also noted on his website that the plant grows in Florida, many different regions of California; southern parts of South Carolina and Georgia; the Gulf Coast of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana; southern Texas; and some parts of southern Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.
Greenfield explained that the plant can’t tolerate super-cold weather, but it could be grown in a pot indoors and brought inside when it’s freezing out.
The activist said that the plant has a naturally “minty” scent and described its leaves as “super soft” and strong.
Numerous YouTube commenters saluted his hack as “awesome” and a “great idea,” while one person snarked, “Why grow and insult a plant?”