The singing potty mouth, Sheryl Crow managed to grab some publicity for herself this weekend by joining up with fellow environmental activist, Laurie David to“discuss global warming” with Karl Rove at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and by calling on her website for a ban on using too much toilet paper.

Yeah. Really. Sheryl Crow wants everyone in America to save the environment by using only one square of toilet paper per restroom visit. I’m not kidding. Here is the link.

Singer Sheryl Crow has said a ban on using too much toilet paper should be introduced to help the environment.
Crow has suggested using “only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required”.

The 45-year-old, who made the comments on her website, has just toured the US on a biodiesel-powered bus to raise awareness about climate change.

She teamed up with environmental activist Laurie David for the shows.

The pair targeted 11 university campuses to persuade students to help combat the world’s environmental problems.

Why stop at toilet paper Ms. Crow? In my profession we use toilet paper with chalk pastels but we also use reams of drawing paper, watercolor paper, construction paper, newsprint, extra white sulphite drawing paper, parchment paper for calligraphy, rice paper for woodcuts, origami paper, and soft grey paper for blending pastel, charcoal and pencil.

We also use paper plates for crafts, coffee filters for special projects and, of course, copy paper. Art teachers don’t use half as much copy paper as regular classroom teachers, however.

Many art catalogs sell recycled paper but it doesn’t weather well and has no “teeth” to it. It’s usually more expensive so it’s too much for my budget. We also use brown paper bags for certain events for the younger students.

I could go on but suffice it to say, paper is the lifeblood of art programs in public as well as private elementary schools.

Crow also wants to get rid of paper napkins but I question whether that is really helpful to the environment. Napkins made of fabric need to be laundered. That also requires energy.

I don’t know whether Crow was brought up in a barn (or an outhouse) or not but toilet paper is a wonderful invention. Will average toilet paper-using Americans have to demand a bill of rights for the freedom to wipe?

Here are Crow’s touring requirements.

Here are some facts about toilet paper and the environment from Toilet Paper World. (I didn’t know there was such a thing.) It seems that Crow is barking up the wrong tree.

III The Environment

How many consumer products will one cord of wood yield?

*1,000 pounds of toilet paper, or…
*30 Boston Rockers, or
*12 dining room tables (each table seats eight), or
*7,500,000 toothpicks, or
*460,000 personal checks, or
*89,870 sheets of letter head bond paper (size 8 ½” s 11″), or
*61,370 standard #10 envelopes, or
*14,384,000 commemorative-size postage stamps, or
*1,200 copies of the National Geographic, or
*2,700 copies of the average daily paper (35 pages), or
*250 copies of the Sunday New York Times, or
*942 one-pound books, or
*the heating value of one ton of coal, or
*the heating value of 200 gallons of fuel oil

Lorie Byrd’s take on Sheryl Crow’s Plan to Save the World? — Ewww

UPDATE: According to Dean Barnett, Sheryl Crow is now claiming that her one square of toilet paper proposal was just a joke. She missed April Fools by about three weeks though.