Ohio University students could eventually see two-ply toilet paper in buildings throughout campus.
Vice President of Student Senate Courteney Muhl said the university providing two-ply toilet paper has been an “age-old question” from students to staff.
“I don’t think it is much of a secret that students have kind of been talking about it at least for the four years that I have been here,” Muhl, a senior studying health services and administration, said. “I think that the custodial staff and the folks that make those kinds of decisions are aware that students have kind of been wondering about two-ply toilet paper for a while.”
Sydnie Butera, a sophomore studying communication, said she would like the university to switch over to two-ply toilet paper.
“(The current toilet paper) is really thin, like paper,” she said. “I would like it to be more durable, not so much fluffy.”
Steve Mack, director of Facilities Management, said OU is exploring the use of two-ply toilet paper to determine if it has any impact on the usage and if it could lead to cost savings.
“We are monitoring usage for a set period of time with our standard one-ply product,” Mack said in an email. “We then switch everything over to two-ply and monitor usage for the same period of time.”
Facilities Management has been testing the usage of the different toilet papers in portions of Alden Library and Copeland Hall.
“There are high traffic areas that assist to provide us with quick data inputs and usage patterns,” Mack said in an email.
Mack said the two facilities have only been tested for a couple of weeks and will continue through the rest of the academic year.
Muhl said a few years ago when Student Senate asked the university about using two-ply toilet paper, they were told that the piping system would not be able to support it.
“It would clog the sewer and pipes,” she said. “We just didn’t have the infrastructure to handle that.”
She said she was surprised when she found out that the university was testing the cost effectiveness and not the effects of the toilet paper in the piping system.
Mack said the university has not received pricing options because it is too early to know when OU will start supplying the two-ply toilet paper.
