Korean Poopy Papers

Filed as: Korea FTW! // Responses: 25

Somebody please, please explain this to us! We’ve noticed that all of the toilets in our schools and other public places have wastebaskets beside them. For some reason, these wastebaskets often have used toilet paper in them. We asked people about it, and this is the best explanation we’ve been given so far: the Korean sewage system is different than the sewage system we’re used to in North America. It can’t handle toilet paper, for some reason. And so, to prevent the toilets from deeply clogging, it’s best to leave our poopy papers in the wastebasket. This is the main reason why so much Korean toilet paper is scented, to mask the scent that can’t be flushed away. Is this really it? This was the explanation that was offered to us from a Korean coworker, but it doesn’t really make sense to us. The toilet can handle big logs of poop, but not the paper itself? Surely there must be another reason. Anyone? Someone?

Anyhow, since we’re in the business of being informative on all things Korean, this also has to be said about Korean Toilets: good luck finding toilet paper beside them. Every toilet in my (Simon’s) school is paperless, and the same could be said about just about every other public toilet we’ve visited in Bucheon. It’s quite annoying. I had to bring in my own roll. I left it in the mens washroom. It was stolen after a couple of days. I brought in another roll and it was stolen again. This could be the main reason why you’ll never find toilet paper laying around: there are very efficient toilet paper thieves who make regular rounds. Your best bet – and supposedly common practice here in Korea – is to have pocket packets of toilet paper, sold in all convenience and grocery stores near you.

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ayax ron

In Mexico we do the same as in Korea, we don't flush the toilet paper but put it aside in a bin, it is not weird for me, I don't know about other countries, maybe the US is the weird country not doing so, or is it just that your sewage system allows it, but who knows I don't know this fact in every country. I know the sewage system in Mexico does clog because of people flushing the toilet paper, and it is a bigger problem if that happens, so you should try to follow what they tell you to do. Here in Seoul the guy next door is American and he has clogged the toilet several times, and my friends roommate is American as well and she also has clogged the toilet several times so I think is even more disgusting trying to unclog it than to follow this simple practice of putting the toilet paper aside.
http://www.cyworld.com/littlepretty Lorina Yoon

I'm Korean. I'll tell you. It's not only for the toilet paper. In lady's room it's definetely need for sanitary pads.
Actually, except that reason, I also can't understand that much. I flush the toilet paper when I get there.
Well… there's some small troubles cause of flushed toilet paper….like clogged toilet.
That's the biggest reason why they put those disgusting wastebaskets in the toilets.
As you can imagine if it's clogged up, it brings worse situation….disaster…. ã…œã…œ…
But I agree with you… In my home there's no wastebasket in a bathroom.
The way it looks is not matter. The real matter is when we clean it later. Ew~.

dakewang

of course all women should NEVER flush their sanitary pads.
but what about the tissue papers used by women who are having their period.
so, i would be expecting to see a waste bin full of bloody papersï¼Ÿ

Cristy

yup its the same all over the world because before the paper couldn't be fully disintegrated in the processing plants so it was recommended that the paper be throne elsewhere the only difference is that in many places in the us and apparently canada they didn't listen to those warnings but now there really isn't a problem now since there are chemicals, actually bacteria that eat the shit up LITERALLY. but people are just used to it and keep doing it. also in latin america its very comon and necesary bucause even thou they have the same sistems as evrewhere els the homes have a difrent sistem called a cistern (im not sure if i translated that correctly?) were all the waste goes to a litle box under ground and slowly disintegrates it, paper can clog these cisterns up and thats why its not recomended to flush paper. But ofcours its not like on litle paper will clog it it take a lot over time but still beter safe than sory

Lorena

Yay! Sit down toilets!
I've only ever been to Japan before, but next year I'll be teaching in Korea, and I am sooooo excited that there are sit down toilets…squattie potties are still pretty prevalent in Japan, and they take some getting used to.
JAMES

oh i hate those waste baskets!!! anyways, i was born in Korea and raised in the US. When I used to live in Korea I remember my mom and dad arguing about whether or not our family should flush the toilet papers lol. It turned out, my mom is from a poor family who only had public toilets that couldn't handle toilet papers and my dad is from a middle class family with adequate sewer system. They concluded that our toilet could actually handle the toilet paper so we did flush them afterwards. Here in the US, I often run into a completely clogged disgusting toilets full of toilet papers. I guess in Korea people want to avoid those embarrassing moments where they leave a clogged toilet and others see their stool.
Mara

They have this here in Romania too, not everywhere; mostly the older buildings, so you see it less and less. It's for the same reason as you said, besides that; a lot of Romanian people use cheap toilet paper that's very thick and doesn't like….break down in pieces when coming in contact with water.
dakewang

i feel bad for the people that are going to clean up those waste bins. WORST job ever!
In some places of Malaysia, some people just won't flush their toilet. and you'll not be able to find any used tissue papers in the toilet!
initially i was just disgusted by those nasty toilets in my own school. but it then made me to think 'why aren't there any toilet papers?'
so i asked some of the students, they told me that many of them DONT use toilet papers cuz they don't want to clg the toilets =.=
huge sacrifice… ouch…
i flush my tissue papers everyday, so do my family members but i ain't never seen the toilet in my house clog?!

momoe

that's bcuz in malaysia they use water instead of tissue papers..

dakewang

the best public toilets i've ever used are found in singapore!
the floors are always dry! tissue papers are always provided and even sanitary pads too!
it could be wierd to say this but the toilets actually smells good lol.

http://www.eatyourkimchi.com Eatyourkimchi

Korea has some really awesome toilets as well in some malls as well :D

http://www.asianfersure.blogspot.com thaly

that's not only in Korea, its also in all latin america. (:
Ruth

Most of the Asian countries have it in toilet~
Ray

I'm from thailand and it is the same here, even in our house we do it like this! I can understand your confusion of why we can flush poop but not toilet paper. Well, i'm no scientist so i won't explain in that way but from my lifelong experience, I can tell you that flushing toilet papers down the hole isn't a good thing! They will, at most time, float around (thus making it annoying because you have to wait for a while to flush again) and sometimes it can cause clogging that will either make the toilet temporarily incapable of flushing or worst, cause water to overflow. 'ayax ron' also explains that well too, so yeah, that is the reason!!

Ps. When i first came to UK, I was surprise to find that there are no wastebins, I was pretty confused! But because of what I'm used to, I have to say, flushing down toilet papers is definitely a neat and good idea.
vanessa

swattie pottie are looking worrisome …i dont know how i would do it lolll im live in Canada so i understand their confusion loll
RuthK

I always thought it had to do with being eco-friendly but for some reason that just doesn't sound right. I mean it really brings new meaning to recycling paper…
kori

Well that happens in most European countries too..but the baskets have lids that open and close so that unpleasant smells are avoided(lol)..
Marina

I'm from Brazil and here it's like in Korea.
Golden-Flute

But it's not gross at all, Simon, don't you remember? In Korea, poo is cute!
Newbie

When I went to China it was exactly the same. I heard it was due to the sewage system as well. I only used the bins when I was using a public toilet/squat toilet. My apartment had a Western toilet (thankfully) and I flushed it down.
I also had to continually buy packets of tissues or toilet paper as hardly any places in China have toilet paper.
I don’t know what it’s like in Korea or other Asian countries, but sometimes in China, the toilets wouldn’t even have doors. I tried to avoid using toilets other than my own if I could.
http://www.facebook.com/kimjihong Dexter Kim

It’s changing so many of toilets would be okay to dump toilet paper in them. Just think no wastebasket: okay to dump it.
http://twitter.com/Liklik_penguin Meghan Friesen

It was also the same when I was in Guatemala. They told us it was because the toilet paper would get caught on the edges of the pipes and eventually clog up really bad.
Yumatsu Nakagawa

I’m a Muslim so as Muslims we clean ourselves by water because IT’S MORE CLEANER LIKE THIS! we really get bothered if we saw a bathroom without water, it’s just so grouse to use toilet paper I feel that there’s no use to it it’s useless it doing nothing it not clean me or the place I get in, but unfortunately the people in my country don’t or they just can’t make the bathrooms clean, it’s really grouse to get in a bathroom after someone I don’t know why they make the bathroom as I’m in the toilet not beside the toilet we don’t use toilet paper so it have or should be cleaner than the others but from what I see I feel it’s just human nature ((not all of the some of them)) to make the places that they are in as toilets, really why people love to destroy our life (T^T)0, so what I’m trying to say here is use your home’s bathroom it’s better for you trust me (ma shaa Allah) ^^
Anonymous

In our country, we are also not supposed to flush the toilet paper
http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Kwong/100000142209349 Stephen Kwong

that’s just… really… ew… >w<