This semester marked the start of a new era for the students and staff members of TJC. Likely without realizing it, you have experienced this change first hand within your daily routine on campus. TJC, after 10 years, has changed its bathroom paper product supplier at the beginning of the spring semester all over campus. Over break, new toilet paper and paper towel dispensers were brought in, installed and stocked with a sturdier, cheaper and greener option.
“It is pretty sturdy… the paper towels as well. Before, we were getting a lot of complaints that the toilet paper was too thin,” Custodial Coordinator Lucresha Phillips said.
TJC has planned to reduce the frequency that ABM, the company TJC subleases their janitorial work to, needs to refill the paper dispensers.
“We go through so much toilet paper and paper towels. But there’s always that aspect of running out. We get so many emails per day about running out of toilet paper, so we were already looking into options of bigger toilet paper and paper towels,” Phillips said”
The quality of the toilet paper is now different with the products TJC now uses.
“With the previous toilet paper, it was like disintegrating, like you couldn’t even pull it off the roll, at least in the bathroom here in Jenkins without it just like crumbling apart,” said Rebecca Hollen, art professor from TJC. “It was getting all over the stalls. It was like turning into powder.”
Hollen had an experience with the previous paper products being so rough that they caused damage to her personal affects after leaving the Jenkins Building bathroom.
“I went to class, and I saw there was something on my glasses. I didn’t think about it, and I went to clean my glasses off, and it scratched my glasses up. It was the toilet paper that had disintegrated, so I had to get brand new glass,” Hollen said. “This toilet paper is like Grade A plus compared, compared to last semester’s.”
Not every student at TJC is a fan of the new toilet paper. In fact, one student does not think it’s an upgrade.
“I think it’s the same thing, almost, really, you know, just with the new name on it,” Christian McCleveland said. “I’m saying, same person, new suit.”
McCleveland added he thought the previous toilet paper was comparable to “sandpaper.”
The new Scott dispensers are larger and are made to hold more paper. The idea was by increasing the amount of product that could be held, the less the dispensers would need to be refilled according to Phillips.
“The paper towels are larger, roll is larger than the old one. The toilet paper I wouldn’t say that it’s any bigger around than the old toilet paper, but the new dispensers hold two roles,” said De’ann Cummings, the Admin Assistant for ABM.
Although the dispensers are larger, the desired effect of needing less refills has not yet taken place. More paper products are currently being used on campus than before the product change.
“We seem to be going through it a lot faster, really, than we did the old toilet paper. I don’t know really the reason why,” Cummings said. “Right now there’s a ton of events going on on campus. It also has to do with the attendance record, you know, if I know, like in the fall, the attendance was higher than it was, you know, than what it was last spring, so that caused us to go through more product.”
The new paper towel holders are hung in classrooms across campus, not just in bathrooms.
“I think the supply change is OK, but for me personally, I found some limitations,” Chance Dunlap said, another professor of art at TJC.” I preferred the old paper towel holders that had the little cranks. I could get the more required amount of paper towels, but really, for hand washing and things, I think they’re fine.”
TJC had been planning to change their products since after Thanksgiving, and has put consideration into the process of changing the paper products that had been around for around 10 years.
(Ian Frye)
“It just came to where these were, you know, we did like a test. How strong are they? How much paper would be used? You know, that whole thing is kind of why we went that direction,” Phillips said.
Phillips said the new paper products have not increased in price. The products are more affordable than the previous ones, and the process to hang all of the paper dispensers added no additional spending.
“When they signed the contract to have the new dispensers put in the company Kelly Clarkson, they agreed to give us all dispensers free, and then they would stock them all for free. So starting off, cost was zero for ABM,” Phillips said.
