The epic  and long-awaited return of paper towels this school year means hands and hallways will remain dry. This monumental return comes two years after paper towels were infamously removed from St. Louis U. High restrooms as an environmental measure, but there are already talks of removing them again after a recent wave of seemingly intentional cloggings. 

The discussion for the return of paper towels has been taking place over a long period of time, with varying degrees of seriousness. Students and teachers alike expressed interest in their return.

“I think it was one of the things that we had talked about almost, kind of in a joking way, in different circles around the school,” said Assistant Principal for Student Life Brock Kesterson. “Some teachers kind of wanted them back, and then I would have informal conversations with students like, ‘When are we getting our paper towels back?’”

After two years of paper towel dispensers collecting dust in storage, they were finally reinstalled in time for the 2024-’25 school year by Director of Maintenance Rick Figge and Director of Facilities Services Joe Rankin. 

It’s important to note that the dispensers were only removed from the highest trafficked restrooms of the school: all M-wing, locker room, Si Commons, and theater lobby restrooms. All teacher restrooms, J-wing restrooms, and Field House restrooms were left untouched. 

But what caused paper towels to be removed in the first place? Two years ago an unruly student (or students) began deliberately flushing paper towels down the school toilets. Because the standard brown paper towels aren’t as biodegradable as toilet paper, this quickly created blockages in the building's 100-year-old plumbing system.

“There’s an older system, it’s all ceramic and clay piping,” said Director of Security Dan Schulte. “And that’s over $1000 to fix that clog. So, the clog is because people are putting paper towels down the toilet, not trash cans. They have to literally walk further away to make that a problem, which makes it seem pretty intentional.”

Even though paper towels have only been back again for the first month of the school year, there are already plumbing issues. Last week a clog originated from the Si Commons area, either the locker rooms or the Commons restrooms. As a result, a plumbing company had to be hired to snake the pipes, and later power flush the whole system. The cost of the operation isn’t quoted yet, but it's expected to be similar to two years ago. 

The alternative to paper towels would be the upgrading of all automatic hand dryers throughout the school, an operation that would be costly and time consuming. SLUH didn’t even have paper towels until the Covid-19 pandemic, when they were added as a more sanitary option to automatic hand dryers.

“If we’re gonna say no, 100 percent to paper towels, we have to do some upgrading on the hand dryers,” said Sculte. “It’s expensive. Why are we spending money on something like that? Wouldn’t you want something cool to spend the money on?”

Despite the current issues, students are happy to see the return of paper towels after two years of damp hands and wet floors. Also, since dispensers in classrooms weren’t frequently refilled, many students lacked access to tissues or napkins during classes.

“Yeah during my freshman and sophomore years I had frequent nosebleeds,” said junior Wyatt Ogier. “And that meant a lot of awkward runs to the Main Office for tissues when classrooms didn’t have any, so the paper towels being back is a huge plus in my opinion.”

“It's awesome,” said junior Uriah Binder. “Before it really sucked because the blow dryers don’t really help, and they actually blew back germs into your hands. The paper towels are environmentally bad, but honestly I’m not sure if it’s worth not having them.”

Alongside paper towels, some restrooms also have new soaps. With sleek clear casings and a satisfying pink color, the new cranberry-scented hand soap has already improved the smell in the few restrooms it has been added to. 

Could the return of paper towels be the final nail in its own coffin? If patterns continue it could very well be their last year, and who knows how long it would take them to return. The future of SLUH’s restrooms is in the now dry hands of the student body. Will they flush their hopes for cleanliness down the drain? Or will responsibility prevail? Only time will tell.

“It’s such silliness too,” said Kesterson. “Like it doesn't have to be that way. Accidents happen. This is not an accident.”