China's younger, hipper generation is quickly taking to the idea of toilet paper, according to Wang Yueqin, vice-director of Shanghai Paper Trade Association. That's the upside -- a clear indicator that China is paving the way for Starbucks.

The downside is that this new taste is quickly overwhelming China's wood pulp industry. "The 140,000 tons of tissues and toilet paper Shanghai uses every year consumes some 80,000 tons of wood pulp, equal to about 300,000 tons of wood," said Wang.

Wang believes the country should begin exploring other materials and technologies, such as making toilet paper from straw (as they are doing in Jiangsu) or sugarcane (an ongoing experiment in southern Guangxi).

Six thousand miles to the south, in Tasmania, Australia, a more sustainable solution is brewing.

An environmentally friendly manufacturer has turned out its first batch of toilet paper made from, uh, marsupial manure. To make this first batch, landowners around Burnie in Tasmania helped scrape together 55 lbs of kangaroo and wallaby dung for Creative Paper Tasmania, manager Joanne Gair said.

This was enough shit to make roughly four hundred A4 sand-colored sheets, each of which was embossed with "Genuine Kangaroo Poo." (Hey, you wouldn't want to be wiping your ass with fake kangaroo poo, would you?) Now, the question is: can Australia's 60 million kangaroos keep pace with China's quarter billion (say) new-age wipers? If so, Australia may be able to hitch a honey wagon to China's rising star.