Do you ever wonder what happens to all the toilet paper you use? The short answer is down the drain, but more goes into the business of TP than you may think.
According to mic.com, “global toilet paper production wipes out about 27,000 trees per day, which comes out to almost 9 million trees per year.” On top of the deforestation required for production, using mostly eucalyptus trees, each roll uses up 37 gallons of water in production.
Now think about NYU, a school with 21,247 undergraduate students. An average American uses about 50 rolls a year. So, NYU may use up to 1,062,350 rolls in a year.
Famous anti-TP advocate Sheryl Crow speaks adamantly about the wastefulness of our waste system. She is a “one-sheet” per visit kind of girl now and advocates for a little sacrifice of luxuries in favor of the Mother most high, nature.
What are the other options? Are they realistic?
- The good old fashioned Bidet. Or an accessory that makes any toilet a bidet. It seems a little dramatic but if you really wanted to cut out the annual 50 rolls. Plus, TP is not that hygienic.
- Recycled toilet paper! The law school has two buildings using 65% recycled TP and the rest of NYU should follow suit. According to the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, “if every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper (500 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees.”
- Use less. Pull a Sheryl Crow and use way less toilet paper! Save some trees. Soak up the sun. The first cut is the deepest. All that good stuff.