Every supermarket has a whole aisle dedicated to it, and every shopping list has it on somewhere. Toilet roll is an everyday commodity that most people in the world see as a necessity rather than a luxury, but how many of us think about what impact having such a basic convenience is having on the increasingly fragile planet in which we live?
With such a high consumption of toilet roll in the world today, some environmental campaigners now believe that the use of toilet roll is causing more damage to our environment than large SUVs, energy-guzzling mansions and fast food chains which is something that none of us would believe for a second. But, it is scarily true!
As we all know, toilet paper (like other paper forms) basically comes from trees but much of the toilet roll that has been produced in recent years is largely made up from recycled paper. However, with more and more companies encouraging customers to go "paperless" (which in itself is a fantastic step forward for the world's forests), everyday products including toilet roll are now having to return to the use of raw materials meaning trees are coming down again at a staggering rate.
It is thought that the average tree can produce around 1,000 rolls of toilet roll and with America alone using an average of 7 billion rolls every year, it means that 7 million trees have to be cut down to produce such a high volume of toilet roll (and that is only in the USA). And added to this enormous problem, is the "comfort factor" that big brands promote which includes quilted and lotioned toilet roll...all of which adds to the environmental impact.
So, what can we do to help this quite sensitive situation? Well, a number of countries around the world are known to not use toilet roll at all but instead use water in the form of bidets and hoses but if everyone did that, we only transfer the problem to the water table. The key is to be aware and sensible of your toilet roll usage. Look for products that only use recycled paper (or a high percentage of it) and try not to buy into the comfort side of quilted products, along with only using as much as you actually need will all help to contribute to keeping our forests alive.