The excessive use of toilet paper is killing more trees than ever before

Did you know that every time you reel toiletworld countries, using anything other than toilet
paper off your toilet paper holder you arepaper would be unhygienic.
contributing to a considerate loss of trees? It isThe extensive use of toilet paper, especially in
estimated that up to as many as 27 000 treesfirst world countries, have made the demand for
are cut down daily and this amount is used fortrees higher than ever before as more and more
sanitary products such as tissue products andtrees are being felled daily to keep up with toilet
toilet paper – products that cannot bepaper demand. Proper sanitation routines are
recycled. Not a huge amount of this numberpositive but the effect that these sanitation
consists of toilet paper but toilet paper isroutines are having on the environment are
sometimes used in excess and without a secondstarting to strain our natural resources. According
thought.to ecological research, 13 million hectares of trees
What makes this number so frightening is theare lost every year and this number is set to
fact that unlike other items such as furniture,escalate. It is estimated that 15% of this
toilet paper is only used once before it is throwndeforestation is in relation to toilet paper demand.
away or flushed down the toilet. We all use moreSo why aren't we recycling normal paper and
toilet paper than we care to think of, even if it isusing it as toilet paper? Experts say that nearly
to clean up a spill or blow our nose. The use of40% of all landfills are filled with paper waste and
toilet paper cannot be avoided for obviousrecycling this paper to make recycled toilet paper
reasons, and many of us are relieved when wewill not only save trees but also save gallons of
go into public portable toilets and see that there iswater and create less air pollution and energy in
indeed a roll of toilet paper available to use.the long run. It is also possible to produce toilet
But if you think that you only use a small portionpaper that is not used from recycled paper so
of toilet paper daily or even annually, think again.there is more than one alternative to this problem.
According to a recent study done by a leadingAll we can do is use toilet paper sparingly and
environmental magazine, the average toilet paperhope that the use of recycled toilet paper will be
usage amounts to approximately 23 kg permore widely spread as the cost is ultimately the
person in one year. Not all cultures use toiletloss of our environment.
paper to clean up after themselves but in first