Consider the costs of American toilet paper use

– One World


Amy Oberlin

Amy Oberlin

On average in the U.S., water use at home adds up to about 138 gallons per household per day, or 60 gallons per person per day, according to the Water Footprint Calculator, available at watercalculator.org.

Recent studies of how Americans use water throughout their homes show that, for most families, indoor water use is highest in the bathroom, followed by the laundry room.

The toilet tops the water-use scale, flushing an average of 33 gallons per day per household. By comparison, the shower and bathroom faucet are each estimated to use 27 gallons a day.

If we were to address our top water use habit in the U.S., what might be the solution?

A friend of mine’s grandma taught her to flush every other time she pees, to conserve water.

When I rented a house on Lake George, I remember the home owner asking my roommate I and to please use one square of one-ply paper when wiping to ease the load on the sewer district.

We laughed about that the whole time we lived there. Who uses one square?

The toilet paper we flush down the toilet does not magically disappear. At rural properties, it goes to a septic tank. In municipal and lake areas, it goes to a sewer facility.

The Steuben Lakes Regional Waste District, which I pay monthly for service along with around 5,000 other customers, changed from a lagoon system to a cloth-media system to better handle the solids in the waste stream. Starting this month, the SLRWD wants me to pay $110.27 per month.

I am in favor of modern, sanitary sewer service in my community. But, have our bathroom habits resulted in the need for costly mechanical processes?

On a recent episode of South Park, Randy purchases a “Japanese toilet” to replace the clunker in the powder room. The toilet plays music, has a heated seat and notably washes one clean after use – no toilet paper needed. Everyone who visits loves the new technology and Randy’s proctologist becomes murderous when he no longer needs him due to cleaner habits. In the end, Randy reinstalls the old beat-up flush toilet due to the upheaval, pain and misery caused by trying to make a change.

A bidet is a bathroom fixture that uses water to clean oneself after using the toilet. It’s the primary way that many people around the world observe bathroom sanitation.

These devices can be purchased in stores and online – but would you buy one? Your parents didn’t have one. Your friends don’t have them. They would probably laugh at you for buying it.

Global Trade magazine calls toilet paper “a uniquely American obsession.” So, though you are keeping up with the Joneses here a home, the rest of the world may still be laughing at you.

U.S. toilet paper use statistics seem to vary by the study or report du jour. I will quote Wikipedia:

• One tree produces about 800 rolls (400 pounds) of toilet paper and about 83 million rolls are produced per day. Global toilet paper production consumes 27,000 trees daily.

• More than seven billion rolls of toilet paper are sold yearly in the United States alone. Americans use an average of 141 rolls per capita a year, which is equivalent to 28 pounds of tissue paper per year. This figure is about 50% more than the average of other Western countries or Japan.

• Millions of trees are harvested in North and South America, leaving ecological footprint concerns. As of 2009, between 22% and 48% of the toilet paper used in the United States comes from tree farms in the U.S. and South America, with the rest mostly coming from old, second growth forests, and some from virgin forests.

“In many parts of the world, especially where toilet paper or the necessary plumbing for disposal may be unavailable or unaffordable, toilet paper is not used. Also, in many parts of the world people consider using water a much cleaner and more sanitary practice than using paper,” says the Wikipedia entry.

I don’t know if bidets or Japanese toilets would make a difference on daily water consumption in U.S. homes, but it definitely would affect tree harvesting and would lessen the load on our sewer systems, which might save us some money.

What would it do to the American toilet paper industry? According to Fortune Business Insights, the global toilet paper market size was $26.14 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $38.34 billion by 2027.

There are people making money from toilet paper production and sales. What would happen to Charmin with its bare-butted bears if we all decided to go the bidet way?

Might marketing and money mean more to some people than the environment, or even our health?

One World is a weekly column delving into the responsible use of our resources. Comments and suggestions are welcomed at editor@hurdmedia.com.

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