Every day about twenty seven thousand trees worth of toilet paper is flushed down the toilet or tossed into landfill.
On average, it takes about 1.5 lbs of wood, 37 gallons of water and 1.3 KWh of electricity to produce 1 roll of toilet paper.
Americans consume about 46 billion rolls of toilet per year. Thats about 141 toilet paper rolls per American per year. Conservatively speaking, a single toilet paper rolls costs about $1 – $1.5. So that’s about $170 per person per year!
According to Natural resource defense council, 15% of deforestation around the globe happens due to toilet paper production alone.
So what can you do about it?
Install a bidet! Bidets are a plumbing fixture retrofitted into the toilet seat providing a water spray inside the toilet bowl. Many European and Middle Eastern countries have this feature built into the toilet seat. Lucky for the rest of the world, retrofit bidets are readily available in the market. And because of the growing demand, there are a variety of options to choose from. Bidets are very easy to install and even easier to use. Even if you live in a rental housing, you can easily install it on your own.
Good quality bidets cost about twenty to forty dollars and since most of them are sold with the necessary installation tools, they can easily be installed without the need for a plumber.
By installing a bidet, you are saving yourself a lot of money, and saving the earth a lot of resources.
To clarify, I am not asking you to completely stop using toilet paper. Just know that installing a bidet can significantly reduce your toilet paper consumption. Speaking from my personal experience, I am down to about 1 to 2 toilet paper rolls a month for a household of three bathroom-goers by installing a bidet. Compared against the national average, that’s 8 toilet paper rolls per year per person; a reduction of about 95%!
On top of that, this solution offers a peace of mind in the times of national emergencies like a hurricanes or covid-like pandemics. You won’t have to worry about stock-piling toilet paper if you have a bidet installed at home.
