Introduction
In 2010, National Geographic famously claimed that 27,000 trees were felled every day to fuel toilet paper consumption.
Many blogs and posts that cite this claim link to the home page of the National Geographic website, and not the 2010 article, which doesn’t seem to exist anymore. In any case however, National Geographic tweeted the same fact in 2013, evidencing that they still stand behind their claim.
What the tweet did not make clear, however, was whether the 27,000 trees were felled to fuel US consumption of toilet paper only, or global consumption, however the number is startingly high in either scenario.
We have already established that toilet paper is likely a factor in deforestation and climate change in another blog post. In this post however, we try to assess whether the deforestation driven by toilet paper consumption is occurring at such a high level, and whether the claims made by National Geographic are valid.
Lets try to do the maths ourselves
In order for us to work out the number of trees that are cut down every day for toilet paper use, we need to start with some sensible assumptions:
- How many sheets of toilet paper does the average person use each day when going to the bathroom or wiping their nose
- Based on the above, how many toilet rolls does the average person use
- How many toilet rolls can be made from one tree
- The total UK population (to calculate the number of trees felled to fuel UK toilet paper consumption only)
- How many sheets of toilet paper does the average person use each day
It is difficult to estimate an answer to this question objectively, and the answer will clearly differ from person to person. If we assume however that the average person visits the bathroom 5 times per day and uses 5 sheets per visit on average, this implies that an average of 25 sheets of toilet paper are used per person per day.
- How many toilet rolls do we use on average
The assumption above that 25 sheets of toilet paper are used on average per person per day implies that 175 sheets of toilet paper are used on average per person per week, which corresponds roughly to one toilet roll per week, and 52 toilet rolls per year.
- How many toilet rolls can be made from one tree
The answer to this is also very difficult to estimate. First, normal toilet paper is not made from one type of tree, rather it is typically made from a combination of hardwood and softwood trees.
Second, trees being felled for toilet paper, whether softwood or hardwood, will not have a homogenous height and width, and therefore it is possible for example, that a large softwood tree will make significantly more toilet rolls than a small softwood tree.
Given the difficulty in estimating this figure ourselves, we have deferred to a figure of 1,500 toilet rolls per tree, estimated by Dr Anna Ploszajski, a well known materials scientist and engineer, in her article with Ingenia.
- The total UK population
As per the last UK wide census, in March 2022, the UK population was estimated to be 67 million people.
- Estimated number of trees felled for UK toilet paper consumption
Based on a population of 67 million people, and an average annual usage per person of 50 toilet rolls, the UK consumes 3.35 billion toilet rolls per year.
Using our assumption that one tree can make 1,500 toilet rolls, this implies that 2.23 million trees are cut down each year to fuel UK toilet paper consumption alone, or 6,118 trees per day!
The US population is much larger than the UK’s population, at over 330 million people, implying that c. 30,000 trees must be cut down per day to fuel US toilet paper consumption
All in all, it seems that the National Geographic claim may not only be valid, but actually underestimate the number of trees cut down every day for US toilet paper consumption.
More worryingly however, our brief calculations also imply that the National Geographic claims apply to US toilet paper consumption only. Global toilet paper consumption is likely to cause far more than 27,000 trees to be cut down per day for toilet paper usage, and that the number of trees cut down per year globally to fuel toilet paper consumption is in the tens, if not hundreds of millions.
Has any previous research been conducted on this topic?
The emergence in recent times of recycled and non-wood pulp alternatives to normal toilet paper, including bamboo toiler paper, have put a spotlight on the damage normal toilet paper can do to the environment. It has also helped a significant, albeit minority of people in the UK, and the rest of the world, to shift away from normal toilet paper for good.
The popularity of bamboo and recycled toilet paper has also had some people questioning whether the deforestation claims made by National Geographic and others are actually true, and whether the damage caused by toilet paper is exaggerated.
We have therefore attempted to deconstruct the claims made by National Geographic in this short blog already, however other organisations have also commented on and conducted research on this topic.
A study conducted by Edge Environment, on behalf of Who Gives a Crap, concluded that the conservative number of trees cut down daily to fuel global toilet paper consumption was around 1 million trees, whilst the number could be closer to 2 million trees!
Moreover, an article in the Independent concluded that annual UK toilet paper consumption led to 7 million trees being felled per year, an even higher figure than our estimate of 2.23 million
Regardless of which research you read, It is safe to say that million of trees are felled each year to fuel toilet paper consumption, and those questioning this research are missing the wood from the trees (excuse the pun!)
Are new trees not planted for each tree which is cut down?
Another argument posed by people who downplay the link between toilet paper and deforestation is that new trees are planted for each tree that is cut down.
Many of these people even accept that as many as 2 million trees may indeed be cut down each day to make toilet paper, but that at least 2 million, if not more are then planted to ensure the sustainability of the world’s forests.
We have addressed these claims in our blog, is toilet paper a factor in deforestation and climate change, but in short:
- tall forests are being cleared at a faster rate than new forests can regrow, leading to a gradual decline in forest height and a reduction of forest services such as carbon storage over time
- Most of the time, destroyed forests, which may have had thousands of different tree species, are replanted with one/two types of fast growing species, destroying the natural biodiversity of our forests
- Some forests, once destroyed, leave barren land which new trees cannot be regrown on. Toilet paper companies may plant trees on new plots of land, but this does not offset the defunct nature of the barren land they have left behind.
Summary
Unfortunately, the claims made by National Geographic that 27,000 trees are cut down per day to make toilet paper are not only true, but probably an underestimate, and only accounts for the US population.
The number of trees felled to fuel global toilet paper consumption is much, much higher, and has been estimated at up to 2 million trees by some researchers.
This really highlights the stark impact normal toilet paper is having on the environment, and why companies, including Bamboo Soft, continue to advocate for the use of eco-friendly alternatives such as bamboo toilet paper!