How Much Toilet Paper do we Use?

Control-n-Roll 08.12.2010 Blog, Eco-Friendly, Paper Consumption 20
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How Much Toilet Paper do we Use?

Clipping from Josh Madison's Blog on Toilet Paper Usage

Studies have been done on how much toilet paper the average American uses. One independent study we’ve found is on a blog post titled “Toilet Paper Usage Analysis” penned by Josh Madison on his website joshmadison.com. The graphic on the left is a clipping from his post that breaks down how much TP he used over a one-year period. He provides extremely granular data in his report; down to the start and end date of each roll, and average sheets used and cost per day.

He makes a reference to Sheryl Crow who proposed that we all use only one sheet of toilet tissue per bathroom visit (1:30 into the video). That statement resulted in a slew of funny videos on YouTube where a search for “Sheryl Crow toilet paper” yields 38 videos.

Anyway, back to real analysis, one online resource reports that the average consumer users 57 sheets of toilet paper per day. That calculates to a 12-pack lasting a family of four about 18 days. At that rate, they would need to purchase that 12-pack 20 times per year.

These and other statistics show that we do use a lot of toilet paper. Control-n-Roll is doing it’s part to help save money, mess and the ecology.

Interested in knowing who cares about toilet paper consumption? Click here.

20 Comments

  • Jean

    06.09.2011 at 19:54

    Any idea how many rolls of toilet paper US hotels purchase in a year? I am teaching a hospitality class. Would be great if you had an idea. Thanks Jean

    • Roll it Rite

      06.09.2011 at 20:13

      Jean, I did a little research and found this on Wikipedia:

      Environmental considerations
      One tree produces about 100 pounds (45 kg) of toilet paper and about 83 million rolls are produced per day.
      An average American uses 50 pounds (23 kg) of tissue paper per year which is 50% more than the average of Western countries or Japan. Millions of trees are harvested in North America and in Latin American countries leaving ecological footprint concerns. Americans also use “toilet paper” for industrial purposes such as oil filters, which may distort the usage statistics.
      According to a news report by The Epoch Times in 2004, 37.5% of toilet paper tested from Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces showed high levels of bacteria commonly found in human waste. A manager from one of the agencies involved in testing, Guangdong Consumer Associates, blamed “unsanitary raw materials used in production” for the high bacteria counts. Chinese hospital experts have warned that use of contaminated toilet paper can result in skin and gynecological infections.

      • jean

        06.09.2011 at 20:21

        Thanks…I will need to dig deeper so I can relate usage figures to hotel occupany.

  • Helen H

    27.11.2012 at 00:05

    Imagine if only 50% of USA switched to using the bum gun or similar much more eco and hygienic devices. There would be a huge decline in chopping down trees and due to the bum gun cleaning our bodies in a much cleaner and fresher way we would all be healthier as it cuts out so much bacteria. Why so many people still use toilet paper instead of water is beyond me..

  • Morgan S

    14.05.2013 at 07:03

    So then how much does the average American use in a day with around 4 people in the house and how many tree’s does 1 person use in a year?

    • Control-n-Roll

      20.05.2013 at 10:03

      Morgan, Thank you for your question. I’m sorry to say that we do not have this information available at the moment. Perhaps some of the researches who visit our site would be able to provide this information for you.

  • Vanessa walker

    04.08.2013 at 20:30

    by the way Charmin is not manufactured by Kimberly Clark that product is manufactured by Procter and Gamble. Kimberly-clark manufacturers Cottontail and Scott tissue paper

  • lashangla hawkins

    08.11.2013 at 14:04

    need toilet paper in nacogdoches i use on my meustral 10 packs of 6 rool paper in a one a day period need help with hygienes on hud in nacogdoches texasname is lashangla hawkins 1529 toimberlake

  • David Smith

    11.12.2013 at 15:07

    We use Scott 1000 sheet toilet paper because it lasts longer in our house. I know that we go through quite a bit each year and it would probably be interesting how much we spend just on TP for us.

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  • bob

    23.12.2014 at 19:26

    How many rolls of toilet paper are use by America in one year

  • bob

    23.12.2014 at 19:27

    How Manny rolls of toilet paper does America use per day

  • bob

    23.12.2014 at 19:27

    How much toilet paper does America use per day

  • Paige

    16.04.2015 at 14:43

    Prior to toliet paper what civilization class uses it most?

  • Hana

    28.08.2015 at 14:16

    That’s BS! The average person does NOT use 57 sheets of toilet paper per day.
    Let’s say you poop twice a day and use three sheets to wipe yourself ONCE. Okay, everyone wipes themselves atleast twice, which means you used 6 sheets of toilet paper per poop. Which equals to 12. Even if you use more, it doesn’t even get close to 57 sheets.
    Unless you use the kitchen rolls to make french fries all day, which a different matter.

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