Toilet paper threatens the forest

Every day humans cut about 270,000 trees worldwide and 10% of them become materials for producing toilet paper.

National Geographic said that it is the statistics that World Watch magazine published in a recent article. The article argues that the population boom, the introduction of Western lifestyles, the improvement of sanitary conditions in developing countries has led to a strong demand for high-end toilet paper.

"As a result, forests in both the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere are being felled by companies to serve the people's use of toilet paper , " World Watch said.

Noelle Robbins, author of the paper, said the demand for toilet paper in developing countries has increased over time. It is one of the factors that makes more and more trees cut down. Because many countries prohibit perennial forest exploitation, paper companies turn to plantations. They affirmed that plantation is a great solution to serve the need to use toilet paper without affecting the environment.

Song Robbins thinks that reality is not so. Every time artificial forests are planted, in many cases people often cut natural forests to get land, which makes animals lose their places. Artificial forests usually have only one or several plants, so native animals and plants cannot live there. Artificial forest managers always use pesticides and herbicides to protect trees - an act of environmental pollution. Unlike natural forests, artificial forests require a large amount of water.

Some paper companies do not cut down forests but get materials from garbage. This solution is supported by many countries. Many surveys show that paper accounts for 35 to 40% of the total amount of waste that people emit daily. The amount of water that people use in the process of recycling paper in landfill into toilet paper is much lower than the process of turning plants into toilet paper. The reuse of paper also reduces the number of trees being cut every day.

"Toilet paper, whether made from wood or waste paper, will continue to be important in the lives of Western countries and developing countries. Propaganda, product quality improvement, reduction "Price and marketing of recycled toilet paper is one of the ways to reduce tree felling. In addition, we should also consider alternatives to toilet paper , " Robbins said.