# TP
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [January 22, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880 "2016-01-22T14:02:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@david\_42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/david_42)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/1 "2016-01-22T14:02:39Z")
36 million rolls, seems a bit low. Maybe 36 billion? Although that would be 100 rolls per person per year, which seems a bit high.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/2 "2016-01-22T14:51:17Z")
> [@david\_42](#):
>
> Although that would be 100 rolls per person per year, which seems a bit high.
You forgot women. đ
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/3 "2016-01-22T14:51:45Z")
[Link](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3272/should-we-give-up-toilet-paper) to relevant column.
I thought 36 million rolls was a bit _high_ myself. 320 million people in the country (roughly) - how many rolls does the average person use in a week?
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/4 "2016-01-22T14:56:42Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> [Link](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3272/should-we-give-up-toilet-paper) to relevant column.
>
> I thought 36 million rolls was a bit _high_ myself. 320 million people in the country (roughly) - how many rolls does the average person use in a week?
Not 1/10th of a roll. The figure doesnât make sense. Considering the retail price of one roll the companies would be struggling to survive, probably earning profits of no more than $3.6 million annually for all US sales. Something is not right here.
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### Author:  [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/5 "2016-01-22T15:06:20Z")
You forgot women [silly smile].
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### Author:  [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/6 "2016-01-22T16:02:14Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> I thought 36 million rolls was a bit _high_ myself. 320 million people in the country (roughly) - how many rolls does the average person use in a week?
Yeah, 320 million people using 36 million rolls averages out to about 1 roll per 8.9 people _per year_. I go through a roll or two myself per _week_, so that number is definitely skewed. I was thinking maybe it was supposed to be 36 \*\*billion \*\*rolls, which works out to about 112.5 rolls per person per year, or a little more than two rolls a week per person. That seems more realistic, if possibly just a tad on the high side.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/7 "2016-01-22T16:05:15Z")
[According to this site](http://www.southeastgreen.com/index.php/seg-features/tips-a-faqs/tips-to-green-your-life/10551-how-much-toilet-paper-is-used-per-year)the average person uses 30 rolls of toilet paper a year. The total should be close to 10 billion rolls a year.
> [@](#):
>
> It is obvious that the average individual utilizes around 30 toilet paper rolls annually. -
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/8 "2016-01-22T16:12:32Z")
> [@david\_42](#):
>
> 36 million rolls, seems a bit low. Maybe 36 billion? Although that would be 100 rolls per person per year, which seems a bit high.
Do not make my bunghole angry.
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### Author:  [@GOLD5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GOLD5)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/9 "2016-01-22T16:17:56Z")
I always thought that the reason Americans didnt like bidets was because having a clean nether region leads to oral sex (another French invention), and possibly even bum play. Activities frowned upon by American society. There are even laws in a lot of states forbidding such behavior.
Lets stick with missionary with most of our clothes on followed by bathing once a year⌠Dont want anyone thinkin weâre fruity. Said the forefathers, and it was soâŚ
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### Author:  [@darrellg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darrellg)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/10 "2016-01-22T16:33:04Z")
> [@](#):
>
> 36 million rolls of the stuff each year, something on the order of 15 million trees
2.4 rolls per tree? Those are either very small trees or very large rolls of toilet paper.
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### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/11 "2016-01-22T16:54:41Z")
Ah well, I see I was t the only one who felt the numbers a bit out of line. Carry onâŚ
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### Author:  [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/12 "2016-01-22T17:05:50Z")
crap.
ditto. I thought odd that a tree produces a little over 2 rolls of TP. That canât be right?
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/13 "2016-01-22T17:07:46Z")
Unca Cece has some âsplaininâ to do here.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/14 "2016-01-22T17:08:05Z")
[The Toilet Paper Encyclopedia](http://encyclopedia.toiletpaperworld.com/surveys-stories/toilet-paper-statistics) (gotta love the Internet) says Americans on average use up a roll in 5 days. Thatâs 73 rolls a year per household, or about 8 billion.
But thatâs just in the most-used bathroom in the house, so the smaller bathrooms will add to that total.
Workplaces, stores, and other public restrooms will add large numbers of rolls.
36 billion rolls in total may be high, but not outlandishly so.
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### Author:  [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/15 "2016-01-22T17:19:10Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> You forgot women. đ
And teenaged girls. My nieces go through TP at an alarming rate; more than one roll/day between the two of them is not out of the question. They must clog their toilets on a weekly basis.
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/16 "2016-01-22T19:14:35Z")
In the age of coal-fired computers, I went to the U of Evansville. Students would take TP from the dorms to ball games. If we won, the air would be filled with streamers of TP. If you spun it right, a thrown roll would unreel 60 feet or more in midair.
My brother at Purdue said the dorm restrooms were stripped bare of paper on every game day.
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/17 "2016-01-23T00:36:27Z")
Also popular for decorating your neighborsâ trees.
And little kids can run through a lot of TP. I helped out a poverty-stricken neighbor a while back, by buying her a 24-pack of TP at Target, which I think works out cheaper than buying one or two rolls at a time at the 99¢ Store. A week later she was begging me to loan her another roll or two.
Seems her hyperactive 3-year-old kid threw half the package into the toilet.
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### Author:  [@haroun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haroun)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/18 "2016-01-23T15:45:54Z")
I was working on an American Naval base in Korea back in 2001 For a month long contract & we got a few days to poke around after we finished up the job & so we rented a car & off we went. Wound up in a hostel that was friendly to foreign travelers & in the bathroom there was a toilet with a little add on bidet attachment. It was early in the morning in March, the bidet was just attached to the fill line of the toilet, it WASN"T a Toto Washlet, & Iâll never forget my first experience with a bidet.
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### Author:  [@jprokos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jprokos)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/19 "2016-01-24T22:35:02Z")
In regards to Cecilâs comment that the health effects are a mixed bag. What?
If all the evidence needed to say itâs a âmixed bagâ is one old person burning their anus with boiling hot water out of the billions of people who use this technique everyday without injury⌠well, thatâs inane. Statistics wonât save you from the obvious - toilet paper creation and use is unnecessary and just as harmful to the environment as paper towels. Convenience and privilege is exactly how we got into this polluted mess. Some people are fascinated with the statistics, and like to argue over them. The simple fact is using water is less harmful for the environment. Stop procrastinating and get a plastic pitcher. Set it on top of the tank; there is your bidet. Very simple. Stop looking for ways to complicate things. Clean your hands with a brush and soap. You should do this anyway. Toilet paper is another of those American inventions to complicate life and create money where there was none to be found, the environmental impact was never considered. All of these conveniences were probably harmless at one point, but scale their use up and you have a disaster.
If you donât like the pitcher get a hand held bidet $50.
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### Author:  [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tp/743880/20 "2016-01-27T01:22:59Z")
> [@david\_42](#):
>
> 36 million rolls, seems a bit low. Maybe 36 billion? Although that would be 100 rolls per person per year, which seems a bit high.
Yeah, that article was a freakinâ mess. The number of rolls, the number of trees, measuring _energy_ in terawatts⌠(Was that supposed to be terawatt-hours? Terajoules? Who knows?) Sheesh⌠If this had been the first SD article Iâd read, it would have been the last.