CORONAVIRUS FUNNIEST CRISIS "TOILET PAPER"

                 As the Coronavirus pandemic spreads, households across the United States are hunkering down and emptying out store shelves that normally stocked with toilet paper and paper towels sit empty at all the big supermarket stores, toilet paper has become the ultimate symbol of the panic buying, it is seemingly scooped up as soon as new rolls hit the shelves, companies that help supply these everyday paper products are stunned and trying to adjust to this rapidly evolving new normal in consumer behavior. This run on toilet paper has struck many people as peculiar, given that the need for the product is not expected to grow as millions of Americans adjust to working from home, closed schools, canceled events and other abrupt interruptions to daily life caused by the pandemic, but stockpiling is not an uncommon reaction provoked by fear, social scientists say, fear of running out, fear of the unknown and what is coming in the future. Many were already operating their manufacturing facilities 24/7 prior to the pandemic, some are limiting their facilities to essential workers and contractors, it's unclear what people will do in the event that those workers get sick, no body can explain this phenomena it's like that's the only product people can use. The American Forest and Paper Association, an industry group representing paper product makers, noted the industry is working hard to respond to the sudden spike in demand. In 2011 researchers in Japan at Hitotsubashi University studied buying patterns and concluded that particularly anxious households appear to have bought anything that they could lay their hands on especially after disasters to make them selfs feeling in safety including lots of toilet paper, the shortages appeared to be sporadic and regional, with the degree of local concern about the pandemic driving sales, but the nation's lack of toilet paper is expected to be brief according to interviews with many manufacturers. the sudden surge in demand is expected to subside and the supply will continue to grow as companies keep making toilet paper that about 90% of it sold in the United States of America is made from the national companies But that doesn't mean it will be easy work for factories. Ashley Flower, public relations manager at the Giant Co which runs 186 grocery stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia said:"Due to overwhelming demand, we are currently experiencing shortages and out of stocks on many household staples and we are focused on getting back in stock as soon as possible"
Toilet paper is made from one of two sources, the vast majority of this product in the United States is made from the pulp of virgin trees, yes we are cutting down trees for all those toilet paper rolls "it consumes 27,000 trees daily". The good news is that 1 tree can provide 100 LBS of toilet paper, it's also nice to know that trees are renewable resource and most American companies are replanting trees after they have taken full grown trees. The pulp is made from trees by grinding a virgin tree into small wood chips, the bark is removed first and then it goes through a grinder, the result is a pile of chips and sawdust that's ready for the next step.
Toilet paper is also made from recycled paper and hemp, but these are much less common and require a different type of processing, using recycled paper probably seems like the perfect solution to saving forests, however, the process requires additional steps like separating non paper waste and ink removal, from The Source A Pulp Is Made By Mixing In Water and Chemicals: Once the pulp is made, it is placed into a vat where it mixes with water and chemicals. Very slowly, the pulp is broken down into cellulose, fibers, and lignin and eventually, the soft pulp can be separated from the water, the pulp is no longer hard so it can be pressed into the right shape, but before that occurs it needs to be cleaned. The Pulp Is Washed And Bleached, if you have white toilet paper, chances are it’s been bleached. Yes, toilet paper is bleached to achieve that ultra-white appearance, lignin, which helps hold the fiber together in the wood, is also removed because it has a tendency to turn yellowish over time. If you’ve used organic or vegan toilet paper, it was likely a brown color because it bypassed the bleaching step that most toilet paper goes through, organic and vegan toilet paper is also less soft because of the lack of chemicals in the production process. It Is Sprayed Onto Screens, before the rolls are made, the pulp requires one more step. The pulp is mixed with a large amount of water and sprayed onto screens where the pulp can dry out, the water drips off the screen and the pulp is taken through a machine that presses the pulp into an ultra-thin paper, it’s now ready for toilet paper rolls, a Massive Toilet Paper Roll Is Created after the screening process the white pulp is flat and ready to be rolled. Before becoming the smaller toilet paper roll that we find in our home, it’s first rolled onto larger rolls that are later cut. How it’s rolled depends on a number of things, is it 1-ply, 2-ply, or 3-ply? The thickness and number of sheets all matter. If it’s 3-ply the size of the toilet roll will be about 3 times larger than the 1 ply, is there a design on the paper? Many toilet paper companies will have their logo on the sheets. When the toilet paper is rolled, the logo can be pressed into the sheet. What is the perforated size of the sheet? One standard toilet paper sheet is 4.5 x 4.5 inches, however, in recent decades we’ve started to see smaller sheet sizes. This is done by toilet paper companies with an effort to save money and maximize profit, most people won’t notice, but those that do usually aren’t pleased to see it, the Roll Is Cut To Fit The Size Of A Toilet Roll, the last step of the toilet roll process is to cut the large roll into sizes that will be sold. When this occurs the toilet paper can be packaged. Occasionally there are mistakes with some rolls and they can be returned to the beginning of the toilet paper process. What If Toilet Paper Comes From A Recycled Source, ideally, all toilet paper would come from a recycled source. There shouldn’t be a need to use virgin trees to make a product that’s so simple, each day schools get rid of hundreds of pounds of paper waste and homeowners throw away junk mail. Wouldn’t it be great if all that paper could be reused to make toilet paper? Though helpful to reduce waste, the recycling process is terribly inefficient. Toilet paper companies have to separate metal waste from the paper, then they have to remove the ink, and they the can start the pulp process, I suppose part of the problem is that consumers expect toilet paper to be white, are There Toilet Paper Options That Are More Sustainable. One of the most common questions we get is “how can I buy toilet paper that is more sustainable”. There are a few things you can do, and a few brands that are responsible when it comes to toilet paper, “If every household replaced their 300 sheet virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled product, America could save 630,000 trees per year” – Seventh Generation
Here are a few things to look out for: 100% recycled, made without dyes, inks, fragrances, bamboo toilet paper (bamboo grows exceptionally fast compared to trees), sustainable Forestry Initiative certified, look for energy-efficient production methods, look for companies that plant multiple trees per tree cut. I highlighted these things because you’ll be able to see them on toilet paper labels. No toilet paper will meet all these criteria but a few brands will meet several of the criteria. Recycled and bleach-free toilet paper will not be white, however, it will be much better for the environment than toilet paper that’s from virgin trees, bamboo toilet paper is great because it is just as soft and sometimes stronger than tree-based toilet paper. Bamboo is part of the grass family and grows very fast. Compared to other renewable paper sources, bamboo is an excellent option. One of the most important things you can do is to look for certification from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), companies that are certified are taking steps to reduce their footprint on the environment. This means they’re replanting and enhancing the land that they cut trees from, when it comes to sustainability, they’ve taken steps to reduce their consumption of energy and water so there’s less impact on other resources as well. In addition, they plant 3 trees for every 1 that is cut for toilet paper. That’s pretty good in my book!
After learning about toilet paper, I realized that it wasn’t what I expected. Paper isn’t made from thinly cut pieces of trees. Instead, trees and recycled paper are ground into a pulp, mixed with chemicals and bleached, then molded into sheets of thin toilet paper. It’s a fascinating process that requires a lot of machinery and a lot of energy, unfortunately, it also requires the use of a lot of virgin trees. Do we really need trees for all our toilet paper needs? recycling seems like the best option but it isn’t a simple process either. There is ink and other un recyclable materials that need to be removed. There are, however, a few companies that are doing their best to reduce energy consumption and preserve our natural resources, planting more trees than those that are cut, harvesting locally, and reducing energy, water, and chemicals for procession are all ways to help reduce the impact of toilet paper production, let’s be clear, toilet paper isn’t going anywhere but how we make toilet paper can certainly improve.