Why TP?

I am not even going to try to explain COVID-19 problems and panic. News media has stoked it well enough and governments trying to underplay it rather than being truthful have also made sure that the panic continues. Coronavirus is serious.

No, I want to talk about toilet paper hoarding. It is a worldwide phenomenon. Why?

 I've read this statement on Facebook a number of times: It's because TP comes from China and because of this people are worried we will run out. 

If you type into Google, "Where does toilet paper come from?" You will get a response from Wikipedia, "China." This is true. TP was invented in China in the 6th century. We don't, however, import the majority of our TP from China. We actually import from a number of countries 9.4 percent of our TP according to Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). The fact is toilet paper tends to produced where lumber is processed so TP comes from far away lands like Washington and Oregon and Vancouver. In other words where the growth forests are. Most of our imports actually come from Canada and Mexico.

Panic buying is not new and it is not reasonable. The current one for TP is worldwide. It may have actually started in Japan where because of an inaccurate Facebook post, the public was informed that germ masks were made from the same material as TP, and Japan does import TP and their masks from China. TP and the mask are actually two different materials. From there, like the virus, it spread to Australia and around the world. What happens is people see others suddenly start buying large quantities of a product and then start thinking, "What do they know that I don't?" Chances are they have heard that toilet paper comes from China or they saw what you are just now seeing. The fact is they don't know anything you don't know. They feel the situation is out of their control, so by panic buying things like masks, hand sanitizers, water, toilet paper, etc., they feel they have some control. It is really a "monkey see; monkey do" sort of thing or sometimes referred to as the herd mentality. 

So now you know. You really don't need all that TP or water, you need to calm down and take sensible precautions.