Helping Black Bears in the Wild Every Time You Wipe

Wait? What? What does that have to do with bears?
More than you would think. The average household uses 120 rolls of toilet paper each year. That’s 1 roll, every 3 days. That means over 25,000 trees are cut down every day to provide toilet paper for the world. Those are valuable forests that bears need to thrive in the wild.

But what can I do? I need toilet paper!
The Houston Zoo only uses toilet paper made from recycled content, and you can help animals by doing the same! Paper products can be recycled and turned into something new multiple times. Don’t worry, the toilet paper itself is not made from old toilet paper! It is however made from paper that has already been multiple other things first. By using recycled content toilet paper, less trees have to be cut down, which protects the forest homes of animals like black bears!

Is recycled paper really better for the environment?
Absolutely! Making new paper from old paper is easier. It reduces the demand for wood, reduces solid waste, conserves resources, and generates less pollution during manufacturing.

What is the Zoo doing to save black bears in the wild?

• The Zoo uses recycled content toilet paper in all of our restrooms!
• Hand dryers are used in restrooms on grounds in place of paper towels.
• We recycle Zoo maps. Look for our recycle bins as you exit the Zoo!
• We use recycled paper products created by our friends and New Leaf in all of our office spaces.
• In 2018, the Zoo saved 490 fully-grown trees from being cut down through Zoo-wide paper reduction efforts.

What else can I do to help?
Visit the Houston Zoo! Your visit helps us save animals, like black bears, in the wild because a portion of the proceeds from your admission ticket goes towards conservation work to help these great bears.  You can do even more to save black bears through your visit to the Zoo by opting for a digital copy of your admissions ticket, rather than a paper one, and when you are ready to leave for the day, we encourage you to recycle your Zoo map (that is printed on the recycled content paper) at the exit!