One of the most common complaints, as of late, is that toilet paper is hard to find. It’s been difficult to find toilet paper in most American stores for the last eight or nine weeks, dating somewhere around the start of the shelter-in-place orders of March, 2020. There have been other items either in a shortage, or difficult to find at the regular shops such as Walmart, Target, and various grocery store chains — toilet paper has been one of the most notorious, though.
Apparently by March 23rd, 70% of American grocery stores were out of stock of toilet paper and facial tissue. There’s been such a high demand that it’s difficult for stores to keep toilet paper in stock, among other hygiene items. In fact, almost 10% of Americans have more than 30 rolls of toilet paper stockpiled, according to this study on hygiene habits during house-bound quarantine. Clorox wipes seem to be a thing of the past, alongside rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, and elastic used to make straps for homemade masks and facial protection too.
If there is one benefit to living in circumstances where you need to be resourceful and creative, it’s that you find ways to make what you need with what you have. All over the internet, articles are published daily about the most commonly googled questions during COVID-19 — you’ll also find a myriad of responses, including DIY resources that will help people make what they need with the supplies they have on hand, or have access to.
Tutorials have been published all over for common household items that are difficult to find in the store, such as hand sanitizer instructions and guidelines for making your own masks, according to CDC suggestions. Even the Americans who might not think they’re crafty have been able to make due thanks to guides like this one that help outline how to make a mask. A little bit of further research will help you stumble across different recipes for home-made hand sanitizer and homemade disinfectant wipes.
Many people have had to revamp the way they do certain things that were, once upon a time, really routine and easy — like grocery shopping, household cleaning, and other chores. The way we used to live our daily lives has had to change to accommodate new CDC guidelines in how we handle COVID-19. In times of need, you can find necessity based on your resourcefulness and willingness to get a little creative. That’s how we’ll get through until the supply chain begins to even out in the end of June and possibly the early weeks of July.