The main reason why you can’t find toilet paper on the shelves is because people have been hoarding it.

And the next question you may ask is, why can’t we just make more? Here’s the answer:

The big three U.S. toilet paper companies – Georgia-Pacific LLC, Proctor and Gamble Co. and Kimberly-Clark Corp. – were already running their toilet paper plants 24 hours a day before the new coronavirus hit…Toilet paper is bulky and not very profitable, so retailers don’t keep a lot of inventory on hand.

(Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press)

So apparently, companies are already producing as much as is possible, so when people board it, it is impossible to meet the demands—unless more companies are built or more machines are made. But in the meantime, Companies can’t keep up and the shelves will be empty much of the time.

What can be done?

Here are four possible answers:

1. Raising the prices might stop the hoarding some—if the hoarders are poor.
2. People must learn to use less TP.
3. People must stop hoarding. Maybe they need to be educated that they don’t need to hoard, that when they do, they are being selfish. But who will educate them?
4. Do we need to build more TP companies to satisfy the needs of the hoarders?