Tim Minnshall

yet to make it requires trees grown up in Scandinavia and trees grown in South America because the properties of those different trees means that you have different properties of the wood pulp and so to make something as simple as a roll of toilet paper requires vast forests to be grown and it takes decades for them to grow

You chop down those trees, you use most of it for construction and all sorts of other good things. Some of it is used and made into wood pulp, and that wood pulp is then used for all sorts of different things, one of which is toilet paper. And so what's kind of worrying about this whole manufacturing system

You chop down those trees, you use most of it for construction and all sorts of other good things. Some of it is used and made into wood pulp, and that wood pulp is then used for all sorts of different things, one of which is toilet paper. And so what's kind of worrying about this whole manufacturing system

You chop down those trees, you use most of it for construction and all sorts of other good things. Some of it is used and made into wood pulp, and that wood pulp is then used for all sorts of different things, one of which is toilet paper. And so what's kind of worrying about this whole manufacturing system

is that even for something as simple as a sheet of toilet paper, it has a journey that typically has encompassed thousands of miles. Huge amount of resource has been used to develop and to make and to deliver that to you. Huge amounts of energy, huge amounts of water, huge amounts of stuff needed to happen to make that work. And it's incredibly wasteful. Now we like our large variety of products.

is that even for something as simple as a sheet of toilet paper, it has a journey that typically has encompassed thousands of miles. Huge amount of resource has been used to develop and to make and to deliver that to you. Huge amounts of energy, huge amounts of water, huge amounts of stuff needed to happen to make that work. And it's incredibly wasteful. Now we like our large variety of products.

is that even for something as simple as a sheet of toilet paper, it has a journey that typically has encompassed thousands of miles. Huge amount of resource has been used to develop and to make and to deliver that to you. Huge amounts of energy, huge amounts of water, huge amounts of stuff needed to happen to make that work. And it's incredibly wasteful. Now we like our large variety of products.

I mean, I'm a massive hypocrite. I love the fact that any of us can go into any mall or any market, any supermarket, any mini market, and just look at the variety of products that are there. It's absolutely brilliant. But as you say, because so many of these products just appear on shelves, we don't really appreciate the journey that they've gone through.

I mean, I'm a massive hypocrite. I love the fact that any of us can go into any mall or any market, any supermarket, any mini market, and just look at the variety of products that are there. It's absolutely brilliant. But as you say, because so many of these products just appear on shelves, we don't really appreciate the journey that they've gone through.

I mean, I'm a massive hypocrite. I love the fact that any of us can go into any mall or any market, any supermarket, any mini market, and just look at the variety of products that are there. It's absolutely brilliant. But as you say, because so many of these products just appear on shelves, we don't really appreciate the journey that they've gone through.

Absolutely. And one of the key cost issues, of course, is transport. And so one of the greatest innovations of our time is the wonderful invention of the shipping container. It's just a standard sized metal box. But the genius

Absolutely. And one of the key cost issues, of course, is transport. And so one of the greatest innovations of our time is the wonderful invention of the shipping container. It's just a standard sized metal box. But the genius

Absolutely. And one of the key cost issues, of course, is transport. And so one of the greatest innovations of our time is the wonderful invention of the shipping container. It's just a standard sized metal box. But the genius

of Malcolm McLean and his Sea Land Company, a shipping company in the States, coming up with the idea of a standardised dimension of box that could go onto the railroad, go on the back of trucks, could go onto ships, and you could just switch between them, was absolute genius.

of Malcolm McLean and his Sea Land Company, a shipping company in the States, coming up with the idea of a standardised dimension of box that could go onto the railroad, go on the back of trucks, could go onto ships, and you could just switch between them, was absolute genius.

of Malcolm McLean and his Sea Land Company, a shipping company in the States, coming up with the idea of a standardised dimension of box that could go onto the railroad, go on the back of trucks, could go onto ships, and you could just switch between them, was absolute genius.

And the story of how he developed that shipping container, and when he had the first ships running, I think, down the eastern US seaboard, the cost per tonne, per mile, dropped unbelievably, like 90% lower cost by doing it in shipping containers. And as soon as you have that,

And the story of how he developed that shipping container, and when he had the first ships running, I think, down the eastern US seaboard, the cost per tonne, per mile, dropped unbelievably, like 90% lower cost by doing it in shipping containers. And as soon as you have that,

And the story of how he developed that shipping container, and when he had the first ships running, I think, down the eastern US seaboard, the cost per tonne, per mile, dropped unbelievably, like 90% lower cost by doing it in shipping containers. And as soon as you have that,

then the fact that a factory is very, very far away from you doesn't matter anymore because the cost of shipping is so low, it's almost a tiny percentage of the overall cost of the customer. So you're right, by people far away being able to manufacture things cheaply makes it very attractive. But it only works if the transport costs to and from that country are cheap as well.