An Atlanta firm starts a toilet paper drive-thru to give away its stock for free

With the coronavirus outbreak prompting people to panic-buy enough toilet paper to last them for years, the shelves at stores across the nation have been swiped clean.

While that’s surely great news for toilet paper companies, it’s also left those of us who are down to our last two rolls in a bit of a pickle.

One Atlanta-based marketing firm is hoping to alleviate some of that stress by giving away its stock of toilet paper to those in need.

The program, called the Toilet Paper Exchange, is the brainchild of Genna Keller, principal and co-founder of marketing firm Trevelino/Keller.

Just like the majority of companies that have told their employees to work from home, Trevelino/Keller did the same. With no employees at the office to use the bathroom, Keller knew that the 1,000 rolls of toilet paper the company had in stock could be put to better use.

“In times like this, it’s important that you do what you can and maybe even provide a moment of levity,” Keller told CNN.

After setting up the Toilet Paper Exchange website and advertising the program on social media, Trevelino/Keller employees and their family members held the first “Toilet Paper Toss” Monday afternoon, handing out about 20 rolls of toilet paper.

With social distancing as the norm these days, the company started a pop-up drive-thru on its parking lot to simply toss one or two rolls into opened car windows and limit physical contact.

In normal times, a program that tosses free toilet paper into cars would seem ridiculous. But while amused, passersby were appreciative, Keller said.

“The Toilet Paper Exchange is indeed intended to distract us from the current stress while providing those TP-less, a roll to get through the day,” she added in a news release.

Because 1,000 rolls can only last so long, Keller is hoping other local businesses and institutions will donate their stock to the Toilet Paper Exchange.

“Schools are closed, churches are closed, businesses will have more and more employees working remote,” Keller said. “So we’re encouraging them to let us know if they’ve got excess, reach out to us and we’ll take it from there.”

Atlantans can check Trevelino/Keller’s Facebook or Instagram pages for updates on its next distribution so you don’t end up having to wipe with newspaper.

Happy wiping!