Eco-Friendly Toilet Paper Review. I’ve Tested 3 to Find Out Which Is Best
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Eco-friendly toilet paper. Not the most glamorous topic, but an important one nonetheless! I’ve tested out two of the most popular eco-friendly toilet rolls: Who Gives a Crap and Naked Sprout eco-friendly toilet roll so I can report back on which is best. In this blog post I’ll also compare these premium bamboo toilet rolls to the recycled paper toilet paper we used to get from Sainsbury’s, to see which is best value. So if you’ve seen the ads for these eco-friendly toilet rolls but worried they aren’t any good or are too expensive — this post is for you.
In this review of eco-friendly toilet paper, I’ve looked at Sainsbury’s Super Soft Recycled Toilet Tissue, Who Gives a Crap Premium Toilet Paper and Naked Sprout Unbleached Bamboo Toilet Roll. So let’s see how these eco-friendly toilet rolls compare.
The Problem with Regular Toilet Paper
According to the National Geographic, writing back in 2010, “Worldwide, the equivalent of almost 270,000 trees is either flushed or dumped in landfills every day and roughly 10 percent of that total is attributable to toilet paper.” So that means that 10 years ago, toilet roll production accounted for 27,000 trees a day. I can’t find any more recent figures, but as the population has grown, and big manufacturers are reportedly using less recycled paper that in 2011, those figures are likely to be much higher now. So it begs the question: where is that virgin paper coming from? Deforestation. And if it it comes from responsibly managed forests, it’s still cutting down trees for single use.
But that’s not all. Aside from deforestation, those trees have to be chipped and pulped using a chemical process (very energy intensive) and then the wood pulp has to be bleached white. And then sometimes coloured for the people who prefer pastel toilet paper. So when you look into it, it becomes pretty clear this process is not good for our planet, and the chemicals can’t be good for our water system, or our skin.
What Are the Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Toilet Paper?
There are alternatives, but they won’t suit everyones: a cloth that is washed and reused, and a bidet attachment for the toilet. The more realistic alternative for most of us is recycled toilet paper, and bamboo toilet roll. But which more eco-friendly toilet paper is best?
Sainsbury’s Super Soft Recycled Toilet Tissue
We have used Sainsbury’s Super Soft Recycled Toilet Tissue for years and years without giving it that much thought. It’s not the softest in the world but it didn’t bother us as it’s perfectly fine, and better for the environment than regular toilet roll. But it is wrapped in single use plastic. And according to Naked Sprout, regular toilet roll contains “Bleach, BPA, formaldehyde, de-inking agents, chlorine dioxide, sodium sulphide, sodium hydroxide, sodium sulphate, anti-slime agents, filler, adhesives, wet strength enhancers and more…” Yuk.
So when I discovered Who Gives a Crap recycled toilet paper, which is plastic-free, it was a no brainer. The only downside is that it comes in bulk, so my sister in law and I would split a box. Who Gives a Crap is one of my recommended top five eco-friendly subscription services. You can read about the others here.
I upgraded to the premium bamboo version and it’s definitely softer and because it’s bamboo, rather than recycled paper, it seems to be more eco-friendly.
But then I thought about how each roll is individually wrapped in paper. It seems wasteful. Even if you reuse it, which we sometimes do for craft etc.
So next on my list was Naked Sprout, which is loose in the box, plastic-free and unbleached. The only downside is the rather off-putting beige colour. Naked Sprout also comes in a big box, but again, it means you don’t have to keep remembering to buy it, and like Who Gives a Crap, it’s delivered to your door.
So Why is Bamboo Toilet Roll Better for the Environment?
Naked Sprout say
Bamboo requires no pesticides or fertilisers and only needs rainwater to grow. Bamboo absorbs 5 times more carbon dioxide than trees and produces 35% more oxygen than trees. It is naturally the fastest growing plant in the world and rapidly renewable. Growing up to 3 feet in 24 hours and reaching maturity within 4–6 years — trees take 30–60 years.
NAKED SPROUT
Three Eco-Friendly Toilet Rolls Compared
I’m looking at a few factors in this test (and don’t worry, there are no ‘in use photos’, ha ha.) I am looking at the softness and strength, how many sheets per roll, the cost per sheet, and and the other environmental or charity aspects of each brand.
How Soft and Strong are These Eco-Friendly Toilet Rolls?
So the first thing to look at is how soft and strong the toilet rolls are.
Sainsbury’s recycled toilet roll, who Gives a Crap Bamboo Toilet Roll and Naked Sprout Bamboo Toilet Roll
As you can see, the Sainsbury’s toilet roll on the left has a bigger sheet than the two bamboo ones. I think it’s also a little thicker as it’s harder to see the line on the background through it. This is despite it being two ply, where as the bamboo toilet rolls are both three ply, as you can see here.
That said, the bamboo rolls feel as strong as the recycled paper roll, and they are definitely a lot softer. So in terms of sheet size and thickness, I think they are pretty equal, but the bamboo toilet paper is markedly softer.
How Many Sheets So These Eco-Friendly Toilet Rolls Have, and How Much Do They Cost?
I photographed a roll each of the three eco-friendly toilet rolls on their sides to show the sizes of each roll. Left to right: Sainsbury’s, WGAC and Naked Sprout.
According to Sainsbury’s, their recycled toilet paper has 220 sheets per roll. This works out at approx. 15p per sheet, without delivery.
Who Gives a Crap say their double-length rolls have 370 sheets each. This works out at approx. 22p per sheet, including delivery.
Order here for £5 off your 1st Who Gives A Crap delivery.
Naked Sprout say their double-length rolls have 300 sheets each. This works out at approx. 27p per sheet, including delivery.
Order here using PINKSCHARMING to save 10% on your 1st Naked Sprout delivery.
By way of comparison, Andrex Classic Clean Toilet Tissues cost 28p per sheet.
Although the rolls here look a similar size, the two bamboo rolls are much more tightly wound, which is more economical to transport.
So What About Any Extra Benefits or Issues?
When you buy a supermarket brand, they get the profits. End of story. Apart from the plastic packaging that needs to be disposed of.
But when you buy from Who Gives A Crap or Naked Sprout, some of the money goes to charity. And there’s no plastic to worry about.
So What Good Does WGAC Do?
Who Gives a Crap donate 50% of profits to help build toilets. They’ve donated over £4.5 million to help provide proper sanitation for 2 billion people. They work with several charity partners including WaterAid and Sanergy and are B Corp certified.
Their bamboo toilet roll is ‘forest friendly’ (whatever that means), and there are no inks, dyes or scents. Unlike Naked Sprout, Who Gives A Crap whiten their bamboo loo roll with “elemental-free chlorine”. They say “Our chlorine, unlike its traditional cousin, is chemically bound to oxygen so it doesn’t bioaccumulate. That just means living things don’t absorb it, so it’s a lot better for the environment.”
So What Good Does Naked Sprout Do?
Naked Sprout eco-friendly toilet roll is made of 100% organic bamboo with no bleach or chemicals. They call themselves ‘Britain’s Most Sustainable Toilet Roll’. Every Naked Sprout box bought, gives a child in Kenya safe water at school for 1 year through their nominated charity ‘Just a Drop’, which you can read about here.
If you’re wondering whether pandas will go hungry, don’t worry — this kind of bamboo is a different kind to the one they eat!
Thorny Issues of Bamboo Toilet Paper
There are more issues with bamboo toilet roll — as with everything there is normally a trade off.
Issue 1: Shipping it all the way from China
Who Gives A Crap say they chose China because:
We can use paper wrappers and recycled cardboard boxes rather than plastic! We couldn’t find a local producer that would let us do this with varied designs for our wrappers.
We have access to a large pool of local, raw materials- both post-consumer waste paper and bamboo (neither of which is readily available here). By using China’s local materials, we avoid importing from overseas.
We can cut the cost of operations, passing on those savings to our customers.
WHO GIVES A CRAP
They add “For our UK and Europe operations, we sea freight containers of stock into England, and are distributing from there. Don’t worry, we’re not flying your toilet paper orders over from Australia!”
Naked Sprout say they chose China because:
Our toilet paper is manufactured in China — as this is where the Bamboo is grown… There is a surplus of bamboo in China. Bamboo is not commercially available to manufacture toilet paper in Europe — so we have taken the decision to keep our manufacturing close to the raw materials.
Although wood and recycled paper are available closer to home, having researched the environmental pros and cons of these — our bamboo toilet roll is better for the environment. Carbon emissions from producing our bamboo Naked Rolls are 30% lower than recycled and 65% lower than normal toilet roll. We transport our products by sea freight and use the closest possible ports to our factory and warehouse to ensure road miles are also kept to a minimum. We have also chosen to deliver to our customers using Royal Mail — as by using the existing network and infrastructure of daily deliveries they have — this also reduces our impact on the environment.
NAKED SPROUT
Issue 2: Individually wrapping each toilet roll
Each Who Gives a Crap toilet roll is wrapped in paper. And that does seem wasteful, but for me this is better than a plastic wrapper. Here’s why they do it:
We have to wrap our rolls in something to keep them moisture-free and hygienic. We could wrap 6 rolls together (that’s the limit), but we’d need to use a much thicker paper. The net paper used (by weight) to wrap a 6 pack in heavy duty paper vs. six individual rolls in the thin tissue paper we use is effectively the same.
WHO GIVES A CRAP
We try to reuse the paper wrappers as they are really nice. But they are recyclable and compostable too.
My Verdict on Eco-Friendly Toilet Paper
In terms of cost, Sainsbury’s recycled toilet paper is cheapest, but also not very soft. It’s less eco friendly, wrapped in single use plastic, and has no charity donation.
So that leaves the two more eco-friendly bamboo toilet paper options.
Whichever eco-friendly toilet roll you choose, I have a little discount offer for you.
Who Gives a Crap give more money to charity and are a little cheaper.
Order here for £5 off your 1st Who Gives A Crap delivery.
Naked Sprout are a great option if you don’t mind them being beige rather than white. They also have minimal packaging, with no individual wrappers.
Order here using the code PINKSCHARMING to save 10% on your 1st Naked Sprout delivery.
I hope you’ve found this comparison of eco-friendly toilet paper useful, why not Pin it for later? And please leave me a comment if you have an even better option for me to try!
