If you’d prefer to avoid any kind of chlorine, then recycled paper is your best bet, but if you’d prefer softer paper then opt for bamboo. A reliable comparison of bamboo with recycled paper is even harder to come by, with companies making competing claims for their particular product. How sustainable is it to transport bamboo from China to Europe? Toilet paper was one of the first “zero waste” swaps we made when we started living zero waste. We know that technically, using a non-reusable product like toilet paper isn’t “zero” waste. But living zero waste for us means being more mindful of our choices, so that we can reduce our impact on the environment. Serious Tissues have used a third party organisation ( c-free.co.uk) to provide a comprehensive look at their full carbon footprint. Firstly, you’re shopping with a sustainable and eco-friendly online company. Secondly, you actually get a lot of toilet roll for your money.

Of the two types of toilet paper, the 100% recycled version is more environmentally friendly as an existing resource is being repurposed and reused, which significantly reduces carbon emissions and environmental impact. You can have read on the best eco friendly toilet paper here. If you’d like to read more about it, the NRDC recently released their third sustainability “report card” for common toilet paper brands and both Who Gives A Crap 100% Recycled TP and Premium 100% Bamboo TP are on the list: “The Issue with Tissue 2021 Scorecard.”Of course, some brands do use recycled materials, but incredibly this has decreased over the past few years, despite a strong rise in interest in environmentalism, recycling and finding alternatives to single-use plastics. COVID has undeniably propelled this decrease with the use of single-use masks and PPE, along with a rise in single-use coffee cups and other utensils in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.

Be aware of any with the FSC Mix label because this means that a mixture of virgin and recycled fibres was used to make the toilet paper, reducing its eco credentials.

Is there an ethical toilet paper?

Nothing in this article discusses the bleaches used in toilet paper. I’ve not been able to find any information on whether Who Gives a Crap paper uses chorine bleach, which basically results in putting poison into the waterways. If it’s not discussed, then it’s quite possible that this paper uses chlorine instead of the environmentally benign alternatives. As the material used is critical for toilet paper, the paper sourcing policy is important. We rated toilet paper companies for their paper sourcing: They get good marks in the community category for things such as civic engagement and giving, as well as in the workers and governance categories. That being said, as a whole China is not the most ethical of places and the Chinese government do run an oppressive state, which is often mentioned by Ethical Consumer. How does Who Gives A Crap toilet paper get to the UK? Who Gives A Crap toilet rolls come loose in a recycled cardboard box so they have individually wrapped each roll in paper to ensure it is hygienic and doesn’t get damaged by moisture.

Chlorine dioxide breaks down within minutes in the air and rapidly in water, so it’s not present in the final product

Bleached and unbleached toilet paper

Whitening paper is purely done for aesthetics. It’s the same story for the likes of white vs brown coffee filters. It would be more sustainable if Serious Tissues didn’t whiten their paper, but then I’m assuming less people would buy it. With one very well-known brand languishing at the bottom of the score table, and a cluster of recommended brands scoring highly, our choice of toilet paper can make a difference ethically and environmentally, especially as we use so much of the stuff. According to their own reporting, in 2011 Kimberly-Clark used 29.7% recycled fibre whereas in 2021 it used only 19.3%; During the early days of Covid-19 I was probably one of the few not stressing about toilet roll shortages." Options

The bamboo toilet paper is bleached using hydrogen peroxide and chlorine dioxide (Elemental Chlorine Free) to ensure it is soft and absorbent. While not exactly ­zero waste, they do provide atree-freeway to be less wasteful about your wiping.By sourcing the paper for their recycled range from schools and offices, they can guarantee their toilet roll is not contaminated with BPA. Only a small percentage of toilet roll is bleached using no chlorine at all because the product created is of lower quality and production requires more energy for a small yield.