It has met incredibly high standards to be able to have the certification – only around a third of all companies that apply actually get it. And if you want tissues and kitchen roll, you can do a one-stop-shop order as well. There’s also a bamboo paper option, which is also eco-friendly as bamboo grows incredibly quickly. But for bigger households or families, the 48 pack is the better value buy. I buy the 24 pack, as finding where to store that amount is enough, let alone 48. This may sound excessive to individually wrap each roll, but the brand says if it were to package six rolls together (which is the max allowed), it would need far thicker paper, and by net weight, wrapping individually is the same. Unlike packs you buy from the supermarket, each roll is individually wrapped in more recycled paper. Instead, it uses recycled paper from used textbooks and old office supplies to make rolls with 400 sheets of three-ply paper. Who Gives A Crap (WGAC) recognises there is no need to cut down trees just to make toilet paper. Read more: The ethical and sustainable B Corp brands to know about And the onus falls on to us to deal with it, not the huge companies producing it.
Whoever thought that was a good idea clearly had little foresight into the havoc it would wreak when crossed with capitalism and ever-growing populations.įor me, I was obsessed with the idea of no longer buying rolls of toilet paper that came in that annoyingly thin clear plastic that’s so hard for consumers to recycle. Its downfall is that it was made to last forever. Single-use plastic is everywhere – just look around you and you’ll inevitably notice it: wrapping your bananas, onions, flowers, kitchen roll, meat, milk cartons – and that’s just the kitchen. It is as it sounds, where you avoid single-use plastic for an entire month.
I first came across it while setting myself the Plastic Free July challenge in 2018. For me, it’s been a real game changer in many ways, and not only because of its sustainability credentials. Writing an ode to toilet paper is not something I ever imagined doing, but here we are. For those that are not familiar with it, essentially it’s an Australian start-up (available in the UK) that has completely revolutionised how this everyday commodity is made, bought and used. There are some brands changing the status quo, though, such as Who Gives a Crap.
Andrex even discontinued its recycled paper and bamboo line back in 2015. 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.Īccording to Ethical Consumer, some major brands were using less recycled paper in their toilet roll in 2019 than in 2011. 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. That’s estimated to be around 127 rolls per consumer every year. To put this into context, in the UK alone we use a staggering 1.3 million tonnes of tissue a year, according to the Confederation of Paper Industries. 9 best vegan trainers that tread lightly on the planet.The IndyBest team’s favourite eco-friendly products.The sustainable brands to bookmark, from fashion to homeware.