If you're trying to go green, finding more sustainable solutions for the products you use every day is an easy way to reduce their impact.
Reusable bags and containers can reduce single-use plastic waste, but the paper products you flush and flush down the toilet every day also have a devastating impact on the environment.
The Natural Defense Council examined the effect of paper products using virgin pulp on the Canadian boreal forest in its 2019 Issue With Tissue report and found that between 1995 and 2015, more than 28 million acres of the forest were cleared, roughly the size of Ohio.
In addition to wasting less toilet paper overall by using a bidet, one of the best ways to combat this deforestation is to stop using paper products made from virgin pulp, which means looking for recycled alternatives.
You may think that recycled toilet paper is inferior to regular toilet paper, that it's not soft enough or strong enough, but our favorite brand of recycled toilet paper, Who Gives A Crap, is here to prove that you can take care of the planet.
We've used Who Gives A Crap products for years, but wanted to learn more about their mission, sustainability, and how exactly their products are made.
So we caught up with Danny Alexander, Co-Founder and Head of Product and Purpose (Head of PP) at Who Gives A Crap, to find out the details.
“Who Gives A Crap was founded with the goal of solving problems;
in particular, there were two problems we wanted to address,” says Alexander.
“The first is about environmental sustainability.”
He says that in the past, most organic products were marketed in a niche and the quality was not up to what consumers expected.
He says that Who Gives A Crap set out to make a product where the most environmentally friendly option was also the best option.
When it comes to toilet paper, it means making high-quality recycled or alternative fiber papers that are affordable, convenient and delightful in every way.
In addition to sustainability, Alexander says the other big problem Who Gives A Crap wants to help solve is the fact that billions of people around the world don't have access to adequate water and sanitation facilities.
“The toilet, the most life-saving invention in the world, is out of reach for billions of people around the world,” says Alexander.
"Our big, airy, bold goal as a company is to ensure that every human being on Earth has access to clean water and a bathroom by the year 2050."
Who Gives A Crap plans to solve that problem by donating 50% of the company's profits to charities and organizations that are actively working to provide clean water and sanitation to communities around the world.
At the time of publication, Who Gives A Crap has donated over $10,800,000 AUD to help resolve the crisis.
How Who Gives A Crap Toilet Paper Is Made
Who Gives A Crap's flagship product is its recycled toilet paper.
Instead of cutting down trees and using virgin pulp, Who Gives A Crap takes recycled paper and turns it into high-quality toilet paper.
“To recycle paper, you have to cut it up and mix it with water, and every time you cut it, you cut the fibers a little bit,” says Alexander.
“Recycling paper is not an infinite loop.
Every time we recycle it, it gets a little shorter, so we choose the highest grade paper that we can recycle so we can have the highest quality toilet paper.”
Using recycled paper dramatically reduces the impact paper companies have on forests, and the Natural Resources Defense Council's 2019 report highlights the effect recycled paper could have on the industry.
However, while Alexander says that Who Gives A Crap's toilet paper is on par with, if not better than, many of its competitors that use virgin pulp, he knows that there is still a section of the market that is used to toilet paper from higher quality and it won't.
I want to give that up.
“What we have done to account for that consumer is look for an alternative fiber that is better for the environment but also has the same quality that they were used to,” he says.
The result of that search: bamboo.
Bamboo is a grass so it grows back much faster than a tree and compared to recycled paper it can provide a stronger and softer feel.
“The most environmentally friendly option is recycled paper, hands down,” Alexander says, but “bamboo is a close second.”
As well as using recycled and alternative fibres, Who Gives A Crap has looked at their entire supply chain to try and make the most sustainable choices possible.
These include eliminating single-use plastic in your packaging and limiting its use throughout the supply chain, calculating and offsetting the carbon emissions of your shipment, and more.
In the future, Who Gives A Crap wants to further improve its sustainability and further reduce energy consumption and water use in the production process, and is even looking to control its own distribution network and deliver products with its own fleet of vehicles. electrical.
So while there may be other brands that offer recycled or alternative fiber products,
How does Who Gives A Crap toilet paper feel?
We've used Who Gives A Crap 100% recycled toilet paper and premium 100% bamboo toilet paper for years, and we can confidently say that it feels extremely similar to the regular toilet paper we're used to.
100% recycled paper may feel a bit rougher than an ultra-luxurious option at the store, but it still feels better than thin, single-ply rolls.
The bamboo option really does feel like luxurious toilet paper, and unless you have very high standards for toilet paper, we doubt you'll notice the difference.
In addition to the fact that Who Gives A Crap toilet paper feels great, its packaging is colorful and fun.
Depending on the toilet paper you buy, it's wrapped in candy cane-like designs or paper that says "Emergency Roll!!"
so you know when you have the last ones left and it's time to order more.
How Who Gives A Crap Helps
“Early on we decided that we wanted to partner with organizations that had demonstrated their ability to have high impact and work really effectively around the world, that had local expertise built into all of their teams, and that had teams that were incredibly capable of delivering. Alexander says.
To find charities that meet Who Gives A Crap's high standards, the brand does extensive research and looks at an organization's track record of success, the team behind the organization, local expertise, and the organization's potential for innovation and disruption. .
The Who Gives A Crap team with their newly built toilet in Cambodia
Alexander highlights some of Who Gives A Crap's most exciting partnerships, including Wateraid, a large global NGO working in Asia, Africa and South America;
Shofco, which installs aerial water pipes in the center of Kenyan cities;
and Sanergy, which builds and sells toilets, removes waste for customers and composts it, which it sells to offset the cost of building the toilets.
While Alexander is proud of the work Who Gives A Crap has done, he emphasizes how much work remains to be done.
“The scale of the problem is so great that we have donated around US$8 million to date.
And that's super exciting for our team and for our customers,” he says.
“The reality is that we have billions of people who lack access;
we are going to need billions, if not trillions, of dollars activated.”
Is Who Gives A Crap Toilet Paper Worth It?
When you consider Who Gives A Crap's sustainability, charitable efforts, and top-notch quality, there's no question Who Gives A Crap toilet paper is worth the money.
In our opinion, it is the best option for people who want to buy more consciously.
Plus, there's so much more to buy from Who Gives A Crap if you love and want to support their mission.
Beyond toilet paper, the brand also offers disposable tissues, paper towels, and biodegradable cloths (similar to our cult-favorite Swedish dish towels).
More products from Who Gives A Crap
100% recycled toilet paper
From $38 at Who Gives A Crap
The brand's flagship product, this toilet paper is made from 100% recycled fibers.
You can even sign up for a subscription so you never run out.
Who Gives A Crap Premium 100% Bamboo Toilet Paper
From $44 at Who Gives A Crap
Luxuriously plush yet sustainable, this roll is for the person who wants the best quality toilet paper on the market.
dream cloths
$12 in who gives a shit
These dream cloths are the same as the Swedish dish towels you've probably seen.
Made with FSC-certified cellulose and cotton recovered from the textile industry, these reusable towels are the perfect replacement for paper towels.
And yes, Who Gives A Crap also offers paper towels, but Alexander says, "We're actually hoping this will cannibalize our paper towel sales," as they're so much better for the planet than using Who Gives bamboo paper towels. To Crap.
Paper towels
$20
Sometimes you might prefer to clean up certain messes with a paper towel instead of a reusable cloth, which is why Who Gives A Crap still offers paper towels, made from a mix of bamboo and sugar cane.
ecological scarves
$20
And to complete your transition, Who Gives A Crap also offers tissues made from 100% bamboo to make all of their paper products more eco-friendly.