‘Only five percent of the toilet paper we flush away in Australia is made from recycled paper,’ Jon Dee (environmentalist) says. ‘The rest is virgin fibre from plantation or native-forest trees.’
This really made me rethink what I use to wipe my derriere, and when I started to google this a little further I found that the difference between using new toilet paper and toilet paper made from recycled materials is 400 million trees, 660 million tons of water, and 45 million tons of oil. So, I figured it was WELL worth making a change.
Now obviously in the supermarket, in amongst the Great Wall of Loo Paper to choose from, making decisions about your purchase can be tough; how many ply? How many sheets for my $? Does it have dolphins on it and smell like the ocean? These are all tough questions, and it can be mind boggling to add into the mix questions like: is it biodegradable? Is it bleached? I encourage you to take a look at another alternative.
The good people over at Who Gives a Crap are serious about making change. They’re an Aussie brand on a roll in making change with their loo paper (pardon the pun). Their website states that, “We’re determined to prove that toilet paper is about more than just wiping bums. We make all of our products with environmentally friendly materials, and we donate 50% of our profits to help build toilets for those in need. To date we’ve donated over $1.2 million dollars to charity and saved a heck of a lot of trees, water and energy. Not bad for a toilet paper company, eh?”Not bad at all. In fact, they’re taking a lot of the confusing decision making out of the equation.
I’ve been using Who Gives a Crap’s TP for about 2 years now, and I can attest to the quality of the product, and the fun paper packaging that, let’s face it, has become a conversation starter with my guests. The ply is just right….no pesky fingers piercing poor quality ply. Nobody needs that! It gets delivered to my door every couple of months, so now I don’t even need to spend an hour in the aisle making decisions- thank you!Check them out here: https://au.whogivesacrap.org
Some marketing claims from TP companies that you need to know about;
- BIODEGRADABILITY:Not an environmental claim as such, more of a benefit to the sewer systems. any toilet paper made from a plant fibre biodegrades.
- BLEACHING:refers to the process used to whiten the toilet paper and the process involves chlorine. The most sustainable choice is a toilet paper which is unbleached.
- PACKAGING: You’d be hard pressed to find a TP packet that’s not sporting a recycling symbol – normally with the number four and sometimes ‘LDPE’ (low-density polyethylene) written underneath. Don’t be fooled and assume this mean the packet is recyclable. most councils prohibit LDPE from their curb-side recycling bins. The only toilet paper packaging that could practicably recycled was the paper-wrapped kind.
CO2 pollution is embedded in everything we buy, and it’s up to us to make choices about what we buy to make change in our world. By looking for Australian-made products, credible environmental claims, and minimal and recyclable packaging, we can minimise pollution.
Little Foot 