If you walk down the toilet paper aisle at a grocery store, you’ll likely see dozens of rolls emblazoned with environmentally friendly claims, from promises to save hundreds of thousands of trees to promises of chemical-free products.
Today, you can find toilet paper made from recycled paper, bamboo, or other wood fiber alternatives, some of which may come from cutting down old trees in critical forests. The advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that clearing these forests for products such as toilet paper would release up to 26 million tons of carbon per year.
“This is just an incredibly important ecosystem that is literally being flushed down the toilet,” said Shelley Vinyard, who oversees the Natural Resources Defense Council’s corporate campaign to protect Canada’s boreal forest.
The NRDC annually evaluates dozens of toilet paper brands based on their sustainability performance. We tested some of the top-rated products for softness, durability and absorbency and found that they varied widely. (See method below.)
Our winners are made from 100% recycled paper, which contains up to 60% post-consumer recycled materials, or materials that would typically be recycled or end up in landfill.
How does it compare to traditional toilet paper rolls? Not so good. Our testers gave Charmin, one of the best-selling brands in the United States, an average score of 9.8.
But some experts say that depending on where and how the toilet paper is sourced, in many cases the softest toilet paper may be the least environmentally friendly. They are often made from virgin forest fibers such as northern bleached softwood kraft fiber and Brazilian eucalyptus. The thin walls of these fibers make them more flexible and produce soft fabrics. While Brazilian eucalyptus is a fast-growing tree that is often considered a more sustainable source of virgin fiber, soft toilet paper also often contains fiber from old trees, which stores large amounts of carbon.
All toilet paper that receives an F sustainability rating from NRDC is made primarily, if not entirely, from forest fibers. The toilet paper, made from 100% recycled material, received high marks from the group. For example, simple truths get an A.
“Ensuring household waste is recycled and reused as many times as possible is critical to reducing demand on natural resources and preventing water, air and landfill pollution,” said Linda Walker, Senior Director of Corporate Engagement at Forestry Linda. Walker) said to the WWF.
A wet, three-ply roll of toilet paper holds about eight cents on average—two more than Whole Foods 365 No. 2 toilet paper (two-ply).
Richard Venditti, a professor of paper science and engineering at North Carolina State University, said that like hardwood, bamboo has long fibers that are easier to bond together to form a stronger board.
But bamboo may not be as environmentally friendly as US recycled paper. Most bamboo comes from China, which still uses coal for fuel, Venditti said. “A lot of people think, ‘Oh, it’s bamboo. We don’t have to cut down the tree, so it’s good for the environment, but that’s not all,” he said.
Our strength test winner received a B grade from the NRDC, which is lower than many toilet paper rolls made from recycled materials. However, some experts say a bamboo-based product—if it’s made mostly, if not entirely, from responsibly sourced bamboo—may be a better alternative to virgin fibers from mature or old trees.
Although the impact of bamboo (a type of grass) is not as low as that of processed foods or alternative fibers derived from agricultural waste such as hemp, jute, rice straw and wheat straw, bamboo grows much faster than most trees.
Whole Foods and Everspring, which are made from 100% recycled materials, performed equally well in this test. For both brands, 0.5 ml of liquid dropped on toilet paper passed an average of about eight sheets of toilet paper.
Burak Aksoy, a research assistant professor at Auburn University’s School of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, says recycled fibers tend to be stiffer and contain a high amount of fine fibers, resulting in paper that is not as soft as paper made from virgin fibers, and poor quality. water absorption. But Aksoy added that the properties of recycled toilet paper, including its absorbency, can be improved through advanced drying, layering and embossing techniques.
NRDC has rated our leaders A+ (Whole Foods) and A (Everspring). The organization says it gives higher ratings to products with higher recycled content. Other recycled toilet paper may contain manufacturing waste that does not end up on store shelves.
Toilet rolls, a type of toilet paper made from bamboo, have triumphed. It received top marks for durability, while most of our testers gave it an average score for softness. However, as we mentioned above, it ranks less favorably than some of our other sustainability articles according to the NRDC Scorecard.
If you choose bamboo toilet paper, make sure your product is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, experts say.
No matter which toilet paper you choose, there will likely be some compromises to be made when it comes to sustainability. For example, with the exception of Reel, which is packaged in recyclable paper and comes in a cardboard box, all the other brands we tested were packaged in plastic. (Some other eco-friendly brands, such as Who Gives a Crap, also avoid plastic packaging.) Additionally, the production of certain types of toilet paper produces fewer carbon emissions, but can harm the environment in other ways, such as when plants are used in planting. fertilizers Water from crops can eventually pollute nearby waterways.
Of course, there are other factors to consider when choosing toilet paper, such as cost. Our winner isn’t the cheapest: According to Reel’s website, it retails for $27.99 for 12 “huge” rolls (or about $2.30 per roll). Bamboo toilet paper can be purchased for a lower price at some stores, such as Target. Trader Joe’s has the lowest prices at about 40 cents per roll (12 rolls for $4.99).
Post time: Jun-03-2024