Zero Waste "Down Under"

 So I have been researching the best way to go the most "Zero Waste" on my purchases of one of the most important products in the house: TOILET PAPER! NO WAY am I going to go 100% reusable toilet paper with three kids. Sorry, not sorry!

 In my research, however, one of the blogs I read suggested having reusable cloth sheets for cleaning up after going #1, and only using toilet paper for when the family goes #2. Have a small closable trash can next to the toilet to put the cloth into, and then wash them later...

My five year old son still wears pull-ups and wets the bed, and I handle urine soaked stuff on a daily basis (speaking of which, does anyone have a solution for this never ending issue?). Knowing this, tossing in some pee cloths with the rest of his wash doesn't seem like a bad idea. It would definitely cut down on costs with toilet paper!

So with this solution, which toilet paper brand would I use that would be the friendliest for the environment? My money equals my vote, and as an environmentalist consumer, I want my vote to count! 

And then I found "Who Gives a Crap." Yes, that is the name of the company!! It's brilliant, truthfully, because it will grab anyone's attention immediately. Before I continue, I want to make note that I was not paid to promote this business, it simply was what I found to be an awesome company and wish to share it with you all...

Their advertising is frankly hilarious. They call their customer service the "Entertainment Division." After I sent an email to them I got an automatic response back with a youtube video of a turtle chasing a ball (implying to please be patient while they get back to me)...(I want to work for this company now!!)

But aside from their catchy advertising, what was sent back to me allowed me to want to invest in toilet paper with them indefinitely. This is what they wrote when I asked about their plastic, tree cutting, and competitor's pricing:

"The only plastic you'll see on our boxes of toilet paper is the tape used to secure the box. If you add tissues or paper towel, we'll need to use plastic strapping to secure the boxes together and ship them as a single parcel (saving us/you money, and reducing the risk of multiple deliveries to the same address for a single order). Our tissue boxes also have a small piece of oxo-biodegradable plastic on the top to keep the contents secure and dry. You can read more about this here."

(I am only interested in their toilet paper, as I had created reusable tissues using linen scraps HERE.)

"We offer toilet paper made from 100% recycled post-consumer waste paper (think used office paper, school books etc), or a 100% bamboo product. Nothing is made from freshly cut trees.

If you're looking for the product with the absolute lowest footprint, go with the recycled - it's a lower energy conversion process as there is no step to convert bamboo (or wood!) into a pulp first. Instead, we use post-consumer recycled paper and convert that to tissue paper at the point of manufacturing, which means less work to transform fibres.

Having said that, bamboo is still a great sustainable option as it's naturally fast growing and rapidly renewable. It also uses far less land than trees and produces less particulate matter and CO2 emissions per tonne of paper produced. It requires no tending, irrigation or fertilisation and only needs to be harvested once a year (it grows back very quickly after harvesting, as it's technically a grass).

From a price perspective, we're a great value. Although the price per roll might seem high, we have a much higher sheet count than the majority of our competitors, with either 400 or 500 sheets on a roll. We include the price per 100 sheets on all our website product pages, so you can directly compare to other brands.  We also have a 100% satisfaction on all our products, so if you buy a whole box and don't love it, we'll organise return for you and we can either replace with an alternative product or refund."

 I would also like to make note that the company uses part of their funds to build toilets to those who need it. Talk about giving back to the earth! 

I think they will take my toilet paper money from now on, but I am in the process of speaking to management about the idea of switching from plastic tape to brown paper tape, to be even more eco-friendly.

Maybe you might like to make the switch too, and if you do, here is $10 off your first shipment

so you can try it out!

cheers to environmentally friendly bums!

Laura