The Smelly Truth Behind Toilet Paper

Something is rotten in the state of toilet paper production. Most of the rolls you buy are made of ‘virgin fiber’; that is, they come directly from trees. Take into consideration that the average person uses around 100 rolls per year, and all of a sudden, we have cleared great swathes of forest. No one needs that on their conscience.

Picture this: A tree grows for years, wondering what it will someday be. One fine day, it is milled and debarked. It is then chipped down to something the size of your pinky nail. This makes them super easy to pulp. Then you add crazy amounts of cooking chemicals and put into a pressure cooker. The moisture is blasted out of the pulp and it is sent to be bleached. After all, brown streaks through a new roll doesn’t fill you with confidence. Mix it again with water, and cook it again, and you’re ready to lay it all out and press it into long white sheets. No one is a bigger fan of toilet paper than us, but it does make you stop and think; Was it for this, the tree grew tall? Was this what it dreamt of? Could that tree have acted as a carbon trap, or housed native wildlife instead?

We think so. Hence why we use recycled paper so that our toilet paper is bulk recycled toilet paper! Rather than chopping down virgin trees (which could have someday been a majestic boat or beautiful piece of furniture, but will now meet a rather stickier ending), we use paper that has already fulfilled a purpose, and in doing so, we leave less of a mark on the earth. It also requires significantly fewer chemicals than the virgin fiber, so it is really a win-win.

Bulk recycled toilet paper is derived from all types, shapes and colours of paper. The first step is to get into a pulper with some hot water to get rid of any colour. Then, it too gets dried out and flattened into a sheet, ready to be rolled up, packaged up and sent on its merry way.

We don’t want to over complicate matters. There is enough in life to agonise over without stressing about your toilet paper. Thankfully, it is such a simple fix. Instead of ordering virgin fiber rolls, why not just opt for the recycled roll instead? It doesn’t cost you anything, and the earth will certainly feel the relief. Bulk recycled toilet paper means you can have a clean conscience and a clean backside.