When shopping for toilet paper, choose chlorine bleach-free products made with post-consumer recycled or bamboo pulp. Our favorite toilet papers are certified by SFI, the Rainforest Alliance, or FSC, which indicate that brands are sourcing pulp from responsibly managed forests to help with biodiversity restoration and forest conservation. 

Materials and Ingredients

Virgin Paper Pulp

Virgin pulp is the most popular, but most damaging pulp component. America’s favored virgin pulp comes from the Canadian boreal, where industrial logging for America’s tissue products industry currently claims one million acres of forest every year. This practice harms the lives of the Indigenous Peoples in the area and kills off local animals, including caribou. On top of these injustices, industrial logging releases carbon that had previously been stored in the forest’s soil and reduces the number of trees that can absorb earth-warming greenhouse gasses. The NRDC reports that making tissue products from 100% virgin fiber generates three times more CO2e than tissue products made from other types of pulp. With these facts in mind, it’s shocking that the three biggest brands in toilet paper (Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, and Georgia-Pacific) rely primarily on virgin pulp. 

Recycled Paper Pulp

Thankfully, recycled paper pulp is an increasingly popular alternative to virgin pulp and is used by brand names like Seventh Generation and Marcal. Recycled pulp minimizes damage to forests and requires only half the water of virgin pulp products. The chemicals needed to whiten recycled paper pulp are also much less toxic than those used to whiten virgin paper pulp. There are two sources of recycled paper pulp: pre-consumer or post-consumer waste. Pre-consumer pulp comes from sources like obsolete paper stock or unused paper products, while post-consumer pulp comes from used paper that has been recycled to give it a second life. Both types of pulp are a massive improvement on virgin fiber in terms of protecting forests, but post-consumer pulp does way more to reduce overall waste. The EPA recommends choosing an option that contains at least 20-60% post-consumer recycled pulp. Don’t be afraid to go above and beyond: more post-consumer recycled pulp = less waste. 

Bamboo

Bamboo has become a popular pulp alternative that is now used by dozens of smaller brands like Grove Collaborative, Who Gives A Crap, and Caboo. Bamboo can grow 20 times faster than trees in the boreal and its cultivation is gentler on the land than the clearing required to harvest virgin wood pulp. According to the NRDC, tissue products made from bamboo pulp release 30% fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared to those made from virgin pulp. If you shop for bamboo products, it’s important to look for the FSC certification to ensure sustainable sourcing and transparency in the supply chain. 

Chlorine bleach 

Chlorine bleach, used to whiten most conventional toilet paper, contains harmful environmental pollutants called dioxins. These dioxins are emitted during manufacturing, poisoning waterways and animals, and sometimes making their way into our bodies through food. At high levels of exposure, dioxins can cause hormone and immune imbalances, allergies, and even cancer.

Fun Fact

15 million trees go down America’s toilets each year in the form of toilet paper.

Certifications

Here are some certifications to look for when shopping this category.