Bamboo vs Recycled Toilet Paper | Which is more Eco-Friendly

Finally, a debate we can finally get our paws into.

If you’re on the lookout for an eco-friendly alternative to your traditional toilet tissue, chances are you’ve stumbled across two options. And that’s where this blog post gets interesting.

It’s bamboo vs recycled toilet paper, folks. A battle between two behemoths of sustainability, each claiming to be the best in show. But which is better?

First of all, though…

Why eco-friendly toilet paper?

Producing the bog-standard toilet tissue you find on supermarket shelves has a bigger impact on the planet than you’d think.

Traditional toilet paper manufacturing attributes to the chopping down of roughly 27,000 trees per day. That just isn’t sustainable, and that rate of deforestation is having a huge impact on our planet.

It doesn’t take a scientist to understand that destroying forests to make something that’s used once millions of times a day then flushed down the toilet across the world is unsustainable.

Reducing deforestation

Recyclable toilet paper is made by soaking paper scrap in warm water to remove the ink, bleach and to sanitise it, before it’s pressed and dried. Because its reusing previously used paper, recycled toilet paper is better for the planet – more trees don’t need to be chopped down to make more, essentially.

Bamboo toilet paper, on the other hand, utilises the fast-growing grass in a genius way. The plant is broken down into fibres, turned into pulp and pressed/dried. The clever bit is where trees can take years to grow, bamboo can take just hours – growing an impressive three feet per day. Plus, bamboo is cut above the root, meaning it can sprout again year after year.

This means bamboo toilet tissue is much more sustainable than using trees to make toilet paper, it grows super fast and comes back time after time! Trees can’t do that, the last time we checked…

Carbon emissions

Recycled toilet paper produces around 30% fewer carbon emissions than traditional loo roll, purely because it requires less water and energy and creates less air and water pollution.

Bamboo toilet paper goes even further though, producing a massive 65% less carbon than regular toilet paper. And, not to brag, but The Cheeky Panda actually offsets its entire manufacturing/delivery emissions through the World Land Trust, so we’re officially carbon balanced. 

This is different to being carbon neutral, by the way, as it's a different way of certifying carbon expulsion. Both are excellent for the planet, we just went down the 'balanced' route because of our work with WLT. 

Chemicals

More often than not, toilet tissue manufacturing involves bleaching the toilet rolls to make them look all shiny and white (wood isn’t naturally that colour, after all…) 

Recyclable toilet paper requires chemicals for both whitening and to remove inks from the reused paper. These chemicals are often both harmful to you, as well as marine life once the paper is flushed.

We here at Cheeky Panda, however, only use natural dyes for our toilet tissue. We don’t use bleach, either. No chemical nasties, here!

Skin-kind

Because bamboo has naturally longer fibres, it makes for naturally hypoallergenic toilet tissue. This is because less dust gets trapped in between the layers, which is great for those with sensitive skin, eczema and allergies.

Recycled and traditional toilet paper, however, can be harmful to skin, not only because of the chemicals and bleaching agents, but because they can cause sensitive skin flare ups due to added fragrances and shorter paper fibres, which trap more dust. 

In conclusion…

Which is more eco-friendly? Bamboo or recycled toilet paper?

Because of it’s regeneration abilities, fast-growing nature, carbon-saving prowess and because we’re very biased, bamboo is best.

Recylced toilet paper is better than traditional loo roll, for sure, but it just can’t beat bamboo in terms of eco-friendliness. We’ve considered all factors, done our research, and can confirm that bamboo toilet paper is number 1, not only for you, but for the planet too.

Stop chopping down trees and buying bog-standard loo roll. Instead, bring on the bamboo brilliance.

Love,
Team Cheeky Panda x