In 2018, the average consumption of toilet paper in the UK stood at 127 rolls per person – we are the third highest users in the world!
If you think about it toilet paper is the ultimate throw away product – used for a few seconds before being disposed of. Despite this most major brands still rely on virgin wood pulp for the production of their toilet tissue. Lots of forests are cut down to be flushed away after a single use.
Ethical consumer quotes the following: ‘the production of virgin wood pulp uses almost twice as much water as producing tissue from recycled materials and generates twice as many hazardous air pollutants. The chemicals used in the production of recycled paper are also far less toxic than those used to bleach virgin pulp.’
So when you next buy toilet paper try to find some recycled paper and preferably one with biodegradable packing.
We have previously coordinated bulk buying of ‘who gives a crap’ toilet paper (https://uk.whogivesacrap.org/). They also donate 50% of profits to help build toilets. If anyone is interested in joining in with this in the future please let Helen know.