bamboo toilet paper

The oxymoron in the bamboo toilet paper industry: Individually wrapped toilet rolls

Introduction

 

My first exposure to the world of bamboo toilet paper was images of beautifully wrapped, colourful and well designed individual toilet rolls.

 

As a user of normal toilet paper, who, like most others, purchased toilet paper from a local supermarket, I was accustomed to rolls being packed in plastic packaging and for individual rolls to be unwrapped.

 

I immediately recognised the intent and potential for bamboo toilet paper companies to individually wrap their toile rolls with clever designs. It was an easy way to advance their brand and win over customers like myself who were not yet immersed in the world of eco friendly products.

 

I was also perplexed however that companies who were actively promoting an eco friendly alternative to normal toilet paper were also advocating what seemed to be an enormous waste of additional paper. This apparent contradiction left me uneasy and looking for more answers.

 

A little more digging and I quickly realised that the issue had already been raised by customers of various bamboo toilet paper companies and detailed responses had been issued in response. What’s more, customers had raised the question enough times for most companies to list it in the FAQs section of their website.

 

The response of bamboo toilet paper companies, In short, was that transporting toilet paper in containers from halfway across the world ran the risk of moisture and damp damaging the toilet roll, and individual wrapping stemmed this issue completely.

 

Most of the time however, there was also a reference to the potential for the individual wrapping to promote the company’s brand and image, and how this had helped acquire more customers.

 

At this point I was a little more convinced; companies were striving to create alternatives to normal toilet paper and whilst the solution wasn’t perfect, it was better than maintaining the status quo.

 

That was until I found a company selling unwrapped toilet paper. What was worse, this company gave the option of both wrapped and unwrapped toilet paper despite claiming that damp and moisture was the reason for having the wrapped option. Another seemingly apparent contradiction.

 

If the damp was such an issue, why would a non wrapped option be offered? And if the real reason for wrapped toilet paper was to promote a brand, had bamboo toilet paper companies already become so commercialised that their bottom line was dictating decisions ahead of their original loftier eco objectives

 

Time for my own investigation

 

So far so good, I thought. My initial instinct had proved accurate, and customers were already forcing companies to abandon individual toilet roll wrapping altogether, or at least offer an unwrapped option.

 

But, I still felt like an armchair critic. Rapidly typing away at my keyboard whilst these companies worked hard to solve the deforestation caused by normal tissue paper production.

 

So I set to work to investigate the issue myself. First stop, order some bamboo toilet paper. I quickly discovered the two largest bamboo toilet paper companies in the UK (based on revenue), and purchased an unwrapped toilet roll box from one of them, and a wrapped toilet roll box from the other.

 

The boxes took several days to arrive, although I knew that they had probably been sat in a warehouse for longer. Before that was probably a four week container journey from China. Could my unwrapped toilet roll box really have survived such a journey?

 

I opened the box, and the unwrapped toilet rolls were fresh and ready for use. My instincts had been accurate all along. As long as the box was tightly taped and handled with care, the rolls inside were safe from damp and moisture, and customers could enjoy their use whilst acknowledging a small win in the fight against climate change.

 

Next to the box of wrapped rolls. As expected, they were beautifully wrapped, designed and packaged. My wife took the opportunity to set a couple on the bathroom windowsill, and they definitely added some beauty and a new dimension to the space.

 

As a new advocate of sustainability however, I was learning that in the near future, we would need to make hard choices in the fight against climate change, whether this impacted the aesthetics of our bathrooms or not.

 

I therefore took it upon myself to unwrap one of the rolls and lay out the wrapper packaging on my bedroom floor. Keeping in mind that this was the packaging from only one of 24 toilet rolls that came in my box, the size of it when fully unwrapped was shocking.

 

Whilst being very thin, the length and width was 41cm and 28cm respectively, implying an area of 1,148cm².

 

After some quick maths using my phone’s calculator, I realised that 24 of these rolls would have a total area of 27,552cm². To put this into context, this area was too large to fit in the bathroom of my humble three bedroom house, and would need to be laid out in the dining room to fit.

 

To further put this into perspective, an individual A4 piece of paper has a surface area of 625cm². The surface area of the wrapping paper from these 24 toilet rolls was therefore comparable to almost 100 pieces of A4 paper!

 

Counter Arguments

 

I had confirmed that individual rolls of toilet paper did not need to be individually wrapped, and that there was a significant level of waste created from just the wrapping of 24 toilet rolls. I however tried to assess whether there were any further arguments in favour of individual wrapping, and whether they had any merit.

 

Reading a few articles/blogs online, I could only seem to find the following, although this was unsurprising. The vast majority of bamboo toilet paper companies sold individually wrapped rolls and it was not in their interest to argue against their use:

 

  1. Rather than individually wrapping each toilet roll, one option was to wrap several rolls together. This option however required a thicker wrapping (no reason given as to why) and therefore the thinner paper used to wrap individual rolls was just as effective and efficient

 

Bamboo Soft Response: We appreciate that despite the evidence, if companies still fear a risk of moisture damaging the toilet rolls, individual wrapping probably makes most sense. As previously noted however, they need to explain why a small number of companies have successfully sold unwrapped rolls with seemingly no issues.

 

  1. Wrap the entire box of rolls in a plastic wrap to keep the moisture out (no explanation given as to why plastic was needed, when I had personally bought unwrapped toilet paper with no extra packaging other than the cardboard box it came in). Given the use of plastic however this option was not viable.

 

Bamboo Soft Response: As above, companies may continue to fear the risk of moisture damaging toilet rolls, but plastic packaging is not necessary, as some companies have proven that strong cardboard is a sufficient protection to the rolls

 

  1. The wrapping can be used creatively. This can include making origami, wrapping flowers or wrapping lightbulbs

 

Bamboo Soft Response: We completely agree that the packaging can be used creatively, and various images. We have seen of this on social media and certain websites supports this. It however detracts from the original purpose of using bamboo toilet paper, which is to fight the issue of deforestation and climate change.

 

  1. Individual wrapping allows each roll to be stored in different places in the house without the risk of moisture damaging it

 

Bamboo Soft Response: Storing large quantities of toilet paper is an issue for many small households, but the easiest solution is to order a box of 12 or 24 toilet rolls rather than the usual box of 48

 

  1. Individual wrapping allows rolls to be easily transported on short camping trips, holidays and other forms of travel

 

Bamboo Soft Response: This is probably the only valid reason in my humble opinion that is an advantage of individually wrapped rolls, but it would depend on the frequency and length of travel.

 

Customer reviews and thoughts

 

When assessing customer reviews and thoughts on the issue of individually wrapped toilet paper, I noticed a trend. Regular bamboo toilet customers, who probably also purchased other eco friendly products, were less likely to complain about the excess packaging.

 

On the other hand, mainstream customers who had come across bamboo toilet paper through large TV adverts or in large supermarkets were much more likely to complain about the excess packaging due to their confusion about why an eco friendly product would also contain so much waste

 

I have therefore listed some of these complaints below as evidence that despite the detailed responses of bamboo toilet paper companies in relation to individual toilet roll wrapping, many customers still find the excess packaging to be a major issue, and one potentially stopping them from buying bamboo toilet paper in the future.

 

  • “I like the idea behind it but theres much better toilet roll on the market and the paper wrapping is a waste of time. Definitely wont be buying these again.” (Waitrose)
  • “I woulld like to buy without the individual wrap too just in the cardboard box for everyday use if it made them bit cheaper.” (Waitrose)
  • “Great environment choice, no plastic. But unsure why they have to wrap each individual roll in paper seems a waste. “ (Waitrose)
  • “I like this tp butt is expensive and over packaged” (Ocado)
  • “I was surprised by the amount of packaging they are wrapped individually and in a box” (Ocado)
  • “I got these toilet rolls with a free coupon from Ocado. First of all there is too much packaging with the rolls being in a cardboard box and then individually wrapped” (Ocado)
  • “Good quality product. The version with individual roll wrapping is unnecessary and spoils the eco-friendly credentials but fortunately there’s an unwrapped option.” (Bamboo toilet paper company website)

 

 

We have also listed out some comments from the review of bloggers and sustainability influencers:

 

  • “The biggest issue is the individually wrapped toilet rolls. It does seem like more packaging than is absolutely necessary……This is a fair explanation, but I have ordered toilet paper from other companies in the past and received 48 rolls with no additional packaging and there was no issue with moisture” (green eco friend)
  • “But then I thought about how each roll is individually wrapped in paper. It seems wasteful. Even if you reuse it, which we sometimes do for craft etc.” (pinkscharming)
  • “The downside of….. wrappers is that it’s kinda wasteful. Obviously, it’s recyclable and you can save the wrapping paper for crafts if you have kids, or for wrapping presents at Christmas, but not everyone wants to do this.I think they’d make more customers happier if they were given a choice between wrapped and unwrapped.” (sustainably lazy)

 

 

Conclusion and final thoughts

 

I remain surprised that with the recent explosion of bamboo toilet paper into the mainstream, companies remain dogmatic in their use of individual wrapping for toilet rolls.

 

There also seems to be little in the way of innovation and research into the area, and companies seem to be content that whilst seem customers may lament the issue, as long as the majority continue to buy their toilet paper, they will continue on regardless.

 

Hopefully those who have provided an unwrapped option or ditched individually wrapping altogether will start to lead by example, and we can work towards maintaining bamboo toilet paper as a strong eco friendly alternative to normal toilet paper.

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