Environmentalism arrives in the bathroom
Sure, you’ve invested in reusable metal straws and cloth grocery bags, maybe you even have a hybrid or electric car or opt for public transportation to decrease your carbon footprint … but isn’t there more you could do for the planet? Of course there is. Every day, the equivalent of 27,000 trees are flushed down the toilet in the form of toilet paper.
While anyone who has spent time in Japan is surely anxiously awaiting the day that country’s amazing toilets become commonplace in North America — lessening our dependence on toilet paper along with making trips to the bathroom more enjoyable — perhaps the best way to save trees in the meantime is by switching to treeless toilet paper.
Tree-free T.P.
Grove Collaborative is committed to solving the problem of tens of thousands of trees being flushed down the toilet by producing their Seedling line of toilet paper that’s made of bamboo and sugarcane. Both plants are fast-growing grasses that grow exponentially quicker than trees (three months for bamboo to mature versus 20 years for most trees), which means their supply is far easier to replace than deforested land.
According to Grove, the combination of short sugarcane fibers and long bamboo fibers makes for softer toilet paper. If that’s not enough to make you feel good during your next trip to the bathroom, you can also relish the fact that Grove plants a tree for every 50 rolls sold. The trees contribute to watershed and habitat restoration in California, Mississippi, West Virginia, Ohio, and Florida.
Other Options
Toilet paper isn’t the only culprit in the deforestation game. Tissues, napkins, and paper towels also contribute to the problem, adding up to a total of 94,000 trees that are used for paper products every day in the United States. That being the case, Grove also offers Seedling lines of all of the aforementioned paper products.
As more and more people are becoming environmentally conscious and looking for efforts to support sustainability in even the smallest aspects of their life, decreasing our use of trees is certainly something to consider. Perhaps using bamboo, sugarcane, and other similar grasses could provide a more renewable alternative.
