27,000 trees each day are flushed down the toilet in the form of toilet paper. That’s a pretty high price to pay for the luxury of soft toilet paper. Even with recycled varieties, I’ve had trouble finding substitutes that function as well as their more wasteful counterparts. Luckily, there seems to be a better alternative in sight: True Earth Paper Corp is a company I came across haphazardly in Save-On-Foods one day, yet has made an ingenious little innovation that could be the solution to a very real global problem of deforestation. True Earth Paper uses primarily bamboo instead of tree in their products, which include toilet paper, paper towels, and disposable food trays.
Bamboo is considered a grass, which grows quickly and easily without need for any pesticides or fertilizer. It can grow up to 75cm in one day, and does not need to be replanted after harvest– in fact, regular harvesting actually improves the health of the plant! It is also 35% more efficient than trees at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as well as releases 35% more oxygen into the atmosphere than trees, and, of course, it is 100% biodegradable.
While I was skeptical at first, I found that the company’s claims of the towel being as soft and as durable as regular paper products to be true, and the price point to be reasonable compared to other products. Their paper towels are reusable and machine washable for at least 25 times (!!), which again helps reduce waste. The only problem I found in my research of this product is that the bamboo is sourced from China, raising concerns of pollution in the transportation of supplies, and some worries of the way the workers are treated (though the company assures us that they are striving to provide a good workplace for their workers!)
Their products can already be found in grocery stores across Canada, including Safeway, Save-On-Foods, Choices, IGA, and more. The company is also currently working to get their products sold in Costcos across Canada, which I think could be extremely effective at bringing bamboo paper products into the mainstream. If this post has piqued your interest in alternatives for your bathroom tissue or kitchen towels, I urge you to give this product a chance!
Bamboo sounds like an interesting product to use in toilet paper!
I do believe that bamboo has already been used as an alternative to cotton. I remember using bamboo based towels as well as bamboo socks when I was still back in China. It still amazes me the amount of chemicals that a cotton t-shirt may have and the effect growing cotton has on the farmers. This may look like an interesting alternative, but I am curious about the processing that goes into making these products. Is it easier than processing cotton, is it more sustainable?