How much better is recycled toilet paper for the environment?

Jan 20, 2021
2 min read

Everywhere you turn these days, everyone is talking about making environmentally conscious decisions. So much so, that eco, bio and other terms are now as much marketing spin as they are actual terms for environmentally positive goods.

With this bombardment of eco-messaging, i3t's easy to become desensitized or confused about what goods actually make an environmental impact.

Thankfully, the case for recycled toilet paper is straightforward. Here's why:

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How much good does recycled toilet paper do for the environment?

To fully understand the benefit of recycled toilet paper, you first need to understand the impact of non-recycled toilet paper.

Where does non-recycled toilet paper come from?

Traditional toilet paper comes from "virgin fibres", which are made by cutting down trees. Tree-clearing is one of the biggest elements of deforestation, and deforestation and habit-loss are one of the largest contributors to wildlife extinction.

Even without considering wildlife, we humans need trees to survive. They absorb CO2 gas from the atmosphere and produce the oxygen that we breathe. Deforestation is a significant contributor to climate change, as it is reducing a much-needed source of natural air filtration.

You wouldn't throw a wooden table in the bin after a single-use. You would re-sell it, or recycle it. Yet, millions of trees are cleared every year to make new office paper and toilet paper, despite the technology we have available to recycle it.

Where does recycled toilet paper come from?

Recycled toilet paper is made from recycled paper (office paper, not toilet paper). By recycling paper that has already come from trees, recycled toilet paper helps to reduce the need to cut down so many. Recycling this paper allows us to get the true value out of the trees that have been cleared, rather than allowing such an environmentally impactful activity to produce something that is only single-use.

Recycled toilet paper used less water and energy to make, vs making it from timber. It also means that fewer trees are cut down. And cutting down fewer trees means we have more there to absorb harmful CO2 and produce essential oxygen. With trees staying where they belong, wildlife keeps its home, the soil is protected from erosion, and humans have cleaner air to breathe.