There’s simply nothing clean about conventionally toilet paper. With a few exceptions, it’s been made the same way going back almost a hundred years. That’s in large because there are just a handful of big toilet paper companies across America, and there’s been little incentive for them to innovate. As a result, most people use toilet paper brands that are bad for the planet, bad for their bodies, and don’t even keep us clean.
Destroying forests to make toilet paper is “worse than driving Hummers.”
Going back more than a hundred years, trees have been the primary source of biopulp for household paper products, including toilet paper. At one point not all that ago, forest lands were so abundant across North America that it seemed like an inexhaustible resource. As the demand for household paper products grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, nascent paper companies bought up huge tracts of land–millions of acres worth of old-growth forests–and began cutting them down and turning them into paper. What they didn’t know then, but what we know with certainty now, is that these forests play a vital role in helping to regulate our planet’s temperature–in addition to sustaining tremendous biodiversity.
The Canadian Boreal Forest, the world's largest carbon sink. Tahreer Photography / Getty Images
Cutting down these forests for a product whose usable lifespan is only a matter of seconds is extraordinarily wasteful and short-sighted. While the forest products industry claims it has mitigated its impact by replanting trees where forests once stood, these trees take years to reach their full carbon-storing potential, and most are cut down before they ever get there.
A gallon of toxic chemicals like bleach and formaldehyde goes into making every roll.
While the tree-paper industry has much of the world convinced that trees provide by far the best source of pulp for paper products, the fact is that wood is a less-than-ideal fiber for making things like toilet paper. Almost all tree paper involves a blend of both hard and softwood tree species, typically sourced from disparate regions–even from disparate continents. That blend is what’s required to produce the combination of strength and softness needed for toilet paper. What’s more, huge amounts of bleach, formaldehyde, and other known carcinogens are added to the pulp mix in order to produce the bright white color and fluffy texture we’re all accustomed to. The presence of these chemicals in toilet paper has been linked to a host of uncomfortable conditions, including UTIs, vulvitis, anal fissures and more. They also find their way into our waterways and sewer systems, where they form hard-to-eradicate toxic compounds known as persistent organic pollutants. There’s nothing clean about that.
Paper pulp mill's dump millions of gallons of chemicals into our waterways.
Tree-based paper pills and shreds.
If we think we’re treating ourselves by purchasing fluffy white tree-based papers, we’re not. Chemicals aside, many of these papers shred and pill on contact, leaving behind unwanted paper remnants.
There is a better way–tree-free, toxin-free PlantPaper, made from 100% bamboo.
In terms of environment, human health, and performance, nothing compares to bamboo. Bamboo is considered carbon-neutral, due the extraordinary speed of its growth–up to a meter per day. This means that the carbon lost due to harvesting is recaptured in less than a season. What’s more, bamboo need not be clear-cut, only harvested, meaning that much of the carbon it stores remains underground. It also requires far less water to grow and process, and produces up to ten times more usable pulp on an equivalent parcel of land. Due to its unique fiber profile, bamboo also doesn’t need to be blended with other species, which in turn reduces its carbon footprint–nor does it require as intensive chemical processing to be strong and absorbent. For the same reason, bamboo-based toilet paper is far more shred-resistant than tree-based.
PlantPaper–a toilet paper without compromise.
While almost any bamboo-based toilet is superior to tree-based paper from an environmental perspective, only PlantPaper offers a fully toxin-free paper that doesn’t skimp on performance. With thicker plys, bigger sheets, zero bleach and formaldehyde, and a unique two-sided embossing pattern, PlantPaper truly isn’t just the best eco-toilet paper in the world. It’s the best toilet paper, period.
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Not so very long ago, most scientists believed human skin to be an impermeable barrier to inorganic particles—a thin but durable layer of protection against the myriad irritants and toxins large and small with which our bodies come into contact each day.
Not as well as you might think.
Findings since the 1980s suggest otherwise. While it’s true that substances with larger particle size are typically unable to penetrate the skin’s surface, recent studies indicate that smaller-sized particles can easily penetrate and make their way into our bloodstreams. What’s more, even the smallest amount of damage to the skin’s outermost layer—say, the removal of 5-10 micrometers (about 1/30th the width of a human hair)—dramatically increases rates of absorption.
Simple changes to your daily routine to reduce your exposure to toxins.
What might cause such damage? Sun exposure, for one, which can thin out the outermost layer of skin. Hence the importance of toxin-free sunscreens. Repeated abrasion, for another. Hence the importance of—you guessed—toxin-free toilet paper.
The benefits of tree-free, toxin-free toilet paper.
We call them precious environments for a reason. These are parts of our body regulated by a delicate biochemical balance. The skin there is already more porous, more prone to irritation when that balance is upset. Why are we rubbing ourselves raw with tree-based papers made fluffy and white by formaldehyde and bleaching agents? These chemicals should have no place anywhere near the human body, much less near its most vulnerable, permeable parts.
At PlantPaper, we believe that what we put on our bodies should be as responsibly, thoughtfully made as what we put in our bodies. That’s why PlantPaper is made without formaldehyde, bleaching agents of any kind, scents, dyes, or BPA. Because when it comes to our most precious environments, skin-deep is a whole lot deeper than it seems.
]]>The Septic Safety Test: How To Do it at Home.
Find a medium-sized glass jar and fill it with 3/4 tap water. Add 6-8 sheets of toilet paper. Seal the jar and shake it vigorously for 10 seconds. If, after shaking, the paper has broken down fully, it is considered to be safe for most any well-maintained septic tank or plumbing system.
We tested four major brands for septic safety. Here are the results.
4 sheets of each brand folded above.
1 Hour after shaking.
Results:
Quilted Northern and Charmin Ultra didn't break down at all. 2-ply Angel Soft broke down. PlantPaper broke down quickly and completely.
But PlantPaper feels so thick. How could it break down so easily?
It’s true–PlantPaper is thicker than any other brand on the market, tree-free and otherwise. That’s because we start with a heavier ply (and a bigger sheet size). But the number of plys isn’t the driving factor in how well a toilet paper will break down in a septic safety system. It’s much more dependent on the way the fibers are processed, and additives used-especially those used to increase wet strength. (That’s why paper towel doesn’t break down in toilets–because it’s designed to absorb huge amounts of water without degrading.) Fortunately, PlantPaper is both incredibly strong AND breaks down easily. For those looking for a softer, stronger, smarter toilet paper who want to be sure their toilet paper won’t wreck havoc on their plumbing, PlantPaper is the clear choice.
Humans are the only species on the planet that wipes.
No other species on the planet wipes. This is a function of our anatomy—we stand upright, with protruding, muscular backsides that allow us to sit comfortably and run quickly—but also of our psychology. The desire to keep clean is an important part of who we are and how we think of ourselves. That desire has in turn been an important driver of social and technological change.
What did people use before toilet paper?
Over the last several millenia, people have used all kinds of tools to get the job done. Ancient Greeks used stones and shards of ceramic inscribed with the names of their enemies; Romans used bits of sea sponge fastened to sticks, which they stored in bowls of salt water.
These Ancient Greek ceramic ‘gaming pieces’ were a Roman equivalent to toilet paper.
A major advancement over the Greek ceramic shards. The Xylospongium was an early Roman alternative to toilet paper; A sponge on the end of a stick.
In the 9th century CE, Tang Dynasty emperors began using large sheets of soft fabric to wipe. Five hundred years later, French aristocrats caught on to the idea, but used pieces of fine lace to get the job done. More recently, and more accesibly, corncobs, newspapers, Sears catalogs, phonebooks, and pages from unloved books of poetry were pressed into duty.
In the 14th century, 10 million packages of 1,000 to 10,000 sheets of toilet paper were manufactured every year in the Zhejiang province.
When did TP usage as we know it begin?
It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that Joseph Gayetty, an American inventor, created the first commercially available toilet paper. Made of manila hemp—a versatile fiber derived from the leaf-stems of a species of banana tree—Gayetty’s Medicated Paper was a leading toilet paper brand until the early 1900s.
Joseph Gayetty, American inventor of the first commercially available toilet paper.
In the late 19th century, the Scott Brothers commercialized toilet paper made from trees. Unlike Gayetty’s banana leaves, trees required the use of harsh chemicals and huge amount of water to break down hard wood into soft paper. But with ready access to trees and little understanding of the deleterious effects of such chemicals on the human body—not to mention the planet’s ecosystems—the Scott Brothers forged ahead, eventually making their way into homes across America.
Our ideas about what it means to be clean have evolved, but our toilet paper has not.
More than a hundred years later, not much has changed. Toilet paper is still stuck in the early twentieth century. There’s been no meaningful innovation in the industry, except that it’s gotten all the more efficient at destroying old-growth forests—in other words, streamlining the tree-to-toilet pipeline.
Big TP brands don’t want to change.
Why so little innovation? Because the same small handful of big companies who’ve been making toilet paper the wrong way for 100 years are still running the show—including the Koch Brothers, who own Soft n’ Gentle, Quilted Northern, Angel Soft and Brawny. Cutting down forests is central to their business model, and they’ve shown no willingness to make meaningful changes.
There’s nothing clean about TP made from trees and bleach.
Making toilet paper from trees is an idea whose time should have long since passed. It simply doesn’t make sense to start with a fiber so strong it requires harsh chemicals—a gallon of them per roll—to turn it into paper, chemicals that end up in our bloodstreams and waterways. These chemicals, including bleach and formaldehyde, have been shown to enter the body through micro-cuts, causing UTIs, yeast infections, anal fissures, and hemorrhoids.
The fluffier and whiter your toilet paper, the more likely it is to contain high amounts of such chemicals.
If we think we’re taking good care of ourselves by buying fluffy, white, tree-based papers, we’re not. We’re wreaking havoc on our most precious environments. What feels soft in the hand isn’t soft on the body. And it doesn’t do the one job it’s meant for—helping us to stay clean and healthy. Not to mention the irreversible damage to the planet.
There is a better way.
Made from a blend of soft, organic, fast-growing grasses—never from trees–PlantPaper is softer, stronger, and smarter. Made entirely without the use of bleaching agents and other harmful chemicals, PlantPAPER is a 21st century solution to an age-old problem. Featuring a signature embossed dot matrix pattern—silky on one side for dabbing, grippy on the other for grabbing—a 20% larger sheet size, and thick, absorbent, 3-ply FSC-certified bamboo, PlantPAPER keeps you clean and leaves no trace.
]]>For most businesses, toilet paper has historically been an afterthought.
Toilet paper found outside the home has typically been of significantly lower quality than paper designed for home use. That's because hotels, restaurants, gyms, etc. have historically viewed toilet paper as nothing more than a 'cost center'—an aspect of the business that neither directly nor indirectly contributes to the profits of the business, but still requires money to operate. After all, these businesses reason, most people don't pick a restaurant or a hotel for the toilet paper they stock. If you're most hotels, you're just looking to keep those costs as low as possible, even if thatmeans stocking thin, scratchy, bleach-laden tree paper.
PlantPaper stocked at 'The Outside Inn' in Joshua Tree, California.
Generally, the larger the building, restaurant group, or hotel chain, the more likely they are to opt for a lower quality paper, as the cost difference between mediocre and good--however small on a per roll basis--adds up at scale. The environemntal and human health imapcts associated with tree paper also add up at scale. Out of the home toilet paper purchased in the US accounts for about a third of all toilet paper purchased iacross the country, with large scale purchasers accounting for the lion's share.
PlantPaper stocked at Casetta's 'Casa Cody' in Palm Springs, California.
As sustainability becomes more important to businesses of all kinds, some are beginning to take responsibility for the impact of their toilet paper choices.
PlantPaper is thrilled to partner with far-sighted partners like the Casetta Group, operators of seven hotels throughout California. Casetta sess its toiuelt apeprpurchasing decisions not as an aferthougth, but as an opporutnity to offer valye where other hotels do not -- value in the form of a softeter, stronger, smarter toielt paper, but also in the fulfillment of a promise to take their responsibity to people and planet just as seriously as they do their profit margins.
Casetta Hotels 'The Pearl' In San Diego, California.
SkyTing Yoga studios in New York.
Where can I try PlantPaper out in the real world?
Once people switch to PlantPaper, most don't want to use anything else—even when it's out in the world at a hotel or restaurant. Fortunately, we've partnered with many businesses across the country to make tree-free, bleach-free, BPA-free wherever you go.
Do any restaurants use PlantPaper? What about yoga studios?
Yes! Sky Ting yoga studio in NYC and Love Yoga in LA have PlantPaper in their bathrooms. When dining out, find PlantPaper at Cafe Cluny and Cafe Luxembourg in NYC, and Damian in LA amongst others!
What can I do to encourage businesses to do better?
We'd be happy to send samples to any businesses you're involved in or you love and think would be a good partner with PlantPaper! Just drop us a line and we'll get it sorted! deeva@plantpaper.us
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Increasingly, businesses and governments are promoting tree-planting campaigns as the answer to slowing climate change. While some of these campaigns are well-intentioned, others—especially those touted by big industry—are deceptive, a PR stunt aimed to distract from the irreparable damage their business practices daily inflict on the health of the planet and those who inhabit it.
Planting trees won’t change the climate picture over the next 10-30 years.
Well-intentioned or not, what’s true of all of these tree-planting campaigns is that they lack the power to meaningfully move the needle away from climate catastrophe. Doing that requires leaving existing forests in the ground, not planting new ones.
Afforestation and Reforestation are not the urgent solutions we need to fight climate change.
Afforestation—planting trees in places where they never existed before—and Reforestation—replanting trees in places that were previously clearcut—are strategies that have been put forth as solutions to help balance the carbon cycle. Trees, after all, are one of the most efficient means of removing carbon from the atmosphere on earth, removing over 30% of fossil fuel emissions in the period between 2009 and 2018. The problem is that trees take time to reach maturity, and it is only in their maturity that trees really begin to sequester carbon efficiently.
Globally, more than 40% of the above ground carbon (AGC) stored in the world’s forests is stored in the largest 3% of trees. A large diameter tree can store more carbon in a single year than a young tree can in twenty. For this reason, trees planted now would through Afforestation and Reforestation efforts would take decades to reach the size necessary for them to sequester carbon in any significant quantities. The solution? Proforestation: policies that allow existing forests to grow intact to their full ecological potential.
We have to preserve existing forests, which are the planet’s strongest lines of natural defense against an overheated planet.
During the critical next decades in the fight against climate change, it is preserving existing forests—and the large diameter, centuries-old trees that form their backbone—not replanting new ones—that offers an immediate, low-cost, nature-based solution, enhancing biodiversity, water and air quality in the process.
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