Is Bamboo Toilet Paper All You Need?
None of us expected to have as much talk about toilet paper as we have since the beginning of the pandemic, when stock shortages and a crazy hype made TP a hot commodity. In this chaos, you may have even considered alternatives, from bamboo paper to bidets, or perhaps you are considering switching now.
Some advertise bamboo toilet paper as an eco-friendly option that is still soft enough to be comfortable to use. It is made from bamboo (obviously) rather than trees, and requires fewer resources to grow, process, and produce. Where you might once have been worried about running out of TP, you may be worried about TP sustainability. Here’s what you need to know.
Is bamboo TP more environmentally friendly?
In general, yes. It is said that one roll of regular toilet paper requires 1.5 pounds of wood and 37 gallons of water, while one roll of bamboo toilet paper requires no wood and less than a gallon of water. It’s also very renewable: bamboo grows like a weed – three feet or more a day – and reaches maturity much faster than trees, so we don’t have to cut down forests to wipe our asses.
Plus, most bamboo toilet paper is made with no added chemicals or bleach and is biodegradable, likely to break down much faster than regular toilet paper (so it’s also good for your septic system).
Is TP bamboo soft?
The texture of toilet paper is a very personal preference. While you may not want thick and soft TP, you probably also don’t want to rub with something that looks like sandpaper. One way to compare is to look at the layer, or the number of layers on the sheet. Single ply paper has one ply, while three ply paper has three. Thicker is not always softer, but it is stronger and you may need fewer sheets.
Bamboo toilet paper from companies like Tushy and Reel is three-ply, and many reviewers of these and other Amazon-listed brands say the paper is both strong and soft. It is also lint-free.
Of course, you won’t know if you like the texture until you try it.
Bamboo TP is more expensive?
Regular toilet paper is likely to be cheaper than bamboo TP or other recycled options. By comparison, a box of 24 rolls of 3-ply bamboo Reel toilet paper, which contains 300 sheets per roll, costs $39.99 on Amazon. A pack of 24 Quilted Northern tri-ply mega-rolls – 255 sheets per roll – is $27.55 at the time of this writing.
A more direct look: Reel paper costs $0.55 per 100 sheets, while Nordic Quilted paper costs $0.45 per 100 sheets. Opt for two-ply plain paper instead, and the cost per sheet will drop even further.
Yes, bamboo toilet paper is a little more expensive. However, if its durability means you’re using fewer sheets per napkin, it could be a wash.