What’s Greenest and Cleanest When Nature Calls?

What’s Greenest and Cleanest When Nature Calls? - The New York Times

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What’s Greenest and Cleanest When Nature Calls?

Conventional toilet paper has a big environmental impact. We’ve got the lowdown on alternatives, from bamboo tissue to bidets.

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These days, the toilet paper aisle is crowded with products that claim to be more sustainable, from bamboo and recycled material to products with “forest-safe” labels. But are they really better for the environment? And can you cast aside the paper altogether?

Today, we’ll try to get to the bottom of it.

Please don’t flush the forest

If you’re in the United States, the roll in your bathroom right now most likely comes from somewhere in North or South America. It could be a blend of trees from the United States Southeast and the boreal forest of Canada, or maybe from eucalyptus grown in Brazil.

Those sources present several environmental problems. Chipping away at the planet’s old, intact forests and replacing native woodlands with vast monocultures is terrible for biodiversity. It’s also bad for the climate because big, mature trees store a lot more planet-warming carbon than saplings planted in their place. Logging projects have also displaced Indigenous communities around the world.

So, the best way to lessen the environmental impact when nature calls is to reduce the amount of conventional toilet paper your household uses.

If you’re looking to do that without really changing your bathroom routine, your best bet is probably T.P. made from recycled material.

Recycled paper keeps trees in the ground and requires fewer resources to produce. Based on anonymized data from paper mills across the United States, the Environmental Paper Network, a nonprofit group, estimates that tissue from 100 percent recycled material requires about half as much water and 37 percent less total energy than using virgin fiber from freshly cut trees. And, it produces roughly 70 percent less greenhouse gases.

About comfort: Ashley Jordan, an analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council who has studied the environmental effects of toilet paper, said recycled paper has come a long way. So, if you’ve tried in the past and been disappointed, you might give it a second chance.

However, recycled T.P. isn’t a forever solution, according to Ronalds Gonzalez, a professor at North Carolina State University and co-director of its Sustainable and Alternative Fiber Initiative. That’s because the supply of recycled material has fallen as the use of certain paper products has declined.

Between 2014 and 2022, the production of printer and writing paper in the United States declined by almost 50 percent, according to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Good news for the environment, bad news for the recycled toilet paper supply chain.

In the digital age, “it’s a matter of time before we run out of recycled fibers,” Dr. Gonzalez said.

Bamboo in the loo?

Bamboo toilet paper shows promise as an alternative to tree-based products. Because it’s a grass and not a tree, bamboo grows faster and occupies less land. And, converting bamboo fibers to paper also requires less water than virgin wood (though more than recycled paper), according to Ms. Jordan.

But all bamboo toilet paper is not made equal. Ms. Jordan recommends checking for a label from the Forest Stewardship Council to make sure forests weren’t cleared to grow the bamboo. (And, be careful: Other groups with similar names that give labels of approval to toilet paper have been widely rejected by environmental organizations.)

Dr. Gonzalez added that while bamboo itself may be a more sustainable material, it’s also important to consider the origin. Much of the bamboo T.P. currently on the market in the United States comes from China. An unpublished analysis by his group suggests that the carbon footprint of bamboo paper from China may be higher than tree-based toilet paper from North America because of the fossil fuels used to produce the product and ship it to market.

Get a bidet and have a blast

If you’re feeling bold, you can get rid of the T.P. altogether.

Bidet toilet seats do just that by using a jet of water rather than several rounds of wiping. Then, you dab dry with a modest amount of toilet paper or a cloth towelette. High-end bidets will even blow-dry your bottom for you. Plus: Remote controls! Heated seats! Deodorizers!

The obvious question: What about the bidet’s water consumption?

According to Ms. Jordan, bidets are still a winner. That’s because the process of making toilet paper uses more water than most people realize.

While toilet paper manufacturers don’t provide exact numbers, the Environmental Paper Network calculator estimates it takes about six gallons of water to produce one double roll of toilet paper.

The number of sheets in a roll of toilet paper varies by brand. But, if you estimate 200 sheets per double roll, and 8 sheets per wipe, each bathroom trip represents about a quarter of a gallon of water.

Bidets are estimated to use between one-sixth and one-quarter of a gallon per spray. And, you avoid all the cascading side effects of agroforestry and pulping.

Keep in mind, these are just educated estimates. That’s because, as Kim Porter of the Environmental Paper Network said, there’s a “shroud of secrecy” in the T.P. industry.

Asked for comment, Georgia-Pacific, the maker of Quilted Northern and Angel Soft, pointed to the recent reintroduction of its ARIA brand, which it said was made from 100 percent recycled fiber.

Procter & Gamble, which makes Charmin, and Kimberly-Clark, which owns Scott, did not respond to requests for comment.

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