We know that choosing eco-friendly toilet roll alone won’t save our planet. But it’s a great starting point if you’re looking to be a little kinder to this place we call home.
Truth is, there are lots of factors that go into making an eco-friendly toilet roll. And there are also plenty of products out there that boldly overstate their positive effect on the environment. It’s hard to cut through the noise. To understand what’s fact, and what’s just greenwashing.
We like to keep things simple at Oceans. We don’t hide behind long scientific words and fancy marketing. Here we flush out *sorry* the nonsense to explain how you make toilet paper truly eco-friendly.
Trees, trees and more trees
Bamboo – although quite a hardy plant, bamboo grows best in warm, moist climates. It’s for this reason over ⅓ of the world’s bamboo is grown in China. Bamboo is shipped in converted format which means you ship less than half compared to our method of shipping parent reels of virgin cellulose into the UK. The claims surrounding bamboo toilet roll start to unravel when you realise it’s racked up some miles being transported to the UK.
Recycled – recycled paper using various paper waste streams meaning the manufacturing process uses loads more energy, and means the finished product is inconsistent which can feel like rough paper and look grey in appearance.
FSC Virgin Pulp Cellulose – is what we make our Oceans loo roll from and is made from sustainably sourced virgin cellulose material, which gives our toilet roll its super softness and strength. It is sustainably sourced from Europe in large parent reels – so much less miles travelled before we make our lovely loo roll right here in the UK.
Happy people?
Another clear advantage to manufacturing in the UK is the ability to ensure ethical standards are always met. At Oceans, we:
- Pay fair wages
- Can guarantee no child labour
- Maintain safe working conditions
Oceans are proud to be SEDEX certified, meaning we practice ethical business standards and are audited by SEDEX to ensure our ongoing compliance.
Not to mention having more visibility and control over our product, so your toilet roll is the same super soft quality every time.
Package me plastic-free
Plastic waste is the biggest threat to our oceans and marine life. And yet, we continue to dump 8 million tonnes of plastic in our oceans every year. The UK is banning more single-use plastic items, but progress is slow.
When it came to choosing our packaging, we knew one thing for certain. We had to be 100% plastic-free, we wanted to protect our oceans and marine life from plastic pollution.
Our larger packs of 27 or 45 are paper wrapped in 9-roll bundles meaning we are using less packaging than the toilet rolls that are individually wrapped and our automated packing process means your toilet roll is manufactured more hygienically.
Next time you’re browsing the toilet paper aisle, ask yourself whether those traditional rolls stand up to the test. You might make an iloo-minating discovery.
In the meantime, check out our toilet roll, for a sustainable, plastic-free alternative.
