I Tried Who Gives a Crap Toilet Paper, and Here’s How It Went
Zero Waste Bathroom
December 8, 2017 | Kathryn Kellogg
Last Updated on September 11, 2020
Let’s talk toilet paper. We don’t use as much of it as we used to thanks to our bidet attachment.
I bought a 24 roll box of Who Gives a Crap eight months ago, and finished the last roll yesterday so Who Gives a Crap couldn’t have timed their gift any more perfectly.
This post was sponsored by Who Gives a Crap, as always all thoughts and opinions are my own. For more information please see my disclosure page.
Table of Contents
Who gives a crap review
They sent me a box of their exclusive holiday line. (The holiday line isn’t available anymore, but their regular line is just as cute and colorful!)
is it really plastic free?
Yes! The rolls come in a cardboard box, wrapped in paper, with a cardboard core, and no other packaging. Everything is recyclable and can be composted in a backyard bin for your garden.
how does it arrive?
It arrives in a cardboard box that’s clearly branded which sparked a great conversation with my mail lady.
I always love easy conversation starters when it comes to reducing waste. I spoke with my mail lady for a couple of minutes about the problem with normal toilet paper. Did you know we flush 27,000 trees down the toilet each day?
We can break this habit by buying bamboo or 100% recycled toilet paper, both offered by Who Gives a Crap. My mail lady was so intrigued, that I opened the box and gave her a roll to try! I know she’s going to love it.
In a similar spirit, you can get $10 off your first subscription with the code ‘GOINGZEROWASTE’!
how do you store it?
Another thing I love about Who Gives a Crap is you have the option of ordering half a case! I’ve heard many people complain about living in small spaces and not having the ability to store 48 or 96 rolls of toilet paper.
I currently live in 300 sq. ft. so I completely understand your plight.
I’m storing part of the box under my bed, and the rest on my bathroom shelf. I have the very festive holiday rolls. I’m embarrassed to say, right now, it’s the only holiday decoration I have up in my tinyish home.
These festive wrappers can be upcycled to make a cute wrapping paper for smaller gifts or even darling little bows.
I’m working to change that this weekend. I have been feeling the holiday spirit in other ways though! Have you seen all the holiday content I’ve been cranking out??
how well does it work?
When you use a bidet, your bottom is very wet. You need a strong toilet paper that’s not going to fall apart. Who Gives a Crap’s bamboo toilet paper absorbs water without tearing and falling apart. As a bonus, it has all all the softness of a 3 ply without the guilt.
do they walk the walk?
It’s important to make sure the companies you’re supporting are really working towards making a difference. I can 100% stand behind Who Gives a Crap and their mission.
Who Gives a Crap has already donated over a million AUS dollars to their projects. They donate 50% of their proceeds to fund hygiene and sanitation projects like clean water and toilets. Did you know, 40% of the world’s population doesn’t have access to a toilet?
You can read more about their impact report here.
Beyond just their amazing philanthropic side, based on the materials they use, Who Gives A Crap has calculated they’ve produced enough to save over 50,000 trees, and saved 98 million liters of water and saved almost 6,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
what’s the catch?
No catch! It’s a total steal. Price wise it costs .25 cents for 100 sheets. It’s a great value so you can stay in budget, go plastic free, and help people in need.
I think it’s pretty clear to see why Who Gives a Crap, will always be on my bathroom shelf. You should grab a box and don’t for get to take $10 off with the code ‘GOINGZEROWASTE’. Just a little gift from me to you. 😉
Cute you gave your mail lady one! Love that!
She told me it’s so festive, she doesn’t want to unwrap it! How cute is that.
Hi there! I love WGAC, but twice now I have received boxes strapped together with thick plastic straps. Beth Terry addressed this in her interview with them, so I tried again, but recently, I added tissue paper (does have a bit of unnecessary plastic at the spout) and paper towels, and those boxes arrived strapped together! I wrote to them both times. The first time they said it was because they had run out of the 48 roll; ok. The second time they said they just haven’t come up with a better solution for the small boxes ordered together. I had suggested twine but there wasn’t a response as to whether they had tried it. Would love for you to follow up with them as well. I can send pictures to you if you like! Thanks! Leigh
That’s so odd. Both times I’ve ordered, I haven’t received any plastic. Hmmm, I’ll chat with them about it. Sounds like they need to buy bigger boxes.
I just received my first order, and the used plastic straps. The boxes also had plastic tape. I’m pretty disappointed!
Hello Kathryn. Happy Holidays! This is actually not the first time Who Gives a Crap? showed up on my radar, but I hesitated to purchase. It was my understanding that they are based in Australia, and am curious on your thoughts of shipping/fuel use vs. supporting companies doing good, even if they’re abroad.
Thanks for your input!
Well goodness, I answered my own question. I did a little more digging and found this on their website:
"We’re an Australian-owned company, but our primary mission is to improve the lives of people in the developing world. With that in mind, we choose to produce our toilet paper in China. Don’t forget that, while large, it’s still a developing country with over 200 million people living below the global poverty line. We help to create jobs for our partners there instead of having a machine carry out the same task closer to home.
For our US launch, we’ve sea freighted containers of stock into CA and are distributing from there. Don’t worry, we’re not flying your toilet paper orders over from Australia!"
I love companies that "give back" and this one looks like they put in great effort to make sure they are not only making fantastic eco-friendly products, but also trying to keep every step of the process as sustainable as possible. I’m excited to share your post with my readers and plan to trying the products myself soon! Thanks Kathryn!
You’re welcome!
Silly question, but is the "C-word" printed anywhere on the paper or roll itself?? I can remove the box and wrapping, but I have a 1st grader who I’d rather not tell her friends at school what toilet paper we’re using… :-).
Yes, you can see from the photos they do have the logo on the outward paper. It’s not imprinted anywhere on the roll or on the paper sheets.
This is only true for the holiday packaging. The regular packaging does have it on the paper sheets.
What are your thoughts on the amount of chemicals they use on bamboo to turn it into a soft products like clothing and toilet paper? I just don’t know if I believe that bamboo toilet paper is as environmentally friendly as everyone keeps saying it is. We’ve been using recycled toilet paper (Seventh Generation) but I know there are concerns about BPA contamination in those. Feeling stuck understanding what is best.
The process for bamboo textiles or spinnable bamboo is different than that of toilet paper. To make spinnable bamboo it does require a lot of chemical baths. But, for paper, It’s a fairly simple process where they harvest the bamboo, chip it, boil it high temps, and then press it. WGAC also offers recycled paper which is tested regularly for BPA. If you’d rather stick with paper, they have you covered there too. 😉
Good to know!!! I totally thought it was the same as fabric, so that changes everything! Thank you, gonna check them out.
There has been a lot of environmental reports on the demand for bamboo and farmers taking part in deforestation to have more fertile ground for fast growing bamboo. This has became a huge issue in China, so I wonder if Who Gives a Crap has any information on the farmers and farming practices that they work with to get bamboo?
You can read an interview here with WGAC and how they get their bamboo from small farms- https://myplasticfreelife.com/2017/09/who-gives-a-crap-recycled-or-bamboo-toilet-paper-without-plastic/
There is nothing wrong with making toilet paper directly from trees rather than recycled material as long as the trees are from responsibly managed forests where all trees felled are replaced by new ones grown. It is good to have responsibly managed forests because we need trees for the oxygen they produce and because they store carbon.
Luxury Toilet paper is made from virgin pulp older growth trees and contrary to what you think? They are not all replanted, not even close.
When I directly contacted Quilted Northern and Charmin about their products? They send me to their website that talked about “the environmental impact”. They only replace on average 18% of the trees that destroy.
Replacing trees like these are not cheap. And for trees to be used for pulp they need to be at least 20 yrs old.
The Canadian Boreal Forest is being decimated by paper products. This isn’t hyperbole or tree hugging supposition. This is verified actual facts that you can research for yourself.
If you go to Google Scholar , you can look up the most recent studies on paper production and Forest management. Or talk to an Arborist or Dendrologist ( someone who studies wooded plants).
I’m a Geologist in Grad school, and I’ve worked for my states DNR. Trees are not being replanted at even close to the rates they are being destroyed. Lumber mills do not have the regulations in place like many are led to believe. They only are required to replant a small number of trees they destroy. And if those trees are improperly planted and die soon after? They are not required to replace them.
Which happens quite a bit. Replanting trees is not that easy. They can be easily felled by a strong wind or animal and if they are not deep enough they cannot make a strong enough root system.
Working for the state parks? We never replanted trees. Ever. And I know of no state or national parks that replant their felled trees.
And as we’ve established? Logging companies most definitely do NOT replace the majority of the trees they cut down.
In our latest soil samples of the forests in upper Michigan that have some logging being done, the soil has shown a 60% decrease in nutrients from logging. This effects an ENTIRE BIOME. Which includes plants, ground water distribution, and wildlife.
So to clear things up?
No, it’s not good to be using trees the way we are.
No, they are not being replaced.
A football field size forest is chopped down every minute and trees take many years to grow so even if you replant them it still involves removing oxygen. Not to mention the animals who lose their habitat for plantations. It’s far better to leave natural forests than to rely on new paper and have to continuously replant and chop down.
Can it be flushed like regular toilet paper?
Yes
I bought these about a little less than a year ago and to me, it’s not as soft as brand name consumer toilet paper, but I got used to it. I mean, it’s just toilet paper. I’d rather have something that gives me a a good conscience than not. I was so excited to see that they had a festive version. I’ll have to watch out for that next time because they are definitely really fun and cute. I have yet to use up my box of 45 rolls since I do part toilet paper and part cloth wipes so it’s definitely stretching my pennies worth for me.
Hello Kathryn,
and thank you for this review, it definitely contributes to my search for a good toilet paper alternative 🙂 I just have a question that I haven’t seen answered anywhere yet. Here it goes: you mention that the batch of 24 rolls lasted from March until December, that is around 7 months. How come it lasts for so long? I’ve seen they are double length, does that have something to do? I am trying to figure out for how long does a paper roll last on average in order to know which package is more worthy to get.
Thank you!
Nina
I love the idea of this company. My only concern is the shipping and place of production. Even shipping from CA is not environmentally friendly when I live on the East coast. I have yet to find the "perfect" solution. Everyone has to go to the bathroom! I don’t use paper towels and I found a lady on Etsy who makes "tissue" books (basically a hanky sewn together like a book). But my husband said NO to the "Family Cloth"…. I’ll give them a try. Thank you for the post. I would love to hear that they would be producing within the US.
I like everything about it EXCEPT the words that are printed on the wrapping: "Who gives a crap" is not a nice logo to put in hotel bathrooms, and now we have to figure out how to either cover up the obnoxious words, or unwrap each one before putting it in the guest bathroom. Could they just leave it pretty without the vulgar saying?
Is it biodegradable as I have septic tank
JC
I really don’t understand this review at all! For the price of the postage, I got a sample box of 4, 2 recycled and 2 bamboo, and they were actually crap! I had to use more paper than my normal roll, which is genuinely 3 ply, and the moment it got wet it felt apart! It didn’t look any thicker than my usual roll, even though it’s meant to be double length and it looked cheap and nasty! I so wanted to like (no, love) it, but I just couldn’t ?
That’s really odd. My husband and I are total fans and haven’t experienced anything like that. We use a bidet attachment so our bums are extra wet and we’ve never had it fall apart. Maybe it was a bad batch?
Hated it, bought a big box and it’s never ending can’t wait for it to be over. It just falls apart almost as bad as shopping centre toilet biggest regret ever. Thought I was getting 3 ply it’s so thin and just awful.
Can you advise how to request just the half box of 24 rolls? I went to their site to make a purchase, but couldn’t figure out how to select that.
I’m having a great deal of difficulty in receiving my shipment and in getting a response from Who Gives a Crap. Right now I am believing that they do NOT. I placed my order Nov 5. 2018 as a gift, tracking number is unavailable. Package had not arrived and no way to track it. Numerous emails to WGaC have not been responded to. VERY upset and disappointed. As always, buyer beware
is it safe in a septic?
Interesting reading some of the comments here. Confused as to why people find the word crap so offensive though. Anyway, I bought my first box several years ago and absolutely love it. I’ve tried the recycled but prefer the bamboo. Being double length means that it last ages and is comparable in price to that plastic wrapped paper rolls from the supermarket. Plus, I just noticed my local supermarket is selling them individually. Delivery in Australia only takes a few days and is included in the price. I use the paper to wrap any used sanitary items before putting in the bin. Empty rolls are taken to the ‘food is free laneway & greenspace’ to used as seed pots for growing fresh produce for the community. The box is usually reused or recycled. The fact that they use 50% of their profits to build toilets just makes it even better.
I love all the this company stands for, but the toilet paper is lousy. I don’t know how to say this politely… When finished wiping, I’m always left with bits of paper where there shouldn’t be any. I hope that’s clear enough. And having used it now for over a year, I would NEVER use it for anything stronger than p**ing. I’m not writing this to be nasty, so please forgive me if I’ve offended any of you, but it needs to be said. Great idea, lousy product. Maybe the bamboo works better, but the regular stuff, no.
You probably just need to try the bamboo one, it’s very strong.
Hi Kathryn, I just want to share my appreciation of your blog. I am new to all this and have only just found it.
I live in South Africa where nearly all our paper products are made by 2 outstanding global pulp and paper companies. Our products are mostly made from non-indigenous plantation grown pines or eucalypts(lol) which are typically harvested between 7 & 9 years of age. They represent a carbon sink that is endlessly recycled s long as they are responsibly treated or rotted. This composting process returns valuable carbon to the soil. No fertilizers or chemicals are used in the growing and they use only the rain that falls. The downside is the plastic wrapping on a bale of TP.
As greenies we are working on it.
Beware the bamboo trap as mention on one of your comments. The fiber produced is viscose. Cellulose like cottonbut produced by a chemical process. (I have 40 yrs experience of living alongside the pulping process).
Before I think about this any more, where does the bamboo come from? Is this decimating some habitat somewhere?