Trying to make your day-to-day life more eco-friendly can be overwhelming. Making small changes over time can make it feel less daunting. The bathroom can be one of the hardest places to make changes because of the number of products we all use that come in plastic, what specific needs our skin has, personal preferences, and so on. However, there are two easy changes you can make in your bathroom to make it more eco-friendly.
1. Change your TP
We flush the equivalent of about 27,000 trees down the toilet every day. In the US alone the per capita yearly toilet paper consumption is 141 rolls. Most of the trees used to make toilet paper are from old-growth boreal forests in Canada. These forests are an important carbon store and cutting them down prevents them from absorbing more carbon from the atmosphere.
Switching to recycled or bamboo toilet paper means you won’t be contributing to the deforestation of old growth forests. There are more and more options to choose from, and many can be ordered in bulk (no worrying about there being no tp at the store anymore!).
I personally found recycled paper a bit too rough for me, but it might not be for you. I get the bamboo toilet paper from Who Gives A Crap and one box of 48 rolls lasts me nearly a year (I live alone, so it may not last you that long). I like that they donate a portion of their profits to organizations that work to improve sanitation and build toilets in the developing world, and that they are a Certified B Corporation.
They are based in Australia, but have warehouses in the US, so no worries, your order doesn’t ship from Australia. You can set up a subscription for 8 weeks, 12 weeks, or 16 weeks and they send you an email reminder three days before your order is set to renew in case you don’t need any yet. I also get kleenex from them that are made from bamboo. I wouldn’t use it when I’m sick and blowing my nose frequently, but it’s good for infrequent everyday use.
If you want to find brands that you can get locally that are sustainable, check out the NRDC’s Toilet Paper Scorecard.
2. Get a bidet attachment
Only about 30 percent of the world uses toilet paper, everyone else uses an alternative. Perhaps the most well-known alternative is a bidet. Instead of wiping with paper, you wash with the bidet and then dry with paper.
One of the best purchases I’ve ever made for under $50 was a bidet attachment for my toilet. It’s super basic, non-electric, no heated water, but I love it. The amount of toilet paper I’ve used since getting the bidet attachment has shrunk significantly. Not to get too graphic, but my bum is much happier since getting it as well. You can get a big name bidet attachment if you want, but I went with a basic one at a lower price that works just the same. If you have an outlet near your toilet, you could spend more to get one that heats the water or even one that is a seat attachment with a heated seat. I don’t have an outlet near mine, so I just kept it simple.
Getting a bidet attachment should help reduce the amount of tp you use, so even if you don’t make the switch to recycled or bamboo tp you’ll be lowering your impact on the planet.
There you have it, two easy changes to make your bathroom more eco-friendly!
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