Reel Bamboo Toilet Paper 2020 Review | Sustainable, Zero Waste Toilet Paper
The Top Line: MAYBE
We thought Reel Toilet Paper worked well, while less soft than your traditional fluffy paper TP, it is clearly much better from a sustainability perspective. However, it is more expensive (50% more than your standard Scott TP) so you really need to care. We hope they are able to bring pricing down as they scale! Personally, we like it and think its worth the extra $$, but it’ll come down to your personal preferences here.
The Breakdown:
Cost & Products: $29.99 for 24 rolls
How ‘Clean’ Is This? 100% 3-ply bamboo toilet paper
Packaging: We ordered a box of 24 (more than we need given the lack of storage in a city apartment, but it’s the smallest option they have)
Purchasing & Shipping: Website is clean & straightforward. Shipping is free on purchases over $25.
Coupons: $20 off your order with ‘NEW20’
What’s Your Impact? No plastic packaging (recyclable cardboard boxes) that usually comes standard with store-bought toilet paper. The paper itself is made from Bamboo, which can grow 3ft in just 24 hours — it can be harvested once a year and doesn’t need to be replanted. It also uses 30% less water than hardwood trees, gives out 35% more oxygen than trees — an acre of bamboo can fix approximately 25 metric tons of atmospheric CO2 per year.
The Efficacy
We’ve used Scott, Quilted Northern Ultra, and Silk ‘n Soft
This is definitely not as soft / thick as Quilted Northern Ultra, its much more similar to Scott
It’s not tissue paper thin by any means (it is a thin 3-ply), just less soft
We found this very similar to Silk ‘n Soft, another bamboo TP brand available on Amazon, but a larger roll, very slightly less soft
Reel TP (left) vs Quilted Northern Ultra (right)
The Cost
One source suggests that the average person uses 100 rolls of toilet paper per year, so we are going to use that for cost comparison. We are also NOT going to include the discount. It is also difficult for us to gauge the average price of toilet paper since most stores have sold out:
Reel (Bamboo 24pk) $30 | Yearly cost: $125
Silk ‘n Soft (Bamboo 12pk) $13 | Yearly cost: $142
Who Gives a Crap Recycled (24pk) $30 | Yearly cost: $125
Who Gives a Crap Bamboo (48pk) $52 | Yearly cost: $108
Seventh Generation (48pk) $34 | Yearly cost: $71
Scott Tissues (15pk) $12 | Yearly cost: $83
Cottonelle (18pk) $17 | Yearly cost: $92
Money Thoughts: It definitely costs a premium to go green when it comes to bamboo toilet paper.
The Good:
✔ No plastic packaging!
✔ Bamboo significantly more sustainable than paper TP
✔ Genuinely looks nice stacked in a bathroom
✔ Easy on septic tanks
The Bad:
✗ You need the storage space (or be OK with stacking them in your bathroom)
✗ Pricey to go green with TP!
Our Recommendation:
We thought Reel Toilet Paper worked well, while less soft than your traditional fluffy paper TP, it is clearly much better from a sustainability perspective. However, it is more expensive (50% more than your standard Scott TP) so you really need to care. We hope they are able to bring pricing down as they scale! Personally, we like it and think its worth the extra $$, but it’ll come down to your personal preferences here.
We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!
