The Top Line:

PSA: We write this amidst the virus outbreak. They are still shipping toilet paper, it is just on a bit of a delay. Rejoice!

MAYBE Buy. We tried PlantPaper bamboo toilet paper to make our bathroom even more eco-friendly and we really, really liked it. The material is strong, soft, and almost feels cool to the touch. Sadly, it is on the more expensive side of toilet paper out there. We will keep looking for the average household, but if you want to try bamboo and have space for 32 rolls, Plantpaper is better than Reel toilet paper. (We reviewed Reel here.)

The Breakdown:

• Cost & Products: $30 for 24 rolls or $40 for 32

• How ‘Clean’ Is This? 100% Bamboo Toilet paper — Bamboo is much more eco-friendly since it grows so quickly

• Packaging: We ordered a box of 24 (this is more than we like to store in our small apartment, but it’s the smallest option they have)

  They used so much packaging to get this shipped to us - it was also randomly complicated.

  All paper - no plastic, but just, why so much?

• Purchasing & Shipping: We ordered via an Instagram (right?) but the PlantPaper website is pretty clean and easy to navigate.

• Good to Know: The more you buy, the cheaper per roll. Yea, we don’t have the space either.

• Coupons: Not that we know about

• What’s Your Impact? No plastic wrapping that comes standard with store-bought TP. The paper is made from bamboo and packaging is all recyclable. Bamboo grows really quickly and requires less water and resources to grow, which makes it significantly more sustainable than tree-based toilet paper.

The Efficacy

We have used Scott, Seventh Generation, and Cottonelle in the past.

• It is a lot softer and silkier than we expected — maybe 8/10

• Definitely no shredding here - this is pretty tough stuff

• Feels like a luxury TP

• If you’ve ever used Kleenex Cool Touch - it kind of feels like that, except more sturdy

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. It is also difficult for us to gauge the average price of toilet paper since most stores have sold out:

• PlantPaper Bamboo (16pk) $24 | Yearly cost: $150

• PlantPaper Bamboo (32pk) $40 | Yearly cost: $125

• Who Gives a Crap Bamboo (48pk) $52 | Yearly cost: $108

• Reel Bamboo (24pk) $30 | Yearly cost: $125

• Seventh Generation (48pk) $34 | Yearly cost: $71

• Scott Tissues (15pk) $12 | Yearly cost: $83

• Cottonelle (18pk) $17 | Yearly cost: $92

Money Thoughts: Really expensive to be green here, unless you use the buy bigger packs. Even then, it’s hard to defend unless you want bamboo AND you have space for 32 rolls at a time. Plus... sadly... the PlantPaper bamboo rolls are a lot smaller than an average roll.

The Good:

✔ You definitely won’t do an Ali Wong with the TP (NSFW, starts at minute 1:15)

✔ The paper feels really nice and cool (temperature wise)

✔ No plastic!

✔ Bamboo!

✔ Easy on septic tanks!

✔ Much nicer than Reel toilet paper for the same cost

✔ While we initially complained about the boxed packaging, we acknowledge that each roll was NOT individually wrapped, so on net, probably similar amount of paper used. ALL recyclable!

The Bad:

✗ If you can’t fit 32 rolls in your studio, this would be a problem

✗ Expensive

Our Recommendation:

MAYBE Buy. We thought the PlantPaper felt really, really nice. It was definitely luxurious green version. Unfortunately, the price was just a bit too much to justify the niceness. That said, if you are between Reel toilet paper and PlantPaper, then definitely go with Plantpaper. It is way softer and more luxurious for the same cost.

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!