We need to get to the bottom (pun intended) of the type of waste none of us want to think about—toilet paper.
While not as glamorous as ethical jewelry or sustainable fashion, eco-friendly toilet paper can also help us stop flushing our planet down the pan.
Let’s start giving a s*** about our planet with the best tree-free or recycled toilet paper brands. They make eco-friendly TP that’s gentle on you and the environment, free from dyes, chlorine bleach, fragrances and deforestation.
As we continue to update our articles in the coming months, we’ll be employing our new Brand Rating System to include 22 criteria for what we look for in ethical brands. These cover climate action, product performance and more. To learn more about this new system, take a look at our explainer here.
We independently research all featured brands and we ask them to confirm their claims. In many cases we personally review recommended products. This post contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you buy something. Learn more here.
Soft, Sustainable Wiping With The Best Tree-Free Toilet Paper
Cloud Paper’s bamboo rolls are a double-time carbon offset, making these arguably the most sustainable toilet paper from ship to s***.
For compostable toilet paper that’s as pro-planet and as it is pro-poo-poo, Reel is the real eco-deal.
Index: Best Eco-Friendly Toilet Paper
- Cloud Paper Jump to brand
- Tushy Jump to brand
- Reel Jump to brand
- Grove Collaborative Jump to brand
- Who Gives A Crap Jump to brand
- Marley’s Monsters Jump to brand
- Pure Planet Club Jump to brand
- The Good Roll Jump to brand
- HWRco Jump to brand
Cloud Paper
Cloud Paper’s Eco-Friendly Toilet Paper
Price Range: $37–$92
Aptly named Cloud Paper ticks both with some of the softest eco-friendly toilet paper around. Strong, and lint-free, these 100% sustainable forestry certified (by the Forest Stewardship Council) bamboo toilet paper rolls are free of scents, dyes, pesticides, BPA, and chlorine bleach. The only other material included is a little bit of cornstarch adhesive used to attach the first sheet to the roll.
With near-perfect rave reviews and the backing of the Natural Resources Defense Council, who awarded them the highest score possible for bamboo toilet paper, you can’t wipe wrong using Cloud Paper.
And after testing out these luxurious 3-ply rolls, we happen to agree. Cloud’s take on the most environmentally friendly toilet paper features a super soft texture that is a bit like wiping with a cloud—or at least what we imagine it to be like.
They work on a subscription model offering 2, 3, or 4-month options for their 24-roll boxes, but you can delay orders or cancel any time. The rolls are individually wrapped in paper that breaks down quickly in our indoor compost bin.
About Cloud Paper
Seattle-based Cloud Paper aims to #FreeTheTrees with its sustainable household paper products. The packaging is also plastic and virgin tree-free, including compostable paper wrapping for each roll and the 100% recycled content box they’re mailed in—so the paper tape isn’t lying when it says “No Trees Harmed”.
They not only offset shipping emissions through Carbonfund, but offset them double-time, plus plant a tree for every order. Bamboo is sourced from family-owned farms in Asia, and their Premium rolls are manufactured nearby in China.
They donate numerous rolls of toilet paper to Food Lifeline (among other non-profits) for distribution to local food banks and shelters.
Tushy
Tushy’s Eco Toilet Paper
Price Range: $59–$599
Tushy sells 100% bamboo toilet paper that’s luxuriously soft. Each roll is made with 100% unbleached, BPA-free silky-strong bamboo fibers. We think it’s one of the best toilet paper for sensitive skin.
There are 300 sheets to a roll and 36 rolls in a pack, so you won’t run out in a hurry. Buy a one-time purchase or save with a flexible eco-friendly toilet paper subscription.
All rolls come in plastic-free packaging to give the world’s oceans a break. But on top of being one of the best unbleached toilet paper brands, Tushy’s real purpose is bringing the modern bidet to the masses. Their bamboo toilet paper is best used to pat your tushy dry after a go with the bidet.
If we’ve inspired you to foray into the bidet—which we firmly believe is THE toilet paper replacement to rule them all—check out their Ace model. Long ago, our lives were changed by the bidet. The Tushy Ace Electric Bidet (as opposed to their non-electric models) makes for the most comfortable squat we’ve ever had—especially if paired with their Ottoman squatty stool.
That’s because its variable heated seat and heart water temp settings allow you to turn up or down the heat as much as you’re feeling. Did we mention there’s a built-in bum blow-dryer setting?
If installing a bidet sounds complicated, fear not. This simple bidet attachment is easy to set up on your existing toilet in under ten minutes (really) and it’s remote-controlled for a hands-free, ooh-la-la experience.
About Tushy
Tushy, purveyors of the modern bidet, thinks there is a better way to ‘doo’ things – and that’s taking wastefulness out of toilet waste. They’re encouraging Americans to dump toilet paper and discover the benefits of adopting the bidet lifestyle to ‘save money, save the planet, and save your butt.’
Tushy has also partnered with Samagra to donate a portion of the profits to building community toilets in rural India.
Reel
Reel’s Sustainable Toilet Paper
Price Range: $37–$83
Reel’s 100% bamboo toilet paper is the reel sustainable toilet paper deal. Because the most eco-friendly toilet paper doesn’t use toxic chemicals, theirs is sans BPA, inks, dyes, or fragrances, and is whitened using elemental chlorine-free bleach.
Individually wrapped in 100% recyclable or compostable paper and certified “ready biodegradable”, Reel is mindful of the end of life for all elements. It’s one of the few truly non-toxic toilet paper brands on the market.
Their cardboard boxes come with 24 or 48 mega rolls, available as either one-time buys or cancel-any-time subscription options for a hands-off toilet paper delivery at your chosen interval. By combining with our Bidet, a 24-roll box lasts us for almost six months, so they make it well worth your while.
About Reel
Reel makes 100% tree-free products that also include FSC-certified recycled paper towels and eco-friendly tissues made of recycled paper.
While based in California, their bamboo is sourced from southwestern China, and the rolls are ethically manufactured through companies abroad, though they don’t specify which.
Co-founder Derin Oyekan grew up in Lagos and witnessed firsthand the negative impact which lack of hygienic bathroom solutions has on communities.
Reel’s mission is to not only cut down on toilet waste but also toilet inequality by partnering with SOIL Haiti to provide bathrooms to communities in Haiti. In doing so, they also remove existing toilet waste, treat it, and transform it into compost for local reforestation, farming, and climate change mitigation efforts.
Grove Collaborative
Grove Collaborative’s Best Eco Toilet Paper
Price Range: $10–$22
One of the best sustainable toilet paper brands, Grove Collaborative helps Americans take trees out of their toilets with their Tree-Free Toilet Paper made from bamboo.
They use fibers from 100% FSC-certified bamboo which are pesticide-free and panda-friendly, meaning it’s not a source of food for pandas. Bamboo is a sustainable alternative to trees as it takes three months to grow back from harvest in comparison to about 20 years.
Each three-ply toilet paper sheet is cushiony soft and stronger than recycled toilet paper versions. They’re free from dyes, inks and scents for a healthy butt and planet. Their Ultra Mega eight rolls in a pack are the equivalent of 40 standard toilet paper rolls. You can go larger with 18 and 24-roll packs.
All non-plastic packaging is recyclable or compostable, and we love how the individually wrapped rolls bear fun patterns and sayings. They’re so lovely, we reuse them as zero waste gift wrapping and package stuffing.
About Grove Collaborative
Grove Collaborative is a marketplace for eco-friendly, plastic-free home and personal care essentials. In addition to their own in-house line, all 200+ brands they sell meet their strict standard for ethical and cruelty-free ingredients and are committed to planet-friendly products.
When you buy from this Certified B Corp, your shipment is 100% carbon neutral and your order is 100% plastic neutral or plastic-free.
Who Gives A Crap
Who Gives a Crap’s Soft Recycled Toilet Paper
Price Range: $38–$68
Admittedly, recycled toilet paper sounds pretty gross. Fear not, this isn’t toilet paper made from used toilet paper, but instead from pre and post-consumer recycled paper products. Which can be contrasted to the 98% of TP made from virgin tree pulp.
Who Gives A Crap makes 100% unbleached recycled toilet paper with 95% post-consumer recycled content (waste paper) and 5% post-industrial paper which is cleaned at high temperatures – meaning it’s 100% hygienic, BPA-free and biodegradable.
If recycled toilet paper rolls aren’t how you roll, they also offer some made of sustainably sourced bamboo. You won’t find any inks, dyes, or scents in either kind, and both are whitened with hydrogen peroxide rather than chlorine bleach.
We’ve tried both, and if we’re comparing WGAC’s bamboo vs recycled toilet paper, we do think the bamboo is a bit softer, though both kinds pass our softness, strength, and scratchiness tests.
Set up a toilet paper online subscription and you won’t need to get creative when you find yourself past the point of no return without a spare back-up roll.
All packaging is compostable and the colorful individual roll wrappers make for a perfect gift wrap solution, crafting supplies, or even zero waste dog doo paper.
About Who Gives a Crap
When it comes to recycled toilet paper, Australia-born Who Gives a Crap is undoubtedly one of the best all-around brands. When the eco-friendly toilet paper company was first launched via Kickstarter, more than 2.4 billion people (40% of the global population) didn’t have access to a toilet.
This puts adults and children at risk of serious diarrheal diseases caused by poor sanitation. Over the last decade, that number has decreased to 2 billion people without a toilet.
Some of that is thanks to WGAP, which donates 50% of its profits to improve sanitation and build toilets in the developing world via several potty partners. All their eco-friendly bathroom products are made in China using locally sourced materials by producers who meet their strict standards and processes.
Marley’s Monsters
Marley’s Monsters’ Eco-Friendly Toilet Paper
Price Range: $42
Take a seat on the toilet and bare (down) with us as we dive into an unfamiliar eco-friendly toilet paper alternative: reusable toilet paper.
Marley’s Monsters’ Toilet UNpaper Rolls are 100% cotton flannels. These non-flushable (we mean it—DON’T flush them) toilet paper wipes are designed to be used and collected in a bin or wet bag to be washed every two to three days.
The reviews are glowing and they would pair perfectly well with a bidet for effective environmentally friendly reusable alternatives to toilet paper.
About Marley’s Monsters
Marley’s Monsters is a zero-waste online store that specializes in reusable replacements for single-use paper products, like reusable paper towels and organic baby wipes.
Based in Eugene, Oregon, the family-owned brand was started when owner Sarah Dooley wanted to make her not-yet-born daughter Marley something special. It started with a stuffed monster, and now the brand has a brick-and-mortar shop and happy customers scattered all around the globe.
As a BRING-certified sustainable business, everything is handmade using energy-efficient techniques and is packaged/shipped plastic-free. They donate any fabric waste to nonprofits that upcycle them into new products.
Pure Planet Club
Pure Planet Club’s Eco-Friendly Toilet Paper
Price Range: $42
Pure Planet Club produces tree-free environmentally friendly toilet paper that’s plant-based, plastic-free, and made of 100% natural and renewable bamboo.
The toilet paper is whitened using elemental-free chlorine bleach (i.e. chlorine dioxide). For those of us who aren’t chemistry buffs, chlorine dioxide is ten times more soluble than the chlorine that is traditionally used. That means this green toilet paper ticks all the boxes: vegan-friendly, cruelty-free, septic-safe, BPA-free, and guilt-free.
About Pure Planet Club
Pure Planet Club’s mission is to help everyday people make a difference in the world through simple swaps of common household items.
Everything is shipped 100% plastic-free. The bamboo is sustainably sourced from well-managed plantations in Asia, where they also manufacture their ethical toilet paper.
The Good Roll
The Good Roll’s Cheapest Eco-Friendly Toilet Paper UK
Price Range: £19
Tree-free, chlorine-free, colorant-free and fragrance-free, that’s The Good Roll’s promise in their environmentally safe toilet paper.
Made from 100% bamboo, it’s oh-so-soft, giving bathroom moments a sense of luxury you didn’t know you needed. These super strong two-ply toilet paper rolls contain 300 sheets. Your 24-roll delivery comes in a cardboard box and is #naked to keep your low-waste TP packaging down to the bare essentials.
About The Good Roll
The Good Roll was born out of a collective frustration at the state of unsustainable toilet paper and that 2.3 billion people worldwide don’t have access to safe sanitation.
The Dutch Certified B Corp decided to take matters into their own hands by creating 100% tree-friendly toilet roll and donating 50% of net profit to building toilets in Ghana.
The Good Roll Foundation, in collaboration with Simavi, aims to provide sustainable sanitization for all, particularly for children in schools.
HWRco
HWRco’s Natural Toilet Paper
Price Range: $66
HWRco (short for How We Roll Co) makes sustainable toilet paper from bamboo. Each 3-ply double-length roll is embossed for extra softness to give your behind some added luxury.
They’re individually wrapped in FSC-certified paper in three minimal colorways to add some cheer to your bathroom. For an even jazzier look, check out their limited-edition collaboration with Aboriginal artist Rachael Sarra.
Each roll has 370 sheets and you get 48 rolls in each order so they’ll last you a long time. Subscribe and save so you never run out.
About HWRco
HWRco helps you create a greener home through ‘eco-venience.’ The Australian brand started with environmentally friendly toilet tissue before branching out to other home essentials that roll away from single-use plastic.
Their eco initiatives extend far beyond the home, as they work with One Tee Planted to help with reforestation efforts after the Australian wildfires.
They also collaborate with charities including the Bridging The Gap Foundation, which addresses the 10-year lower average life expectancy of Indigenous Australians in comparison to Non-Indigenous Australians.
You forgot to mention that 6 of the 7 toilet paper brands mentioned are not available outside the US mainland.
Hi Amy, apologies, that must be frustrating. Most of our readers are US based so we do tend to focus on US brands. We’re slowly expanding to other countries and regions.
Good article, but no apples to apples comparison. Are inks or dyes used on paper that covers the toilet paper rolls or shipping package container? I only saw one listed as using peroxide to whiten. What’s the cost comparison? Are these companies owned by women, minorities? Is the bamboo harvested from Panda free areas? Where can you purchase?
Thank you