9 Eco-Friendly Tissues To Sustainably Stop Your Snot
We’re blowing the lid (and our noses) on eco-friendly tissues.
This single-use item may seem inconsequential, but each sniffle can contribute to deforestation, climate change, plastic waste, and environmental decay.
That’s snot what we want to be contributing to each and every time we get the sniffles.
So are there eco-friendly tissues that allow us to clean up our boogies and the planet at the same time? You nose it, which is why we sniffed out the best sustainable tissue alternatives just for you.
Everything we recommend to you on Sustainable Jungle is independently researched and we ask all brands to confirm their claims. To avoid waste, we test products on an as needed basis. This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a small commission. Learn more about why we do this here.
Sustainable Tissues That’ll Make You Say ‘Achoo-Tiful!’
Who Gives A Crap’s Forest Friendly Tissues are nice to the trees and sensitive skin with their biodegradable bamboo fiber construction.
Handle the roughest sneezing fits with Cloud Paper’s 3-ply bamboo tissues made from responsibly sourced, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified bamboo.
Say goodbye to your Kleenex collection with reusable tissues from LastObject, made from 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton in a portable silicone carrying case.
Don’t worry—we kept our nose to the grindstone when selecting these brands, and you can see our criteria at the bottom of the article.
The Best Eco-Friendly Soft Tissues
- Cloud Paper | Visit Store
- Who Gives a Crap | Visit Store
- Reel | Visit Store
- LastObject | Visit Store
- Grove Collaborative | Visit Store
- The Home Farm | Visit Store
- Joy In The Home | Visit Store
- The Cheeky Panda | Visit Store
- Seventh Generation | Visit Store
1. Cloud Paper
Cloud Paper’s Best Bamboo Facial Tissues
Price Range: $30–$36
Cloud Paper’s name holds up as some of the softest eco-friendly facial tissues on the market.
But is bamboo tissue sustainable?
It is when made with sustainably grown bamboo from FSC-certified sources.
Cloud Paper’s is all that and more: hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, and free from unnecessary dyes, pesticides, BPAs, and chlorine bleach.
Instead, Cloud Paper bleaches their tissues using an ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) technique, meaning it contains no chlorine.
Plus, we’ve tested these tissues and can confirm they’re soft and strong enough to hold up to even the most nasty of nasal drips.
Each box contains 100 sheets of 3-ply sustainable tissues, all delivered in 100% plastic-free packaging.
Cloud Paper offers a subscription model of recurring shipments of 12 boxes every 6, 9, or 12 months, but you can pause or cancel the service at any time.
About Cloud Paper
One of the best bamboo toilet paper brands, Seattle-based Cloud Paper aims to save one billion trees and kick traditional tree-based paper products to the curb.
So far, they have managed to preserve over 25,000 trees and plant over 5,000 through a partnership with One Tree Planted.
The bamboo tissues are sourced from family-owned sites in Asia, while Cloud Paper’s premium products are manufactured in China.
All boxes and tissue paper wrappers for their eco-friendly toilet paper and paper towels are made from post-consumer recycled paper.
And get this—they offset all carbon emissions not once, but twice, through Carbonfund.
The best tissues give back, so Cloud Paper donates money and hundreds of thousands of toilet paper rolls to food banks and shelters.
2. Who Gives A Crap
Who Gives A Crap Eco-Friendly Alternative To Tissues
Price Range: $20
Who Gives a Crap gives much more than a crap about the environmental impact of conventional tissues.
The Forest Friendly Tissues are tough enough for the strongest sneezes yet delicate enough to make them a cold season essential.
Each eco-friendly box of tissues contains 65 3-ply tissues made from 100% bamboo fibers. They’re biodegradable, hypoallergenic, and contain no inks, dyes, or scents.
The tree-free tissues are whitened using hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine bleach. Each order includes 12 boxes made out of recyclable packaging materials.
Just like our review of their toilet paper, our Who Gives a Crap tissues review couldn’t be more glowing (er, blowing?)
Don’t expect them to be as soft as lotion (AKA chemical) coated conventional tissues (which can be said for any of the brands on this list), but for as clean as these are, they’re plenty soft and won’t leave your nose feeling raw and red.
About Who Gives A Crap
With eco-friendly paper towels, toilet paper, and tissues, Australian Who Gives a Crap is easily one of the best tissue brands, whether you’re wiping noses, bums, or countertops.
They’re against destroying virgin trees, so these 100% plastic-free tissues are made in China out of locally sourced bamboo.
The Certified B Corp has fought to ensure everyone has access to clean water and a toilet by donating 50% of its profits to improve sanitation and build toilets in impoverished areas across the globe.
WGAC provides carbon-neutral shipping.
3. Reel
Reel’s Recycled Facial Tissue
Price Range: $55
Let’s get Reel—are tissues eco-friendly?
Traditional tissue paper is made of virgin wood pulp and contains additives like bleach, fragrances, or inks. Most products aren’t recyclable or compostable.
That’s where the Reel Recycled Tissues switch things up.
The recycled tissues are made entirely from FSC-certified recycled fibers, with a minimum of 80% grade A post-consumer materials.
The eco tissues are whitened without chlorine. Instead, Reel utilizes ozone, oxygen, and/or peroxide to whiten the recycled paper.
This creates a sustainable tissue alternative that’s easy on delicate skin while being strong enough to handle the biggest sneezes.
Each box of tissues contains 80 2-ply sheets that are biodegradable, hypoallergenic, plastic-free, BPA-free, chlorine-free, and without dyes, inks, or fragrances.
Reel offers cancel-anytime subscriptions, with each order containing 24 boxes of sustainable tissues.
About Reel
Reel helps save trees through its FSC-certified recycled paper towels and tissues.
The Certified B Corp is based in California and makes their recycled facial tissue in the United States. Their bamboo comes from southwestern China, and the rolls are ethically produced abroad.
Reel partners with SOIL Haiti to contribute to toilet waste and toilet inequality issues in communities across Haiti.
They help to remove toilet waste, treat it, and convert it into compost for farming, local reforestation, and climate change initiatives. How’s that for a zero waste toilet paper brand?!
4. LastObject
LastObject’s Sustainable Facial Tissues
Price Range: $12–$24
What is a green alternative to tissues?
Hint: it’s reusable.
LastObject is on a mission to create environmentally friendly and design-forward alternatives to our most precious single-use items.
One of their best is the Last Tissue reusable tissue pack.
The silicone carrying case holds six reusable facial tissues made from 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton. Don’t worry—clean and used tissues are separated by a silicone barrier.
Each of the organic tissues can be used over 520 times, saving the earth from over 3,000 disposable alternatives.
Once all six are dirty, you can toss them in the washing machine with some natural laundry detergent.
Once you get close to the 500th use, you can purchase a Refill Pack of six more Kleenex alternatives.
About LastObject
The Copenhagen-based brand produces several swaps to single-use items, like cotton swabs, makeup removers, and environmentally friendly tissues.
Their products are produced in ethical factories across Denmark (where LastObject is based) and China.
The Certified B Corp ships everything in plastic-free materials and recycled/recyclable packaging.
5. Grove Collaborative
Grove Collaborative’s Earth-Friendly Tissue
Price Range: $3–$5
Grove Collaborative has some of the softest facial tissues available.
The Tree-Free Facial Tissue made from 100% bamboo fibers is an eco-friendly option to conventional Kleenex.
Just like their paper towel, the sustainable disposable tissues don’t contain any pesticides and come from FSC-certified sources.
Each box contains 75 sheets of 3-ply tissue paper packaged in lovely recycled and recyclable cardboard boxes that can be recycled after use.
Grove Collaborative also offers on-the-go Travel Packs that don’t contain any dyes, inks, or scents, either.
About Grove Collaborative
Grove Collaborative brings together the best products and brands serving sustainable home and personal care goods.
In addition to their own in-house line, they carry over 200 green cleaning and personal care brands, meeting strict criteria for ethical and cruelty-free sourcing, ingredients, and production practices.
The Certified B Corp ships everything—whether it’s eco-friendly cleaning products or paper products—with 100% carbon-neutral delivery, with plastic-neutral or plastic-free materials.
6. The Home Farm
The Home Farm’s Reusable Kleenex
Price Range: $30
Are handkerchiefs more eco-friendly than tissues?
Traditional tissue paper is made by killing trees, which involves lots of water, energy, and other resources. After a single use, they’re discarded and end up in landfills or waterways, taking a long time to decompose.
The Home Farm’s handkerchiefs are made from reusable cotton—which is not a tree.
Its high-quality, smooth, silky feeling makes it the ideal sustainable alternative. The handkerchief can serve multiple purposes, whether cleaning smudges off your glasses or handling the softest sniffles.
These reusable cloth tissues double as eco-friendly pocket tissues, as it can fit in the square of a suit or sport coat.
About The Home Farm
Based out of an urban home farm in Orlando, FL, The Home Farm aims to bring health, nature, zero waste, and a minimalist lifestyle to people across the globe.
The organic brand crafts dish soap, laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaners, face masks, toner, and countless beauty and home goods supplies using natural materials.
Most of their products are packaged in glass bottles or jars, with some containing certified organic materials.
7. Joy In The Home
Joy In The Home’s Sustainable Tissue Alternatives
Price Range: $9–$24
Joy In The Home makes everything you need to reduce waste and swap to ditch paper products.
The shop carries handkerchiefs made from cotton, hemp, and bamboo fibers. The Little Hankies Sample Pack includes two of each, all color-coated and pre-washed out of the package.
The different hankies have various constructions, some having two layers and others being single-ply. Each of the non-toxic facial tissues is 7×7 inches, but the store accepts custom orders if you need something a bit bigger or smaller.
Don’t forget to grab yourself a Mini Hanky Pouch to take your handkerchiefs on the go and keep them sanitary.
About Joy In The Home
As a child, Joy Barry learned to sew at the feet of her mother as she watched her make clothes. When she had her own children, she started to sew cloth diapers for her newborns.
This led to an interest in reusable products, like cloth napkins and handkerchiefs.
Over time, she perfected her craft and created her handkerchief empire, supplying thousands of families with reusable home goods that reduce waste.
All sustainable tissue making happens in Joy’s smoke and pet-free home in McPherson, Kansas. All items are sewn and packaged by hand.
8. The Cheeky Panda
The Cheeky Panda Eco-Friendly Tissues
Price Range: $6–$30
Are tissues biodegradable?
Typically, no, thanks to chemical coatings, but they are if they’re from the brands on this list.
The Cheeky Panda crafts biodegradable tissues without cutting any corners.
The brand utilizes sustainably sourced bamboo from FSC-certified forests to craft soft tissues perfect for sensitive skin.
Their tissues and packaging are biodegradable, without any plastics or chemicals. The Cheeky Panda never tests on animals, and everything is certified vegan-friendly and cruelty-free.
The best part?
They donate part of every purchase to support rainforest conservation.
About The Cheeky Panda
The Cheeky Panda’s bamboo tissues produce over 60% fewer carbon emissions than traditional products and are entirely plastic-free.
Everything they make—which also includes biodegradable baby wipes and biodegradable nappies— is plant-based and certified Leaping Bunny cruelty-free.
The UK-based brand became the first tissue company in the United Kingdom to be Vegan Registered with The Vegan Society.
They’re also Carbon Balanced through partnerships with The World Land Trust and NEPCon.
9. Seventh Generation
Seventh Generation’s Recycled Facial Tissues
Price Range: $3
Made from 100% recycled paper, Seventh Generation’s recycled tissues are the perfect addition to your sustainable lifestyle.
Each cube contains 85 hypoallergenic, Leaping Bunny Certified, chlorine-free 2-ply tissues, giving you enough sheets to withstand the worst colds.
They ship in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging, and none of the tissues contain any added dyes, fragrances, chlorine, lotions, BPA, or formaldehyde.
Just remember not to flush them, as this recycled tissue paper doesn’t break down like toilet paper.
About Seventh Generation
Canada-based Seventh Generation aims to create products (like paper towels and toilet paper) that address issues like plastic waste, overconsumption, and pollution.
The Certified B Corp provides full transparency for their ingredients and formulas. Seventh Generation has many climate goals, like moving to 100% zero waste and biobased materials.
Through the Seventh Generation Foundation, they have supported social and environmental initiatives in their local communities.
Also available on Amazon
Did you know we Have a Newsletter?
We cover the latest in sustainable living, fashion, zero waste, beauty, travel, finance and more…
How We Chose The Softest Sustainable Tissues
Every day, over 27,000 trees are chopped down and processed to produce conventional paper products. This devastates the environment, uses tons of water and energy, and ultimately contributes to landfill waste.
Is Kleenex tissue eco-friendly? If not, what is the alternative to Kleenex?
Here’s how we answered those questions.
Materials:
We chose brands making bamboo tissues, as it’s a fast-growing plant and sustainable resource that produces fewer carbon emissions than tree-based products. We ensured the brands on our list were sourced from ethical or FSC-certified sources.
We didn’t snub our nose at post-consumer recycled fibers, either.
These products don’t kill any new trees and use resources that are already in circulation. We made sure both the bamboo and recycled options on our list didn’t contain any chlorine bleach, dyes, inks, fragrances, or other nasty chemicals.
Lastly, one of the best green alternatives to tissues is reusable handkerchiefs.
In fact, they’re the OG eco-friendly pocket tissues—before all those pesky plastic pouches came into being.
- Certifications: Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Leaping Bunny, The Vegan Society
Supply chain & green practices:
Sustainable tissue making starts with materials, but it’s almost important to ensure these materials (bamboo especially) are ethically sourced and manufactured in an ethical and sustainable way.
Things like carbon offset programs, plastic-free packaging, and use of more eco-friendly manufacturing processes (like chlorine free bleaching) make us feel a little warmer about combatting each cold.
- Certifications: B Corporation (B Corp)
Final Thoughts On The Best Eco-Friendly Facial Tissue Brands
Gesundheit!
Many single-use items play an essential part in our daily lives.
But there are sustainable alternatives, whether a reusable water bottle or a pack of eco-friendly bamboo tissues.
Using compostable tissues can make a significant impact on deforestation, landfill waste, and pollution. One of the best sustainable swaps is a handkerchief, which can be washed and reused.
Do you know someone who needs some tissue therapy?
Send them this list of the best eco-friendly tissues, so they can blow their nose and wipe their tears without any eco-shame.
Pin these:
