Sometimes, when thinking about switching to bamboo toilet paper, we find it appears to be more expensive than other toilet paper. We might wonder if it is really worth it to pay more for toilet paper that we are going to use once and then toss out. The short answer is yes. Bamboo toilet paper has so many advantages that it really is worth the extra cost. When deciding if bamboo toilet paper is expensive, it is important to think in terms of the total cost to us, to the environment, and to others.
We often find that we have to pay a bit more if we want to have a quality product in the long term. While we might be able to find cheaper alternatives if those alternatives irritate our skin, don’t work well, or cause major environmental damage, are they really cheaper in the long term? Let’s look at bamboo toilet paper and determine if it's a good value in the long term.
Is Bamboo Toilet Paper Really That Expensive?
Whether bamboo toilet paper is really that expensive often comes down to how we purchase our toilet paper. While bamboo toilet paper may look more expensive at first glance, if we use a bamboo toilet paper subscription, we can pay as little as $1.30 per roll. While this might be slightly more than what traditional toilet paper would cost, it is not overly expensive or likely to cause us undue financial hardship. The difference in cost between bamboo toilet paper and cheaper alternatives comes down to some spare change.
Do Our Toilet Paper Choices Make A Big Difference?
Yes, our toilet paper choices make a huge difference. Currently, 27,000 trees are cut down every day in order to make the toilet paper we use. Those trees can take up to 35–100 years to grow large enough to be harvested. This means that when we choose traditional tree based toilet paper, we are contributing to major deforestation that cannot be fixed in a timely manner. As a popular proverb goes, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." Finding alternatives to cutting down trees for toilet paper is one way to make sure we always have the trees we need to produce the oxygen we need to breathe. Check out our full breakdown why bamboo toilet paper is better for the environment.
What Is The Environmental Cost Of Toilet Paper Packaging?
Much of the traditional toilet paper that we find in stores comes in plastic packaging. This packaging can take hundreds of years to break down. In addition, plastic packaging can end up breaking down into microplastics that have been found to have ended up in our waterways and food chains. No one likes to hear about birds, fishes, and mammals that have been found with plastic inside of them. So, in addition to reducing deforestation, switching to bamboo toilet paper can also help us reduce our plastic usage, which means we produce less trash and help the planet at the same time. At Seek Bamboo, we only offer plastic free toilet paper delivered directly to your door.
What Is The Total Cost Of Bamboo Toilet Paper?
Bamboo grows rapidly and easily without pesticides or irrigation. Once it’s established, it’s like a weed, growing back from the roots no matter how often you cut it. It’s ready to harvest much faster than trees. Most of the world’s bamboo is in China and other Southeast Asian countries. While bamboo is the major food source for pandas, Bamboo can be grown in small groves along the edges of farms, so it can be used to make toilet paper without starving pandas. When we are talking about the cost of something, we need to consider the total cost to us and to others, not just the amount we pay to purchase it at the end.
What Is The Environmental Cost Of Deforestation?
Knowing that bamboo can be grown and harvested in such a way as to protect the local habitats is important because each day, an area of rainforest about half the size of Chicago is lost to deforestation. This habitat is relied upon by countless species and impacts the livelihoods of millions of indigenous communities. This means that bamboo toilet paper might seem to cost a bit more per roll, but if you look at its total cost to make, including its impact on the local environment, bamboo toilet paper costs a lot less than traditional toilet paper.
Does Bamboo Help Improve Air Quality?
One of the biggest environmental benefits of bamboo is its ability to absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. Research has shown that bamboo produces 35% more oxygen than an equivalent tree mass and can absorb as much as 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare per year. In addition, bamboo can be harvested in a manner that allows farmers to work with the local ecosystem, not against it. Since bamboo is a plant that can be harvested again and again, like many other grasses, this means we can both harvest bamboo to make products such as bamboo toilet paper while also continuing to let it improve our air quality.
Do Pesticides Have To Be Used To Grow Bamboo?
We have all heard about the dangers of using pesticides and being dependent on pesticides. Pesticides are harmful to the environment and to the farmers who have to handle them. In addition, there have been several times when pesticides have spilled and have been found in communities' water tables. Bamboo is naturally pest resistant, which decreases the need for pesticides. This means we can use bamboo toilet paper knowing that our choice is not polluting the land, water, and ourselves with pesticides. As Joni Mitchell sang when referencing the negative impact of pesticides, "Leave me the birds and the bees!" Bamboo allows us to do so, and reducing the need for pesticides is worth a lot overall.
Do We Have To Sacrifice Softness When Using Bamboo Toilet Paper?
The softness of bamboo toilet paper is one of the reasons it is worth paying a bit more for. Bamboo toilet paper is often said to be softer than even cotton, which makes it very comfortable to use. Toilet paper is not something you want to be scratchy or to cause irritation to sensitive skin. Bamboo toilet paper lets us feel like we are pampering ourselves, which is more than we can often say about using traditional toilet paper. Sometimes, in order to practice self-care, it is important that we spend a little more to get products that will make us feel good using them inside and out.
Do We Have To Sacrifice Strength When Using Bamboo Toilet Paper?
One of the best things about bamboo toilet paper is that it is quite durable. Everyone can agree that we don't want toilet paper that deteriorates while we are trying to use it. Additionally, using less toilet paper each time, thanks to its strength, means that bamboo toilet paper is a better value overall. We can all remember a time when we needed to use more toilet paper than we would have liked because what we were using was not strong enough to do what it needed to do. When choosing toilet paper, we do not want to be penny wise and pound foolish.
Does Bamboo Toilet Paper Work Well For Sensitive Skin?
Many of us find that our skin can be sensitive. The last thing we want or need is to irritate our delicate skin by using toilet paper that is too harsh. Each BPA-free three-ply sheet of bamboo toilet paper is soft, absorbent, and hypoallergenic, so it's suitable for sensitive skin. This is just another case where spending a bit more per roll is well worth it by decreasing our need for expensive creams and medical treatments if our skin gets too irritated. Especially if we know we have sensitive skin, we want to make sure that we pay for the toilet paper that will be best for us in the long term. Nobody wants to be in pain because they used cheap but low-quality toilet paper.
Does Bamboo Toilet Paper Decompose Well?
Because bamboo toilet paper fully decomposes in water, this means that, unlike other types of toilet paper, it won't block our drains. This can save us a lot of money as well as time and effort compared to using traditional toilet paper. By switching to bamboo toilet paper, we can help our communities be able to utilize more organic methods of waste management, like using plants or certain bacteria, instead of harsh chemicals. Check out our full breakdown of bamboo toilet paper vs. regular toilet paper.
So why is bamboo toilet paper so expensive? It turns out that when we take into account the total cost of producing and using bamboo toilet paper, it really is not expensive at all. We sometimes only look at the cost of an item on the shelf and forget that causing environmental damage or negatively impacting us or our communities is also a hidden cost of a product. Buying bamboo toilet paper will provide us a peace of mind that does not have a price tag attached. Seeing all the benefits of bamboo toilet paper, we see that the cost of using other products such as traditional toilet paper is much higher than the cost of using bamboo toilet paper. Need to still be convinced? Check out these 9 reasons to love bamboo toilet paper.
