When is the last time you used toilet paper? I’d guess it was today! Toilet paper is a ubiquitous household product and we use it every day.
It’s incredibly useful and does more than just it’s namesake. Toilet paper is used in the bathroom to clean up stains and remove make-up. It’s also used to build forts and toilet-paper houses.
If you’re like me you probably haven’t given much thought to toilet paper. But once the questions arise in your head it’s hard not to find an answer.
Conventional thought leads us to believe that toilet paper is made from long slices of thinly-cut trees, but that’s far from reality. Toilet paper is made from pulp – tiny waste particles of trees – that are mixed, moistened, and dried. It’s quite the process.
In this article we’ll discuss how is toilet paper made and where it comes from?
How Toilet Paper Is Made
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It Starts With A Source
The vast majority of toilet paper in the U.S. is made from the pulp of virgin trees. Yes, we’re cutting down trees for all those toilet paper rolls (toilet paper production consumes 27,000 trees daily).
The good news is that 1 tree can provide 100 lbs of toilet paper. It’s also nice to know that trees are a renewable resource and most American companies are replanting trees after they’ve taken full grown trees.
The pulp is made from trees by grinding a virgin tree into small woodchips. On virgin trees, the bark is removed first and then it goes through a grinder. The result is a pile of chips and sawdust that’s ready for the next step
Toilet paper is also made from recycled paper and hemp, but these are much less common and require a different type of processing. Using recycled paper probably seems like the perfect solution to saving forests, however, the process requires additional steps like separating non-paper waste and ink removal.
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From The Source A Pulp Is Made By Mixing In Water and Chemicals
Once the pulp is made, it is placed into a vat where it mixes with water and chemicals. Very slowly, the pulp is broken down into cellulose, fibers, and lignin and eventually, the soft pulp can be separated from the water.
The pulp is no longer hard so it can be pressed into the right shape. But before that occurs it needs to be cleaned.
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The Pulp Is Washed And Bleached
If you have white toilet paper, chances are it’s been bleached. Yes, toilet paper is bleached to achieve that ultra-white appearance.
Lignin, which helps hold the fiber together in the wood, is also removed because it has a tendency to turn yellowish over time.
If you’ve used organic or vegan toilet paper, it was likely a brown color because it bypassed the bleaching step that most toilet paper goes through.
Organic and vegan toilet paper is also less soft because of the lack of chemicals in the production process.
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It Is Sprayed Onto Screens
Before the rolls are made, the pulp requires one more step. The pulp is mixed with a large amount of water and sprayed onto screens where the pulp can dry out.
The water drips off the screen and the pulp is taken through a machine that presses the pulp into an ultra-thin paper.
It’s now ready for toilet paper rolls!
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A Massive Toilet Paper Roll Is Created
After the screening process the white pulp is flat and ready to be rolled. Before becoming the smaller toilet paper roll that we find in our home, it’s first rolled onto larger rolls that are later cut.
How it’s rolled depends on a number of things.
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Is it 1-ply, 2-ply, or 3-ply?
The thickness and number of sheets all matter. If it’s 3-ply the size of the toilet roll will be about 3 times larger than the 1 ply.
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Is there a design on the paper?
Many toilet paper companies will have their logo on the sheets. When the toilet paper is rolled, the logo can be pressed into the sheet.
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What is the perforated size of the sheet?
One standard toilet paper sheet is 4.5 x 4.5 inches, however, in recent decades we’ve started to see smaller sheet sizes. This is done by toilet paper companies with an effort to save money and maximize profit.
Most people won’t notice, but those that do usually aren’t pleased to see it.
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The Roll Is Cut To Fit The Size Of A Toilet Roll
The last step of the toilet roll process is to cut the large roll into sizes that will be sold. When this occurs the toilet paper can be packaged. Occasionally there are mistakes with some rolls and they can be returned to the beginning of the toilet paper process.
What If Toilet Paper Comes From A Recycled Source
Ideally, all toilet paper would come from a recycled source. There shouldn’t be a need to use virgin trees to make a product that’s so simple.
Each day schools get rid of hundreds of pounds of paper waste and homeowners throw away junk mail. Wouldn’t it be great if all that paper could be reused to make toilet paper?
Though helpful to reduce waste, the recycling process is terribly inefficient. Toilet paper companies have to separate metal waste from the paper, then they have to remove the ink, and they the can start the pulp process.
I suppose part of the problem is that consumers expect toilet paper to be white!
Are There Toilet Paper Options That Are More Sustainable
One of the most common questions we get is “how can I buy toilet paper that is more sustainable”. There are a few things you can do, and a few brands that are responsible when it comes to toilet paper.
“If every household replaced their 300 sheet virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled product, America could save 630,000 trees per year” – Seventh Generation
Here are a few things to look out for:
- 100% recycled
- Made without dyes, inks, fragrances
- Bamboo toilet paper (bamboo grows exceptionally fast compared to trees)
- Sustainable Forestry Initiative certified
- Look for energy-efficient production methods
- Look for companies that plant multiple trees per tree cut
I highlighted these things because you’ll be able to see them on toilet paper labels. No toilet paper will meet all these criteria but a few brands will meet several of the criteria.
>> read my article on the best toilet paper to buy
Recycled and bleach-free toilet paper will not be white, however, it will be much better for the environment than toilet paper that’s from virgin trees.
Bamboo toilet paper is great because it is just as soft and sometimes stronger than tree-based toilet paper. Bamboo is part of the grass family and grows very fast. Compared to other renewable paper sources, bamboo is an excellent option.
One of the most important things you can do is to look for certification from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). Companies that are certified are taking steps to reduce their footprint on the environment. This means they’re replanting and enhancing the land that they cut trees from.
When it comes to sustainability, there are 2 large companies that stand out from the rest. They are:
- Seventh Generation
- Aria
Seventh Generation is the most well-known organic brand for natural and sustainable products. They make a toilet paper that is from 100% recycled material. It’s also unbleached so the chemicals needed are minimal.
Aria is owned by the Georgia-Pacific company (they make non-sustainable products too). Aria is SFI certified and only produce toilet paper that is sourced within 100 miles of their facility.
They’ve taken steps to reduce their consumption of energy and water so there’s less impact on other resources as well. In addition, they plant 3 trees for every 1 that is cut for toilet paper. That’s pretty good in my book!
Conclusion
After learning about toilet paper, I realized that it wasn’t what I expected. Paper isn’t made from thinly cut pieces of trees. Instead, trees and recycled paper are ground into a pulp, mixed with chemicals and bleached, then molded into sheets of thin toilet paper. It’s a fascinating process that requires a lot of machinery and a lot of energy.
Unfortunately, it also requires the use of a lot of virgin trees. Do we really need trees for all our toilet paper needs?
Recycling seems like the best option but it isn’t a simple process either. There is ink and other unrecyclable materials that need to be removed. There are, however, a few companies that are doing their best to reduce energy consumption and preserve our natural resources.
Planting more trees than those that are cut, harvesting locally, and reducing energy, water, and chemicals for procession are all ways to help reduce the impact of toilet paper production.
Let’s be clear, toilet paper isn’t going anywhere but how we make toilet paper can certainly improve!