‘Who gives a crap’ are probably the most well known company in the UK that deliver eco-friendly toilet paper. I was sent some of their products and although I knew a little about them I felt this was a good time to look into the company in a bit more depth and to give my honest feedback about them.
Disclaimer: I received these items for free, but my review will be honest. If you click on one of the links below and purchase something I might earn a small amount of commission, at no extra cost to you, which helps to pay towards the running costs of the website.
About Who Gives A Crap
In July 2012, three friends, who were all fans of toilet humour, launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to get their company started. It’s well worth watching the launch video below but in summary they wanted to make a difference. They found out that 2.4 billion people in the world (around 40%) didn’t have access to a toilet. Poor sanitation and polluted water due to the lack of adequate toilets contributes to the deaths of around 800 children a day and many more adults. The company therefore donates 50% of their profits to help build toilets and improve sanitation in the developing world.
Who Gives a Crap Products
Normally I would now go into detail about using the product I’ve been sent. I would explain how easy it is to use, how nice it feels etc. But I feel weird reviewing toilet paper in this way! Instead I’ll just give you a little bit of information about the products they currently sell.
At first the prices seem expensive but these are ‘double rolls’ meaning you actually get more sheets per roll than you normally would in a supermarket. These toilet rolls have 370 sheets making them around the same price as most supermarket toilet papers.
I’ll be honest I’m always a little wary when I’m told that something is more expensive because I get more, especially when it comes to toilet roll; because who’s going to count each sheet? But the comparison photo below, I think, clearly shows that the top two toilet rolls have more sheets than the one at the bottom.
The top left roll (recycled toilet paper) is slightly darker than the one next to it (bamboo toilet paper). You can see that the standard loo roll at the bottom is looser and contains less sheets as well as the inner cardboard roll being wider. I think it’s obvious their claim of having more sheets than standard toilet rolls is true.
Premium 100% Bamboo Toilet Paper
Cost – 24 rolls for £30 or 48 rolls for £48 – subscribe to get a discount off your first order.
I’m not a fan of excess packaging but there’s no denying that these loo rolls are a lot more aesthetically pleasing than unwrapped toilet paper in your bathroom. The premium bamboo toilet paper comes in black and white paper in a variety of designs.
100% Recycled Toilet Paper
Cost – 24 rolls for £28 or 48 rolls for £44 – subscribe to get a discount off your first order.
The cheapest of their toilet roll options, the 100% recycled toilet paper comes wrapped in colourful designs, and look very colourful in your bathroom!
Premium 100% Bamboo Toilet Paper – Where’s The Loo Edition
*** This option is currently not available, however you can get a “Stack-a-Tree” limited edition for Christmas ***
Pricier than the other 2 options and you also can’t buy just 24 rolls, however these are the ‘fun’ loo rolls. Definitely a good option if you have children or if you spend a little bit of time on the loo. The wrappers are all puzzles where you have to find a toilet. Think Where’s Wally but instead of searching for a stripy jumper you’re looking for a loo. The box the rolls come in is also nice, including the inside of it which you could give to your children to use for colouring in the fun designs.
Bamboo or Recycled Toilet Paper?
I suppose a lot of this is down to personal preference and I think it’s hard to figure out which is the most eco-friendly. I went into more detail about eco-friendly toilet paper here and discuss alternatives to toilet paper as well.
Forest Friendly Tissues
Cost – 12 boxes of tissues for £18
The tissues are lovely and soft – perfect for sensitive noses. You can feel that they’re strong when you pull them out of the box. There are 65 tissues in each box. Forest friendly because trees don’t need to be cut down (bamboo is actually a grass).
Forest Friendly Paper Towels
Cost – 6 rolls for £16
Like the toilet paper these kitchen paper towels are double length, meaning they are cheaper than they first seem to be. They’re made from a blend of bamboo and sugarcane, this blend makes them stronger and more absorbent, perfect for kitchen spills!
Dream Cloths
Cost – Set of 3 cloths for £8
I can’t give a personal opinion on this particular product but I can tell you what they are. Basically they’re a reusable sponge / cloth. Touted as an alternative to paper towels, these can be washed and reused numerous times to mop up spills.
Who Gives a Crap Website
I always like to look at a company website to see how transparent they are about their sustainability and how prominent any ‘green credentials’ might be on the main pages.
A bit below the main promotional images for the page you can see they sell plastic free products and they mention that 50% of the profits are donated as well. It’s a shame that free shipping is the first thing they mention here, but I suppose that’s because saving money is always a concern for customers.
I normally look for a page called ‘sustainability’ or something similar. On this website there is an ‘Impact’ page. This page talks all about the toilets they build and the money raised through sales of their toilet paper and associated products.
Under FAQ’s you will find further information about their environmental impact and where they source their products. The FAQ section is actually really good. There’s plenty of information about a variety of things including; where the bamboo is sourced, the difference between bamboo and recycled paper and which is more eco-friendly. They also explain the reasoning behind individual wrapping on their loo rolls. I’ll go into more detail about the individual wrapping under the packaging section below.
Shipping
The company is mainly Australia based, but the products are mostly made in China. Products are shipped by sea freight from China to the EU (Netherlands), UK, USA and Australia. They are then distributed to customers from there rather than being shipped from China to Australia and then onward.
As of 2023, some products are locally made in the US and UK, meaning a smaller carbon footprint for those items. Forest Friendly Paper Towels and Tissues are made in the UK and 100% Recycled Toilet Paper and Forest Friendly Paper Towels are made in the US.
It’s actually a bit tricky to find more information on how the shipping is carbon neutral and they don’t currently mention being carbon neutral on their home page. But after a bit of investigation I found this blog article. They are very open that they do still emit carbon but they pay to offset their carbon emissions. They admit that this is not ideal and they still have work to do to reduce they amount of carbon they emit.
Packaging
My first impression is that the boxes were fun. They had some silly comments on them and clearly stated what was in the box. The ‘Where’s the loo’ edition packaging kept me entertained for a little while as well! Think Where’s Wally but searching for a toilet! The only drawback with the outer packaging was the sellotape used to secure the cardboard boxes. However in the FAQ’s on their website they are looking into alternatives to go completely plastic free.
Update – A suitable alternative to plastic tape should be rolled out by the end of 2023.
The ink used is soy based, so no nasty chemicals, cruelty free and vegan!
Individually Wrapped Toilet Rolls – excessive packaging?
The biggest issue is the individually wrapped toilet rolls. It does seem like more packaging than is absolutely necessary. Again they do explain the reasoning behind this on the website.
“Long story short, we have to wrap our toilet paper and paper towels in something to keep them moisture-free and hygienic.
We could wrap 6 rolls together (that’s the limit), but we’d need to use a much thicker paper. The net paper used (by weight) to wrap a 6 pack in heavy duty paper vs. six individual rolls in the thin tissue paper we use is effectively the same. The only other option would have been to wrap all 48 toilet paper rolls in a big outer plastic wrap, which we don’t think is a worthwhile alternative.”
This is a fair explanation, but I have ordered toilet paper from other companies in the past and received 48 rolls with no additional packaging and there was no issue with moisture. They do go on to say that because the wrappers are colourful, customers do share them online and this helps the company to grow. If the company grows then more projects can be funded. They finish by saying…
“The wrappers can be recycled, composted or repurposed.”
Are Who Gives a Crap eco-friendly?
Not only do they donate a huge amount of their profits compared to almost every other company in the world, when they launched they wanted to be sustainable too. And they seem to be doing pretty well in that regard.
- B Corp certified
- Carbon neutral shipping
- Bamboo is a very sustainable material
- 100% recycled toilet paper
- No inks, dyes or scents used in the toilet rolls
- Soy based ink on packaging (vegan friendly)
- Packaging is almost all recyclable or compostable
Who Gives a Crap are B Corp™ certified. They have an overall score of 108.9; you have to get a score of 80 or over to be certified. To put that into context the average company would score 50. This just shows that overall the company is deemed to have high standards of social and environmental impact.
About B Corp Certification
“Certified B Corporations are leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. Unlike other certifications for businesses, B Lab is unique in our ability to measure a company’s entire social and environmental impact.”
Potential Negatives about Who Gives a Crap
Personally I always feel a little apprehensive about buying products made in China. This is nothing against the Chinese themselves, just their government and often unscrupulous business owners who don’t appear to care very much about their staff or the environmental impact of their production techniques. Who Gives a Crap obviously knew about these apprehensions as well…
“After a lot (and we mean A LOT) of thoughtful consideration, we’ve proudly set up our manufacturing operations in China. There’s a bit of a misconception about production in China, which we think is important to address. We work closely with our producers to ensure standards and processes we’re happy with,” – read more
It’s also good to see them clarify that the bamboo they source is also not intensively farmed. Instead they predominantly support family farms, mainly in remote areas of Sichuan Province, who plant bamboo on the outskirts of their farms to supplement their income. “The processing of bamboo is all very localised – each village has their own bamboo co-op and pulp factory. Unlike industrial agriculture, no vast areas of land are cleared.”
The carbon footprint of shipping products to the UK from China also has to be taken into account but as stated earlier, some products are now domestically made in the UK. Hopefully the whole range can be produced in the UK soon.
Conclusion
Overall I have to say that although personally I’m not a massive fan of the individually wrapped rolls, I understand the need for additional wrapping when the outer packaging is cardboard which could become wet in transit. It’s far better to use paper than plastic!
I look forward to them finding an alternative to sellotape, but other than those small niggles I really have no complaints. The toilet paper and tissues were lovely and soft. Because each roll has 370 sheets they do last far longer than you’d expect.
Update – The 96 toilet rolls I received lasted for absolutely ages!
Would I buy who gives a crap toilet paper again? Absolutely! Personally I try to use reusable cloths, but Who Gives a Crap toilet rolls are really good quality. I would say they’re also very cost effective. When you take into account how eco-friendly and ethical the company are they’re well worth a try.
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