Recently, I was gifted an assortment of Who Gives a Crap toilet paper. Honestly it came at the perfect time, considering I had just moved into my new apartment. I got to try both of their toilet paper options: Their recycled paper and bamboo toilet paper. They even threw in their forest-friendly tissues! If you’ve ever been curious about this brand and wanted to know if it was worth the hype, you’re in luck. Here’s my full Who Gives a Crap review, and exactly which products I will definitely be purchasing again. Also, be sure to scroll to the end of each product review for a special discount code for my readers only!
This post contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase one of these items I will make a very small commission at no extra charge to you. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.
Who Gives A Crap Review: My Thoughts on Their Recycled + Bamboo Toilet Paper
First off, what’s the deal with toilet paper?
Quick briefing: Conventional toilet paper isn’t environmentally friendly. Lets dive into why:
- It takes 37 gallons of water to make one roll of toilet paper
- Every day, over 1 million trees are cut down to make traditional toilet paper
- Toilet paper tends to be wrapped in plastic film (unrecyclable with curbside recycling)
So, all of these are reasons to switch to more sustainable toilet paper options.
I’m well aware not everyone can (so no shaming here), but we should at the least push big brands to be more eco-friendly in their production. This could look like writing them emails, commenting on social media posts, etc. and asking them to switch to recycled toilet paper options, or less plastic film packaging.
My experience with Who Gives A Crap
Okay, so now that you get why I wanted to move away from conventional toilet paper, let’s get personal and focus on my individual experience with this brand. Here’s my full Who Gives a Crap review!
What did you try?
I was able to try out their premium 100% bamboo toilet paper, their 100% recycled toilet paper, and even their forest friendly tissues.
Granted, all these products were gifted to me (not sponsored) so ordinarily, I wouldn’t have ordered this much. But it was exciting and a privilege to try out all these products regardless!
They didn’t cheap out either: I got a 48 roll box of their bamboo and recycled toilet paper products each. That’s 96 rolls of toilet paper (good for approximately 8 months for two people)! Plus 12 boxes of their tissues! Talk about generous.
What did you think?
Now here’s the part you’re most curious about: My thoughts. I’ve divided this section based on the individual products I tried! Feel free to skip to which ever product most interests you.
Recycled toilet paper rolls
So these toilet paper rolls are made out of, you guessed it, recycled paper. They use recycled office paper, not used toilet paper, to make this product.
Their recycled materials are sourced locally to their production facilities from schools and office buildings. It consists primarily of old office supplies like letterheads, memos and maybe even a love letter or two. They then take the recycled paper waste and turn it into TP gold.
I really admire that initative, considering so many trees are unneccarily cut down for TP! And, to make things even sweeter, these rolls are shipped carbon neutral, and plastic-free.
Each roll is individually wrapped with colorful tissue paper that can be reused, composted, or recycled. I like to reuse them to wrap gifts or DIY fire starters!
The price is also fairly affordable, and there’s a subscription option which is great. For two people like Steve and I, we could order 48 rolls and have them delivered every 4 months.
Plus, Who Gives a Crap donates 50% of profits from all of our products directly to their charity partners who work in water, hygiene and sanitation. AKA, they build toilets for people in need!
However, I will say in terms of how I like the recycled TP, they are a tad bit rough on the bum. They’re definitely not the smoothest swipe, but they do hold up VERY well (no breakage while wiping).
However, whenever I open a new one, I find it’s hard to avoid tearing the TP itself just to get the end ready to pull.
If your bum or skin is particularly sensitive, you may want to try their other option. More on that below.
Rating: 7.5/10
Discount code: GREENIFY10 for $10 off your first subscription
Bamboo toilet paper rolls
Okay these were my absolutely favorite and I will 100% be buying these from here on out. Yup, there, I said it flat out.
This toilet paper is made from 100% bamboo, a renewable material that grows incredibly quickly, making it an excellent source for loo rolls.
Just like the recycled toilet paper, these are also individually wrapped, shipped carbon neutral and plastic-free, plus help build toilets for those in need. They came in a big cardboard box, and there was zero plastic film.
However the most distinct difference between this and the recycled toilet paper? How soft it was! And, when I open a new roll, it doesn’t shred into a bunch of tiny pieces. It’s a little more sturdy than the recycled rolls, and I liked that a lot.
I will say, this is premium toilet paper, so the price is definitely more than the recycled option.
But I think it’s worth it, considering if I purchase 48 rolls, I won’t have to think about it for another 4 months. You also get a fun 10% discount off your first order when you subscribe!
Rating: 9.5/10
Note: The only reason this didn’t get a full 10/10 score was because of the price increase! That’s it!
Discount code: GREENIFY10 for $10 off your first subscription
Forest friendly tissues
I really enjoyed these tissues. I’ve tried using rags and reusable handkerchiefs for my nose-blowing needs but it’s not for everyone. And there’s a gross out factor there, if I’m being honest.
So, if you’re looking for a more sustainable option (and know zero waste tissues aren’t for you either), these are a good place to start.
These tissues are made from 100% bamboo, they’re 3 ply strong, there’s no plastic what so ever, and each box has 65 tissues so they last a while (unless you’re extremely sick or allergy prone). There’s no inks, dyes or scents and the box is cardboard, which is easy to recycle.
Plus, they were delivered without plastic packaging: Just inside another cardboard box.
And, they’re pretty freaking strong. I have blown some powerful sneezes into them without any tears occurring. Not to mention they’re relatively soft on the nose!
I think the colorful tissue boxes are cute too, but I’m probably going to get a wooden tissue box holder off etsy to put these in so that they will always match the aesthetic of the room. It’s an easy fix if you’re looking for something more in-line with your room feel and design.
Rating: 8.5/10
Discount code: GREENIFY10 for $10 off your first subscription
Prefer video content? Lets chat about Who Gives A Crap…
I originally posted this to my Instagram! But I hope it inspires you to look into this eco-friendly toilet paper option and see which you prefer for yourself.
Some Common Q +As
Okay so before we wrap up this review, here are some questions a lot of people have online about Who Gives a Crap toilet paper. They’re not personalized or anything, but mostly generic. To make this review as helpful as possible, I decided it would be best to answer them. Plus, it may clear up any questions you have about the brand yourself!
Is Who Gives A Crap toilet paper made in China?
Yes, Who Gives a Crap toilet paper is made in China. However, the company is completely transparent about this. And, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing!
They debated long and hard and realized there were several more benefits to manufacturing in China than the US, such as:
- Using paper wrappers and recycled cardboard boxes rather than plastic! They couldn’t find a local producer that would let them do this with varied designs for their wrappers.
- They have access to a large pool of local, raw materials– both post-consumer waste paper and bamboo (neither of which is readily available in the majority of their markets). By using China’s local materials, they avoid importing from overseas.
- They can cut the cost of operations, passing on those savings to our customers.
However, there was a 2023 update that said as of this year, they now offer domestically made products in the UK and US:
- US – 100% Recycled Toilet Paper
- UK – Forest Friendly Paper Towels and Tissues
Who Gives a Crap is going to continue to search far and wide for partners that meet theier high standards set for their manufacturing operations.
Does Who Gives A Crap really build toilets?
Yes, Who Gives a Crap really builds toilets. And they do more than that! You can find a full list of their charity partners here to learn about the good they’re doing.
So why toilets you ask? Well, toilets keep waste out of water streams, preventing all sorts of nasty situations. Yet, 1 in 3 people doesn’t have access to any kind of toilet.
A child under five dies every two minutes from diarrheal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. So this kind of work is clearly important.
To learn more about how Who Gives a Crap builds toilets, check out this in-depth post.
What did you think of my Who Gives a Crap review? Have you ever tried them? Let me know in the comments!
For more zero waste toilet paper options, check out these 7 plastic-free toilet paper brands!
Enjoyed this post? Be sure to share it! If you like my content, sign up for my newsletter to get notified every time I write a new blog post. To support me even further, please consider buying me a cup of tea to help support my blog.
We began purchasing Who Gives a Crap toilet paper over a year ago, after seeing it on Facebook and going to their website to read about their products. We ordered the bamboo product, based on the sustainability, and really liked it enough to switch right then away from store branded products. We did not intentionally try the recycled version; however, they changed our recurrent order to reflect that as our selection. We agree with your assessment of this as not as soft, and hard to get the roll started. We would also add that the recycled rolls do not last as long. They seem to be thinner, or at least not as absorbent, and thus it takes more to do the same job! We switched our subscription back to the bamboo version, and happily pay the additional cost. We find that, when you see how much further this product lasts over grocery store brands, the cost is really not prohibitive. We would recommend this product (and have) to everyone!
I’m so happy you agree with my assessment! I fully think it’s worth the additional cost, for sure. 🙂 I’m glad to hear you’re recommending it to people too! Feel free to send them this article so they can read up on and nab a discount code for themselves! 😉
WTC gifted me some during the pandemic as per their venture into Canada. I had recently moved back to Canada and was looking for tubeless toilet paper that I used in Denver bought at Target. I had been buying this since I read that Americans throw away enough rolls to go up and down the 2 NY trade towers, so you know how long I had been buying the product. Canadians thought I was nuts when I asked salespeople or friends where to get in Canada.
So tried WTC. However, yes, they use recycled paper from China, then the finished product is shipped to the US so that is a carbon issue, shipping and labor issues. In my case living on the west coast, the TP arrived on the west coast of the US, was shipped to a city that started with P on the east coast of the US. Then was sent to the Pacific Northwest US, then up to Canada to me. I found the recycled TP did what all recycled paper did, little tufts of the paper broke off like a baby had pulled off pieces of it. When I told the Australian customer service rep that, she said I was insightful. Otherwise it was fine. It was a nice gift.
After I finished my gifted 48 rolls, we had the recycled type, I found a product that used recycled waster paper from Canadians in Ontario where most things are manufactured in Canada, so was of course shipped with many items to the west coast where I bought it. WTC pulled out of Canada soon after. I however use the family cloth for urine. My teenagers think this is gross, so the TP in our household is bought mostly for them.
Wow! Thanks for sharing all that. I’m glad to hear you’ve found something that works for you. 🙂 If you do ever give Who Gives a Crap another try, definitely go with the bamboo paper option! That one definitely is a lot smoother and has no breakage.
Interesting options and thanks for trying and reviewing the options. I have two thoughts to add. Bamboo takes much longer than most wood paper products to completely break down. Thus more possibility for a plugged toilet somewhere along the way. Second, it seems it is still too gross for most people to consider cloth toilet tissues. Yes, you would need the kind of recepticle we use for babies, and the problem of odour is yet to be resolved. But when you take seriously the problem of trees and oxygen supply and the necessity of healthy tree based ecosystems, it is clear that this is something we need to face. It is easy to use cloth hankies, and when you try them for a while, you see they are better than paper tissues.