Seventh Generation & Amazon.com:
Solving my toilet paper problem
08/31/08 Update: Apparently the product described below (7th Gen 48-roll case) is currently unavailable from Amazon. Clinking the link below takes you to an Amazon seller asking $95 for the 48-roll case! But here is a link to sign up to be notified if/when the product becomes available again. In the mean time, you can buy 48 or 96 rolls through Gaiam for less. (You can also purchase from Gaiam through Amazon, if you want to use an Amazon gift card or credit card.) Beth
Eureka! One more plastic problem solved! I've been leaning towards Seventh Generation individually wrapped 2-ply rolls of toilet paper because they are not only plastic-free, but they also contain the highest percentage of post-consumer recycled content I've been able to find. The drawback was that this toilet paper is more expensive per roll than the Quilted Northern that we'd been flushing away for years. $1.35 per roll at Rainbow Grocery and .99 per roll at Berkeley Bowl.I had considered Marcal individually wrapped, 100% recycled toilet paper. Staples sells an 80-roll case for $59.99 (.75 per roll.) But then I visited Marcal's web site and saw the ad for their "innovative polycase," which translates as "plastic wrap!" Ugh. If I bought this toilet paper in a store as separate rolls, I'd never know it had been packaged in plastic before being delivered to the store. But now I had seen the plastic, so I just couldn't buy it.
Instead, I took another look at Seventh Generation and suddenly realized that instead of calculating the cost per roll, I should have been looking at the cost per sheet. Seventh Generation 2-ply rolls contain 500 sheets, as opposed to Quilted Northern Super Absorbent, which contains 352 sheets, or Quilted Northern Ultra, which contains 200 sheets. Per sheet, all three cost about the same.
And then I found a way to save even more money. Amazon.com sells a 48-roll case for $43.56. That's .9075 per roll. But wait! If you order a toilet paper subscription (yeah, you heard me right) you get the 48-roll case for $37.03, plus a Ginzu knife. Now it's .77 per roll. (I signed up to receive an automatic delivery every six months.) And I'm lying about the Ginzu.
Okay, so how am I justifying ordering toilet paper from Amazon.com rather than at the local store, considering the greenhouse effects of transportation? Well, first of all, I'm buying in bulk, not 6 rolls at a time. Second, Michael and I don't own a car, so the only practical way for us to buy in bulk is to order it. Third, we're only buying it a couple of times a year. And fourth, even if we bought it at a local store, it still had to be shipped there, right? I bought a whole freakin' case. Give me a break!
Wow. Did you see that? I just had an argument with myself! I wonder who won?
(Here's Amazon.com's statement on their environmental policies, for what it's worth.)
So yeah, affordable plastic-free, recycled, non-chlorine-bleached, bulk toilet paper automatically delivered to my door. But how does the paper actually feel? Ay, there's the rub. I'll put it this way... I'm saving my remaining 25 rolls of Quilted Northern for the next time I get a cold. Seventh Generation is fine for my butt, but I wouldn't subject a sore nose to it.
I'm just saying.
Labels: toilet paper
posted by Fake Plastic Fish @ 8:28 AM
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25 Comments:
Hi Beth- I am glad you mentioned Marcal and its plastic wrap. I have been buying Marcal since they are located in NJ and I like the fact that their toliet paper is made out of recycled paper. Thanks for opening up my eyes (again and again as I read your posts).
It is worth a call to them to see if they would change their ways. Keep up the good work. By the way, who won your argument? Anna www.green-talk.com
Well this is perfect, I had a question to ask and since we're already in the bathroom it will work out great. Skintimate shave gel comes in a steel can which on the back they encourage you to recycle. Well here in Salem, they have no way for me to recycle. I'm going to call the manufacturer today but it makes me think. Is it better to get a product like Kiss my Face (probably better ingredients but more expensive) in a plastic container that I know I can recycle or get something that I know will go into a landfill? Also, the Kiss my Face has a pump since it's not under pressure so that part I don't think can be recycled. Guess it's a good excuse to go shopping. Maybe they have a shaving gel of the month club!
Hold on, Sunny! There may be another way. Have you heard of shave soap? It's what people used to use in the old days (you know, back when guys used those scary straight razors.) Well, you can still get shave soap. I'm actually in the process of experimenting now, and I'll let you know what works the best.
I think I'll write a post about shaving next week. I've got the razor problem solved. Now I just have to figure out the best shave gel alternative.
I had heard of it but didn't know it would work for me. I'll be interested to hear what you think. I also don't shave that often (1-2X per week). You are using the Preserv Razors, right? I'll have to try those after my current ones run out - but I have sensitive skin so I'm somewhat picky. Ummm, food for thought. Thanks!
I'm actually not using the Preserve razors. I use their toothbrushes, but I found a way to shave without throwing away any plastic at all. Should I give it away now or can you wait until next week when I'll have a full post with photos?
Hey, what's with the new picture? I honestly believed that your head was perfectly round and as large as the rest of your body! (It had to be, to hold so much brains!)
You know, there's nothing like going through Stuff Mart with a Big Toilet Paper Package sticking out the cart. "Yes, we have bowel issues" it seems to shout.
I say, Yay for Amazon.
And thanks for the product review!
Amazon won't deliver this to Canada, alas. I've just left a message with the ordering desk at my local grocery store to see if they can get this case for me. Probably won't be as cheap, but skipping the plastic is nice! Thanks for the great ideas, this is my first visit here and I liked it.
Thanks Beth! I can wait until next week.
Beth - I'm impressed with your TP research and glad you talked about the plastic wrap ugh! that shit is everywhere & on everything.
I recently purchased a Seventh Gen single roll and felt bad about it being individually wrapped, but now that you bring up the plastic issue, I feel much better about the single roll wrapped in recycled paper, and will stick with this choice until I find something better. the bulk is not an option as there is only one butt in my house and not much closet space.
I think you won your argument! crack me up :0
Thanks to your tip, I took the leap in logic for Seventh Generation paper towels at Amazon. A 30 pack breaks down to about $1.70 a roll, much cheaper than any deal I have found in stores. Much obliged!
I mentioned this to my boyfriend last night, and he pointed out that the shipping from Amazon to you does not equate to the shipping from Seventh Generation to the store. There are still extra carbon miles involved because Amazon ships the tp from their warehouse, not directly from Seventh Generation. So, the tp travels twice -- once from the factory to Amazon, and once from Amazon to you. But perhaps the buying in bulk and reduction of plastic still tips the balance in your favor?
Does anybody know of a source for toilet paper in the UK that is not wrapped in plastic? I have searched and searched to no avail...
Get a bidet - no toilet paper! I got a dual flush toilet (which just so you feel closer to me - I still use the "if it's yellow..." standard). It flushes .9 gallons or 1.6 gallons per flush - you choose! Then I got a bidet (or washlet) toilet seat. I could not find a non-plastic bidet seat. However, I figure that the plastic used for the seat offsets the plastic used to package the 100% recycled toilet paper (how ironic!) as well as the pollutants caused in making and transporting it. And yes, I'm clean as whistle!!
I buy Natural Value TP by the case at my local save the earth store. It's 100% (80% post consumer) recycled, 500 2-ply sheets, in a box and wrapped in paper. It comes to .66 a roll and the wrapper makes good packing paper or tissue type flowers lol.
I know this is an old post, but I was in the process of trying to attempt to bulk buy some plastic free toilet paper for myself (unsuccessfully) and went to the Seventh Generation web site to see if they had any distribution in the UK and saw a scary photo of some plastic wrapped toilet paper! Why have they started doing this???
If anybody knows of UK sources for plastic-free toilet paper, please do let me know...
It's now $40.79 for a box of the toilet paper!
Am I looking at the same product? The product I'm taken to when I click on the link in this post is $95. That's double the price! What happened?
Peters Family Band -- BUMMER! I just added an update to the top of this post. Hopefully Amazon will get it in again. If you'll notice, it's not actually Amazon that's selling the TP for $95 but one of their affiliate sellers.
When I look at my subscription page (since I subscribe to toilet paper deliveries) I see a message that the product is currently unavailable.
:-(
Thanks for pointing it out.
FYI - I just wanted to point out that the 48-pack is back in stock at Amazon! I think I'm about to sign myself up for a 6-month subscription. :D
-Nikki
Awesome! Thanks for all the TP info! I'm headed over Amazon right now to purchase some!
Beth, not sure if this has been brought up...but I've started giving vendors a "good" rating instead of a "excellent" rating if the item is perfect but comes wrapped with styrofoam or plastic. Then I explain why I'm not giving a high rating. Or maybe I should give them a "poor" rating?
updated prices on seventh generation tp from amazon.
48 rolls 56.23
47.80 for the subscription
I would just like to add that I have heard of something called "Family Cloth." I heard of this idea from a Cloth Diapering website. Basically it is using cloth wipes for all bathroom functions (or just female urination) and depositing the cloth wipes into a canister with a lid. The wipes are then washed and dried and there is little if any waste or exra cost. I have heard good things, but this might be a bit much for those w/o their own washers and dryers.
Hey! Why AT ALL use toilet paper, when (well I don't know about UK etc) but at least in european countries we have in toilet hand shower, wich you can use alone, or fill a cup or a little bucket with water. For example in China, Nepal, India etc... they clean them selves with water. I think it's more ecological than using paper.
For example if 1 million arses wipes them selves with paper 1-3 times a day for 50 years, imagine how many forests you have to cut down for that! Ofcourse, figures are enourmos already..
Now you are ofcourse thinking, can you really clean it properly and what about your hand. Well, you don't really have to touch your bottom with the hand. You fill the cup with water and rinse your bottom using the left hand (or which ever you like, usually its left) and after that you wash your hands ofcourse carefully.
If somebody finds trouble in leaving the bottom wet after, you can ofcourse use a towl. But usually the wetness isn't so big, so you just put your trousers back on.
Imagine, if you would fall on shit, and your face would be covered with it. Would you want to rinse it with water or wipe it with paper?
Eve
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