Next time you’re in your bathroom, glance at the toilet paper roll. If you could see its origin, you’d spot either a tree felled in a forest logging operation, or a pile of recycled paper and cardboard. It all depends on the brand.
For a forest pedigree, grab Charmin, Quilted Northern Ultra Plush, or Amazon Basics.
The most distinguished rolls hail from Canadian Boreal forest, torn apart by the harvesting machines that toilet paper companies like Procter & Gamble set in motion.1 This home to thousands of wildlife species, the nesting site for billions of birds, one of the world’s great carbon storehouses, becomes a delicate roll used once and flushed away.2
It’s legal. But these companies are coming down on the wrong side of the planetary survival game for the sake of fluffier squares.
We have a choice. Major brands choosing recycled pulp and paper over living trees include Trader Joe’s (not their “Super Soft” variety), 365 by Whole Foods Market 100% Recycled, and Who Gives a Crap 100% Recycled.
If you’re a numbers person, the Natural Resources Defense Council’s scientists are there for you. They note that toilet paper made from 100 percent forest fiber has nearly twice the climate impact and uses far more water than toilet paper made from 100 percent recycled content. Their calculations show that our choices matter:
“If every American swapped just one roll of toilet paper made from forest fiber for a roll made from recycled content, the savings would be dramatic—more than one billion gallons of water, 1.6 million trees, and nearly 800 million pounds of climate-warming pollution avoided, equivalent to taking more than 72,000 cars off the road for a year.”3
I recommend NRDC’s full report, “The Issue with Tissue,” and its comprehensive ranking of brands. If you’re a bamboo toilet paper fan, you’ll learn that recycled material beats it for sustainability.
Putting the past behind us
Bare minimum, if we’re going to permit logging in intact forests, let’s at least turn the wood into something with longevity. Even a cardboard box can become another box, and office paper can become tissue. A tree made into toilet paper gets just one trip through the economy. In the universe of corporate decisions, we’re approaching the extreme end of rationality’s bell curve.
Toward the other end of the curve, a toilet paper breakthrough is unfurling at Kimberly-Clark, maker of Cottonelle and Scott. The company investigated 70 alternatives to wood and found the “Goldilocks” of toilet paper fibers: hesperaloe, a desert plant that could replace forest materials in its rolls.4 Watch for it in future years.
In the bigger picture, imagine if we could see the supply chain behind each of the goods we buy, a visible flow of the specific trucks and factories and mines, the churning oil and gas fields, the forests giving up their trees and rivers their water. Imagine the view - all the industrial and nature-given ancestral supplies giving birth to the item in our hand. I know for my part it would change what I choose.
I’m generally opposed to virtual reality immersion, favoring instead our need to sharpen our awareness of our shared, actual reality (if we want a good life, we have to actually BE there). But what if virtual reality headsets could show us a view of the supply chain for each object we indicated? The virtues might outweigh the vice – and reveal the vices we should shun.
Brand-specific information on sourcing and sustainability is found in NRDC’s Issue with Tissue report, 8th edition. Charmin’s forest-sourced toilet papers include all types evaluated except Ultra Bamboo. Reference: Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC). 2026. The Issue with Tissue 8th Edition. September 15 2026. https://www.nrdc.org/resources/issue-tissue.
Information on logging and boreal forest sourcing for toilet paper: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). 2025. Procter & Gamble Doubles Down on Forest Degradation. Author: Shelley Vineyard. August 22 2025. https://www.nrdc.org/bio/shelley-vinyard/procter-gamble-doubles-down-forest-degradation.
Facts about the ecological diversity of Canada’s boreal forest are from:
Thousands of wildlife species: Canadian Wildlife Federation and Environment and Climate Change Canada. Hinterland Who’s Who. Boreal forest. https://www.hww.ca/wild-spaces/boreal-forest/.
Nesting site for billions of birds: Government of Canada. Birds. Wild Species 2010, Chapter 24. https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry/publications/wild-species-2010/chapter-24.html. Additional reference: Boreal Songbird Initiative. North America’s Bird Nursery. https://www.borealbirds.org/boreal-birds.
Statistics on the environmental toll of toilet paper and benefits of switching to sustainable sources: National Resources Defense Council. 2026. The Best and Worst Toilet Paper, Paper Towel, and Facial Tissue Brands. September 15 2026. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/best-worst-tissue-brands.
On Kimberly-Clark’s new toilet paper fiber: Wall Street Journal. August 4 2026. ‘Goldilocks’ Discovery in the Paper Aisle. By Nat Ives. https://www.wsj.com/cmo-today/a-goldilocks-discovery-in-the-paper-aisle-313c74c2.