Let’s address the elephant in the room… you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Molly, why on earth are you writing a blog post about toilet paper?” Well, I will tell you:
So, there you have it. We’ve addressed the elephant in the room. Now, let me tell you WHY I can’t stop talking about Who Gives A Crap.
Fact: Worldwide, nearly 2.3 billion people still do not have basic sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines. (source: World Health Organization)
Fact: Of those 2.3 billion people, 892 million still defecate in the open, for example in street gutters, behind bushes or into open bodies of water. (source: World Health Organization)
Fact: At least 10% of the world’s population is thought to consume food irrigated by wastewater. (source: World Health Organization)
Fact: Poor sanitation is linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio. (source: World Health Organization)
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Fact: The toilet paper we use could go around the planet every 2 minutes, or travel to the sun and back every 10 days. It would cover an area more than twice the size of France every year. (source)
Fact: The difference between using virgin tree toilet paper and toilet paper made from recycled materials is 400 million trees, 660 million tons of water, and 45 million tons of oil. (source)
Look, you know that I’m not some overly zealous tree hugger… but the fact is, I care about people and I do care about the world we live in. A lot. And if there’s a way for me, as a consumer, to make even the smallest difference in the lives of others and lessen my carbon footprint, so to speak, well… then I’m going to do it.
Simon Griffiths, the co-founder of Who Gives A Crap, well… he gives a crap. A big one. He saw the problems and the facts I mentioned above and he decided that he wanted to actually do something about it. So he created a social startup called Who Gives A Crap – a toilet paper company on a mission to improve the lives of others and have a positive impact on the environment.
Who Gives A Crap makes all of their products with environmentally friendly materials – that’s recycled paper, no dyes, no synthetics, no fragrances… AND they donate 50% of their profits (HALF!!!!!! of their profits!) to help build toilets for those in need in developing nations. To date, Who Gives A Crap has donated over $1.2m Aussie dollars (which is the equivalent of over $950,000 USD!) to their charity partners and, in the process, they have saved a heck of a lot of trees, water, and energy.
Okay, so the company has an incredible mission… they’re doing good in the world, they’re saving the planet… but how about the products? Well, are they worth a crap? (This is like, the only blog post in the history of blog posts where I get to use the word crap frequently and it’s okay. So, I’m taking advantage! SUE ME.)
Look, I know I got some toilet paper snobs who read this blog. You know who you are. You want triple-ply, you want soft, you want thick rolls of toilet paper that don’t run out after three trips to the bathroom. You know what I’m talking about. I’m one of those people. I’ve been a Scott tubeless toilet paper fan for awhile and, sorry Scott, but we’ll see ya… I got a new toilet paper company I’m buying from. 😉
They have a few different options, but I got the box of 48, 100% recycled paper 3-ply (all you triple-ply fans can cheer!) jumbo rolls. It’s delivered right to your doorstep. They have other options like premium toilet paper that’s made from 100% bamboo (crazy soft!) and even environmentally friendly tissues AND paper towels… but since I only have tried their toilet paper, that’s what I’m going to talk about here.
The convenience factor is on point and let me tell you, the branding is honestly my favorite part. The branding is PERFECT. The box on my doorstep with hilarious bathroom puns was the best thing to come home to. I can only imagine the chuckle y UPS driver got dropping it off. And secondly, when you open the box, the toilet paper rolls are… dare I say, CUTE!!!!! I loveeeee the packaging and it makes it not weird to display a bunch of TP in your house. Granted, I have the TP stored in each bathroom and in the linen closet, but still. For being rolls of toilet paper, the branding is on point and basically like decoration.
Now, let’s talk cost breakdown. I actually had to employ my husband to help me with this part because I am terrible at math and I didn’t want to mess this up. Plus, I knew he’d enjoy a math problem about the cost of toilet paper to solve.
Let’s compare:
For the past couple of years, we have been getting Scott tubeless toilet paper on Amazon subscribe and save… so I wanted to do a direct comparison to THAT versus anything else.
So, which is the better deal?
So, what does that mean? A Who Gives A Crap subscribe and save subscription is a better deal than buying the Scott tubeless toilet paper at the store, even when it’s 3-ply vs 1-ply. Now, comparing the two subscribe and save prices are negligible, as it is only a difference of about 1/100th of a penny per sheet.
NOW, let’s not forget one of the key components here – you get a quality product that doesn’t have a harmful impact on the environment AND it’s helping to improve the lives of those in need. That basically equals a bonus roll of toilet paper.
In the end, my honest opinion is Who Gives a Crap is the better deal all the way around. No ifs, and, or butts about it. 😉
So, what do you think? Will you give a crap? Will you try Who Gives A Crap? I’d challenge you… you gotta buy toilet paper… so why not try giving a crap for just one month? (Okay, that’s the last time I’ll say crap in this post! I promise.) 🙂