How We Roll Recycled vs Bamboo Toilet Paper Head to Head Review | Sustainable Toilet Paper Review 2021
We tried How We Roll’s Bamboo and Recycled Toilet Paper. Here is our review…
The Top Line:
MAYBE Buy. We liked How We Roll in Bamboo, and given the recent price changes, the large pack of HWR is below the average price of TP. The bamboo and recycled are dye- and chemical-free, using 100% more-sustainable-than-trees bamboo in one and 100% recycled paper in the other. However, the recycled version was not as sturdy as we would have liked TP to be. Also, we do like the added bonus of 1 planted tree per box.
Check out our Sustainable Toilet Paper Roundup here and all of the other TP brands here.
[Update 2024]: We recently reviewed pricing given the high inflation over the past few years. How We Roll’s Toilet paper now sits below the average price point of toilet paper. This changed our review from NOT a buy based on price to MAYTE buy.
The Breakdown:
Cost & Products: 24 rolls of Bamboo Toilet paper $40 one time or $38 with any subscription. 24 rolls of Recycled Paper $38 one time purchase or $36.10 with any subscription.
How ‘Clean’ Is This? For the Bamboo toilet paper: 100% bamboo, which is cleaner than tree pulp since bamboo is relatively more easy to cultivate. For the recycled toilet paper: 100% recycled pulp, which is even more environmentally friendly than bamboo.
Packaging: Ships in a giant cardboard box. Each roll is individually wrapped.
Purchasing & Shipping: Straightforward purchasing on the website. Free shipping on $40+.
Good to know: With each box, How We Roll plants one tree.
What’s Your Impact? How We Roll Toilet paper has two types: one made from bamboo and one from recycled paper. Bamboo grows much faster than trees and require less water and other resources to grow before harvesting for production of toilet paper, thus making it more sustainable than the tree-based toilet paper.
The alternative of recycled paper is a huge bonus as it uses post-consumer paper, getting more use out of paper and trees/greens that have already been cut down.
The Good:
✔ Bamboo: made from 100% more sustainable bamboo
✔ Recycled: made from 100% recycled paper
✔ Both: 100% paper packaging
✔ Bamboo: nice feel, comparative to Cloud Paper
✔ Both: Each box purchased plants a tree
✔ Both: 3-ply!
✔ Both: Not dyed!
The Bad:
✗ Recycled: Did not love the feel
✗ Recycled: Feels… untrustworthy
The Experience
Context: We have used Scott, Seventh Generation, Cottonelle, Charmin and just about every drugstore brand that exists. Seventh Generation was our recent staple until our voyage into bamboo and recycled paper during quarantine. We have tried our fair share of bamboo and recycled paper, including wrapped batch: Reel, Who Gives a Crap, bippy, and No.2. Check out the latest roundup of sustainable bamboo toilet paper here.
How We Roll bamboo feels both strong and soft. We liked it!
How We Roll recycled feels soft but a little… untrustworthy.
Recycled one pills a bit..
The Cost
One source suggests that the average person uses 100 rolls of toilet paper per year, so we are going to use that for cost comparison. We’ll compare mostly online brands which we’ve reviewed the past (and recently done a big bamboo toilet paper roundup of the best!), including Bippy, Go No. 2, Who Gives a Crap, PlantPaper, Better Way and Brandless. We compared it to one drugstore brand, Quilted Northern.
Money Report: With the bigger 48-pack, How We Roll Bamboo beats the average price in our price comparison chart. Not bad!
Our Recommendation:
MAYBE Buy. We liked How We Roll in Bamboo, and given the recent price changes, the large pack of HWR is below the average price of TP. The bamboo and recycled are dye- and chemical-free, using 100% more-sustainable-than-trees bamboo in one and 100% recycled paper in the other. However, the recycled version was not as sturdy as we would have liked TP to be. Also, we do like the added bonus of 1 planted tree per box.
We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!
