All this toilet paper talk on Apartment Therapy, and Cascades Tissue Group is launching a beige toilet paper dubbed Moka. It's unbleached, made from 100% recycled fibers, and the manufacturing process is offset with 100 percent certified renewable wind electricity.
According to The Wall Street Journal:
Cascades says dropping the extra step of bleaching reduces the environmental impact of Moka toilet paper by about 25% compared to their white recycled paper because of energy savings and other benefits ... To get its toilet paper the perfect color--not too "gray and dirty" or "dark brown"--Cascades makes the rolls with a recipe of 20% recycled corrugated box combined with other fiber, says Isabelle Faivre, marketing director for Cascades Tissue Group, owned by Cascades Inc. and one of the largest sellers of paper towels and tissues in North America.
Brown paper towels, sure, brown toilet paper, not so sure, but I'd be willing to give it a try when it makes its way to a store shelf near me. Does toilet paper fall into the brand loyalty category, or would you consider trying this new one, brown and all?
(Image: Cascades Tissue Group)
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I wonder what the consistency is. Sandpaper?
@Lynell they compared the impact savings to their bleached recycled version. I would think that bleaching would have caused the paper to be more rough/dry, so unbleached should, in theory, be softer.
when we lived in The Netherlands as students we'd buy the cheapest toilet paper: it was completely grey. think something between newsprint and conventional white toilet paper. Worked fine. Knip brand. ahhh the memories!
I would have no objection to brown or gray toilet paper. Being a color other than white doesn't make it unclean. I use brown paper towels. I wish I could find unbleached, 100% post-consumer recycled toilet paper--I would definitely buy it.
I admit to brand loyalty in a not-as-eco-friendly fashion as I would actually prefer, mainly because of the needs of my domestic partner -- digestive issues mandate soft and strong. But the beige (or gray) wouldn't bother me as long as i knew why it looked that way...
I tried that Marcal Small Steps tp and it was terrible. I wanted to like it because it's so much better than cutting down forests so we can wipe our butts...but damn this was some crispy stuff. I don't think I'll be trying any more recycled tp until one starts getting good feedback.
The one thing that's always bothered is when a certain gender forgets that the other gender has more sensitive private areas that can be negatively affected by rough toilet paper!
This may be TMI, but for ladies- the key to using rougher paper without pain is to pat, not rub. Not saying you need to use rough stuff, but good to keep in mind in public restrooms.
I actually dislike the "fancy" brands. Soft is nice in theory, but leaving half of that softness on you isn't. Thicker rolls actually run out much more quickly and are also more prone to clogging pipes. Do people actually injure themselves using rough toilet paper?
I already use Cascade 100% recycled tp (it is soft for those wondering), I would be ready to make the switch to unbleeched if it is available in my area.
I don't mind it at all. we used a recycled brand at my gov. job and it's not the most fluffy stuff, but really, how often do you really wipe your butt? It doesn't need to sit on a pillow. ;)
http://munchtalk.blogspot.com
It's silly but the term "recycled toliet paper" has always creeped me out.
It's not brown, it's grey/beige. I've been buying unbleached toilet paper for years - considering what you're using it for, who cares?! (And no, it's not scratchy).
We need to get past this 'nothing but bright white = clean' mentality.
I might try this. Right now I use Seventh Generation TP because everything else I've tried gives me a rash in an area where you really don't want a rash. It's not great--it's thin, a bit rough, and is pretty expensive--so I wouldn't mind switching if I can find something else that works for me. Color doesn't matter to me, I just don't want to itch!
It's about time! When I lived in Sweden, over 20 years ago, I always bought the unbleached recycled TP. I was wondering how long it would take us to get it over here. Didn't think it would take 20 years. There it was the cheapest TP you could buy, but something tells me here it will twice the price of bleached and unrecycled.
I might buy this.
But it does make me giggle. It's a bad name, made even worse by the fact that "Moka" means "mistake" in Finnish. Ha! Mishap-TP.
Jeez. I grew up (15-20 years ago) with unbleached, post-consumer paper loo paper the only stuff ever in the house. So it's always been totally normal to me. I'm still pretty shocked when I visit the homes of people who seem to be progressive and to, well, give a damn about the world, and see that they use unrecycled TP. I mean, being green is pretty mainstream now. Isn't it about time we all got over the idea that TP has to be bright white and as soft as silk? Your consumer choices have an impact!
It's interesting how there are some people that are actually more interested in buying products that are brown/grey/beige because they automatically assume them to be better for the environment. According to this, Seventh Generation actually dyes some of their items brown to buy into this:
http://www.good.is/post/brownwashing-why-green-consumers-buy-brown-things/
Our household has been using "Green Forest" brand 100% recycled toilet paper for awhile now. I would recommend it for being close to "normal" toilet paper. Our guests have never commented or noticed a difference, and I actually prefer using it to the overly thick/soft "normal" toilet paper that some people use.
I would consider trying the "Cascade" one mentioned if I found it at the store and the price was better. The color wouldn't make a difference to me, but if the texture was too rough I wouldn't use it if I had a choice. :)
This is SO much better than the alternative they have in France. Instead of bleaching it, they just dye it pink; so it's like a bright pink over a grey unbleached background. I cannot express in words how much I loathe pink toilet paper. But grey or brown au naturel? I have no issues with that.
I care about the environment, but I cannot use rough paper. It really is an issue for some of us. Besides the level of softness it cannot leave paper crumbs, yuk! I also cannot understand when I am in a public ladies room and hear people unrolling yards and yards, I figure I aid the environment by not making a paper nest!
We use the CVS brand recycled TP and I've often wondered why they bother with the bleaching. (I do understand the white=clean thing, though. But grey/beige wouldn't bother me at all.) It is a bit less soft than major commercial brands, and took about a week to get used to, though I didn't have any sensitivity issues. My husband didn't complain either.
I will admit that we keep a pack of Charmin under the sink for when we have guests over, though. I don't want to force my green ideals on the bums of my friends and family.
Do people really care about the color of the stuff they wipe their bum with? My we ARE spoiled, aren't we?
Doesn't make a difference to me as long as it feels the same.
The issue about color reminds me of this article from GOOD:
http://www.good.is/post/brownwashing-why-green-consumers-buy-brown-things?utm_content=prev-next&utm_medium=post-page-top
It's basically says that people associate brown with being eco-friendly when that's not the case.
Doable. ;)