Announcing our NEW Ethical Loo Roll comparison table!

Today The Good Shopping Guide has released the Toilet Roll Ethical Comparison Table, which shows you the most ethical and sustainable toilet paper brands to purchase. The research includes well-known loo roll brands including Andrex, Velvet, and Cushelle, as well as up and coming brands such as Who Gives A Crap and Bumboo.

The toilet roll industry comes with many ethical and environmental concerns, such as deforestation, pollution and the use of unsustainable materials. However, there are many brands now seeking to address these issues by coming up with innovative and sustainable solutions to these problems. Our comparison table in The Good Shopping Guide allows you to compare the most ethical toilet paper brands with the least ethical, so you can make an informed  choice about which products you have in your bathroom.

Andrex, with a score of 33, received the lowest rating in our research, followed by Velvet and Cushelle, which both achieved a score of 50. The brands’ poor scores are primarily a result of their ownership by unethical companies, namely Kimberly-Clark Corporation (Andrex) and Essity AB (Velvet and Cushelle).

Both Kimberly-Clark and Essity were found to be involved in animal testing, workers’ rights abuses and poor environmental practices. Notably, Kimberly-Clark was awarded a bottom rating in the Public Record Criticisms+ category, which is only given to companies which have received numerous criticisms for unethical activities.

On the bright side, many brands received excellent scores within our research. Bumboo, Naked Sprout and Serious Tissues came out on top, with each brand receiving a GSG score of 98. The Cheeky Panda, Feel Good and Who Gives A Crap also received above-benchmark scores, so you can be confident that these are ethical choices..

The high-rated brands within our research were typically found to have no involvement in unethical practices and were awarded for their sustainability achievements. For instance, Bumboo, Naked Sprout and Serious Tissues all received a top rating in the Sustainable Materials category. This indicates that the brands have sought to address the deforestation issue in the toilet roll industry by manufacturing their toilet paper with either bamboo or recycled materials instead of traditional paper.

These alternatives to paper made from tree pulp come with a significantly lower carbon footprint, as well as other sustainability benefits such as reduced water and energy consumption. Our article on Ethical Toilet Paper explores this issue in further detail, and is worth reading if you’d like to find out more about the ethical issues within the toilet roll sector.

To see a full breakdown of our ratings, check out our Toilet Roll Ethical Comparison Table. By clicking on each brand, you can see the marks they received for each category.