Toilet paper choices -- WWYD?

[msjd123]

This is bugging me to no end. Costco offers toilet paper at a pretty good price: less than $0.40 a fat roll. Everywhere else I look, it's at least $0.65 a roll for rolls only half the size. The problem is that Costco always offers their TP with so much extra packaging! It's in a box or thick layer of plastic, and then each roll is individually wrapped, either in paper or more plastic, depending on the brand. Individually wrapped! : Environmentally speaking, that horrifies me. So, WWYD? Cheaper TP that's easier on the wallet but bad for the environment, or pricier TP that's more economically packaged???


Oh, and I know family cloth seems like the obvious choice here, but DH would have fits, and I would just rather not. So, given that we're going with TP, which do you think is the lesser of those two evils?

[Snowdrift]

The reason for the Costco extra packaging is to keep it from getting funky while you go through the ginormous package. We used to take it out of the big plastic thing and put it in drawers. It stays nicer longer if it is wrapped. I'd go for the Costco.

But we do use family cloth and DH, who originally hated the idea, now loves it. The "ew gross" factor has been totally overcome by the "ah, comfy" and the "look, no fuzzy bits of paper stuck to me" factors

Switch to cloth for the rest of the family, or just for you. Next time your DH has uncomfy bathroom issues, he'll try it out. Then he'll get hooked. That was my nefarious scheme and it totally worked.

[CarrieMF]

I buy recycled TP. It's not as soft as the big brand stuff, but now I don't really like the soft stuff. On sale it is $.29/roll, not on sale it's $.41/roll. It is packaged in 1 layer of plastic, comes in 12 double rolls. It's a Canadian product though.

[Knittin' in the Shade]

personally, I'd go with the less packaging. It's worth the extra 20 cents a roll, to me

[ShaggyDaddy]

we buy expensive toilet paper, it is the Scott Extra soft (heh I know: scott = expensive!?!?!). It dissolves almost instantly when it hits the water and it is soft, good for our rural plumbing, and imo cheaper than a backed up toilet flooding our house. It also has little packaging. I think it is like 80-90 cents a fat roll, but we have had plumbing issues before and those were more than 80 cents.

[***Heather***]

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

I buy recycled TP. It's not as soft as the big brand stuff, but now I don't really like the soft stuff. On sale it is $.29/roll, not on sale it's $.41/roll. It is packaged in 1 layer of plastic, comes in 12 double rolls. It's a Canadian product though.

What's the brand?

[Leta]

We use cloth and toilet paper. We have toilet paper for guests, and a "first swipe" when needed.

Girls use WAAY more toilet paper than boys, so if you can just get the girls to use cloth for pee, you will save all kinds of TP (which is money).

We went from using a cheap, small roll every day to using a cheap small roll per week. So what used to last a month lasts us a year now. We spend $1.19 per month on toilet paper now.

[Benji'sMom]

I'd do the one with less packaging.

[peachpie]

I just bought costco TP for the first time this week and yes- it is CRAZY how much packaging they use! I'm pretty sure it's because they are for resale-- so each of those individual rolls needs to be wrapped separately.

[CarrieMF]

Originally Posted by ***Heather***

What's the brand?

PC Green @ Superstore/Loblows

[mommyddeville]

We buy the costco toilet paper. I figured out that we go through one of those big packages every year. We use about 75% family cloth, so it's not a big deal to me to have that small amount of extra packaging. I figure I'm negating it by all the family cloth. And being on a tight budget, I have stopped worrying about certain things by necessity. I guess if it really bothers you, you could let your kids color on the back of the outside papers from the Costco brand. My son colors on EVERY spare piece of paper we get.

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by mommyddeville

We buy the costco toilet paper. I figured out that we go through one of those big packages every year. We use about 75% family cloth, so it's not a big deal to me to have that small amount of extra packaging. I figure I'm negating it by all the family cloth.

Exactly us as well. We went over a year the last time we bought TP because we use cloth and only have the TP downstairs.

If I were you (not willing to do cloth) I would stock up at sales at the grocery store--- those are generally cheaper than Costco even (we actually want the individually wrapped rolls because we store it in the garage and it has to sit there for a whole year!)

[AprilDaisy]

I'm also of the Scott's brand. It isn't packaging that concerns me. It's how well it works with my septic system and how long it lasts. Scotts last longest and I don't worry about any backups. That's the most important thing in my book.

[LaffNowCryLater]

Right now I would buy the one thats cheaper to me (Costco).

[nonniecita]

I'd buy the one with less packaging, saving a little money isn't worth the environmental damage to me
Michelle

[dachshundqueen]

While it takes some energy and resources to create the Costco pkging, it is 100% recyclable, for those frugal freaks like me who want the nice TP.

Liz

[skueppers]

We buy toilet paper at Costco. I'm not particularly taken aback by the amount of packaging -- Yes, it has a thick plastic wrapper around the whole package, and thin individual paper wrappers around each roll, but I don't see how that's significantly different from toilet paper I would buy anywhere else.

After all, the smaller packages of toilet paper I might buy at the regular store undoubtedly CAME in some kind of box or packaging that the store then got rid of. Plus if the rolls you buy at Costco are larger (not so in the case of Scott's single-ply, which is what we buy), remember to consider how much packaging there is for the amount of toilet paper, rather than per roll.

So I guess what I'm saying is, depending on which toilet paper you're buying, I'm not sure there's actually any more packaging involved in buying the Costco toilet paper than there is for some other type.

[catnip]

I think it would depend on how much toilet paper you use. I think we go through about 6 rolls a month in our house. I pay $.85 a roll for 7th generation 2 ply 80+% post consumer recycled. So an extra $.45 a roll times 6 is $2.70 a month. I don't sweat it.

[velochic]

I agree with Skueppers. I buy Costco and I put the plastic in recycling. At the store, I'm sure the extra packaging that the TP comes in is trashed instead of recycled.

[Mama Dragon]

Scott's Extra Soft here too. The regular Scotts is an even better deal but DH has a spoiled tooshie