are recycled loo rolls and kitchen rolls that much better for the planet??

[fairylights]

i know this is a small point in the big scheme of things but it has been bothering me.. i have just bought some some pretty low quality loo rolls from the local everything-piled-in-front-of-it-and-is-a-pound-ish shop which (on inspection) look like they may well be made from recycled paper. I usually buy recycled rolls but have noticed in ASDA that the recycled ones are with the "value" ones which has made me wonder..anyone got any idea, thanks!

i dont know if they are btter for the environment. but i did read somewhere that the value ones are much better than the charmin type ones as they break down easier (or something like that)

I've always thought that the value ones look like they are recycled. You could always email the supermarket and ask, I know it sounds mad but often they will answer that sort of thing & it doesn't take that much time to try

the value ones are def. recycled, i always buy those as when i was childminding the children always managed to block the loo with anything else

Recycled toilet paper is not bleached with chlorine. Maybe the value brands are not bleached either?

Have had to stop buying recycled loo paper as dh complains not soft enough.

Now buying the FSC certified stuff which is kinder to DH's behind.

Not sure which has better eco-credentials.

seems a bit cheeky that if value ones are recycled they charge loads more for the "proper" recycled ones!! but i suspected as much..

yep not much diff between recycled and value (that i can tell) other than price.
i like being able to say i buy value as i'm eco conscious, rather than i'm a tight cow

ditto dylsmum, thats why i started the thread

i must admit i do a lot of eco things, all of which are things i have started to do now i am single mum ie smaller car with smaller engine tis better for the environment= i cant afford to run my bigger car
i buy in charity shops so not so much waste= i cant afford new everything
i make my own pasta sauce (for example)= i can buy a jar of dolmio for £1.50 or make my own for less than 50p
i rarely put my heating on as is better for the environemnt= reduced gas bill

this may come across as i dont care about the environment, i do i am just fascinated most of the things i can do to help also save me money so am bewildered why more people dont do many things iyswim
these things rather than depress me because i cant afford many things i look at as i make these choices so that i am helping to be eco. so they seem positive (which they are) and that keeps me going

I see exactly what you mean dylsmum, I think it is totally a winner everyway round - because we don't spend so much on 'stuff' we aren't having to work loads, so we have more time to bike to school, make proper food etc etc, so it doesn't cost us so much and so on. In fact I am often baffled as to why everyone doesn't do this! I guess if you own your own place & have a big mortgage then you are locked into the whole work loads, buy stuff, work loads circle.

i see where you are coming from there takver, you are right if you get locked in that situation, i guess a lot of my changes have come from my being thrown head first in my situation, i needed to find ways of swimming if you like.
i would love to go round and help people to save money, doing just lots of little things. which would then impact on the environment in a good way

Recycled paper of any type uses less energy than virgin paper to process, so it is better than FSC certified. I don't understand Sainsbury's decision to go FSC for their range rather than recycled. There isn't enough FSC cerified wood for wood products let alone paper. We buy Sainsbury's own brand recycled without complaints but Nouvelle's is a bit softer. Anyone remember that medical paper - now that was harsh!

Which? did a survey recently and the 'luxury' recycled brands were the slowest to breakdown in the water/sewage system.

My bf friend is a science teacher and she also teaches sustainablity and had already told me this was why my loo/pipes were getting blocked so often.

We have our own biodigester (bugs that eat the effluent and filter the water, it comes out 95% pure when running efficiently) so have decided against any more 'nouvelle' as my bugs were having to work too hard to break it down.

Marmaduke do you know if the luxury recycled brands broke down slower than the expensive luxury non-recycled brands (e.g. Charmin, Andrex etc)?

I will go and get my which?

OK 4x = best 1x = worst

Nouvelle * (all for degradeability)

M&S 100% recycled **

Sainsbury's 100% recycled **

Waitrose *

Waitrose quilted extrasoft fsc certified *

Adndrex puppies on a roll fsc

Andrex hello softie fsc

Andrex quilts fsc

Charmin supersize roll *

Sainsbury's supersoft fsc *

Velvet quilted *

nb Waitrose will not be fsc until August 2008

Thanks for that - none of the brands featured managed 3 or 4 * then.

Yes they did, but the PC thought I'd put stars either side to make them bold!

Nouvelle * (all for degradeability)

M&S 100% recycled **

Sainsbury's 100% recycled **

Waitrose *

Waitrose quilted extrasoft fsc certified 3*

Adndrex puppies on a roll fsc 4*

Andrex hello softie fsc 4*

Andrex quilts fsc 4*

Charmin supersize roll 1*

Sainsbury's supersoft fsc 3*

Velvet quilted 3*

nb Waitrose will not be fsc until August 2008

Oh, that star/bold thing happened to me and another poster once when we were using stars to type out rude words. It went very odd then someone brighter than me explained what I had done!

Thanks for posting it all again.

Some years ago I met the owner of one of the major paper towel/toilet paper companies in the USA and he said that the majority of paper towel and toilet paper is already made for mostly recycled paper and it's just a marketing ploy to get you to pay more when they label it that way.

Have to say I'd be appalled if it wasn't. There was a paper mill near my school and we went on a school trip once. Or something. Anyway, I have this fact in my head, for example, that newspapers, for example, were always printed on recycled paper.