I’m really proud of my roommates for making recycling a priority in our apartment. We have a bin for bottles and jugs, and we have another for paper products. However, I do have a huge recycling pet peeve – when those toilet paper tubes aren’t recycled! Whenever I see a toilet paper tube in the bathroom garbage bin, I make a huge stink about it. Why? Because those toilet paper tubes are made out of paper, which means they are 100% recyclable. And it takes 2 seconds to put it into our already existent paper recycling bin!
But my roommates aren’t the only culprits. According to a Scott Naturals survey, 85% of Americans throw out those tubes instead of recycle them. But with 17 billion toilet paper tubes produced annually in the United States, that is A LOT of paper that could be recycled – 160 million pounds to be more precise. Put together end to end, these toilet paper tubes can stretch for more than one million miles!
So the smart people at Kimberly-Clark thought of a solution – how about tubeless toilet paper rolls? Have you ever heard of an idea and think to yourself, “I wish I thought of that!” Well, this was one of those times. Last night, I saw a commercial for Scott tube-free toilet paper that actually made me rewind the DVR so I could watch the commercial again. What a genius idea! A special winding technology keeps the toilet paper in place without needing a tube in the middle. The hole isn’t exactly a circle, but still fits over TP spindles. And every last piece of TP can be used – no more unusable last pieces because it’s glued onto the tube! Kimberly-Clark actually began testing out Scott Naturals tube-free toilet paper at some Walmarts and Sam’s Clubs throughout the Northeast in November of last year. And due to its success, you can now buy tube-free TP in a lot of other stores such as Walgreens, Shop-Rite, and Food Emporium.
I can’t wait to start buying tube-free toilet paper that will save trees as well as save me from yelling at my roommates for not recycling toilet paper tubes!
No more tubes!
Look for these at your local grocery store!
I just want to note that as your roommate of over three years, I have not forgotten to recycle the toilet paper tube since our first month of living together when I endured the wrath of your environmental intensity, and have learned my lesson. That being said, I now look forward to having one less thing to think about during my bathroom break if we start buying these type of toilet paper rollls.
Love it! I’ll have to look out for these at the store