It’s safe to say that cutting down trees to make toilet paper isn’t good for the planet. In fact, the greenest option is to forgo loo roll altogether in favour of alternatives such as bidet attachments. If that doesn’t appeal, however, opting for toilet paper made with recycled materials or from a more sustainable resource like bamboo, comes in at close second. We put the toilet papers through a series of tests in the Good Housekeeping Institute, looking at how well the tissues tear along the perforations, assessing absorbency, and seeing how strong the sheets remain when wet. We also sent the products out to a panel of testers to get their verdicts on how soft the toilet paper is, their likes, dislikes and whether they’d buy it or recommend it.

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Where the product is made also has an impact — a lot of bamboo is grown in China and some bamboo toilet paper is subsequently manufactured in China. This can impact the eco-credentials depending on how the the product is then transported, as air-freighted items have a high carbon footprint compared to other methods of transport.While bamboo may be more environmentally-friendly than wood, it is still a raw material. The benefit of 100% recycled toilet paper is that it can be made without using new materials, providing a use for paper collected through recycling schemes, which can be sourced in the UK. It doesn’t tend to be as soft as bamboo, but it’s often made more locally.

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Look for the FSC Certified 100% label for reassurance that no land has been cleared specifically to grow the bamboo and that the bamboo has been farmed in a more sustainable way. Be aware of any with the FSC Mix label because this means that a mixture of virgin and recycled fibres was used to make the toilet paper, reducing its eco credentials.

However, areas growing bamboo do not promote as much biodiversity as forests, especially in areas where land has been specifically cleared to grow it."