Are bamboo tissues better for the environment?

Tall bamboo stalks photographed from below

When it comes to everyday tissue products, toilet rolls probably spring to mind first – and fair enough. For many of us, life without those trusty little reels would be… well, tricky.

But let’s take a moment to appreciate another unsung hero: facial tissues. They sit quietly on the side table, tuck neatly into your pocket, and are always there for a sniffle – whether it’s a winter cold or summer hayfever.

Have you ever thought about what your tissues are made of? Or how they affect the planet?

At Naked Sprout, we love to chat about our sustainable toilet paper (and our brilliant kitchen roll too). But today, it’s all about tissues. Could bamboo tissues be a kinder choice for your nose and the planet? Let’s find out.

a hand pulling an unbleached tissue from a tissues box

What are bamboo tissues?

Bamboo tissues are just like standard facial tissues, but instead of being made from traditional wood pulp they're made (you guessed it) from bamboo. Disposable tissues made from tree pulp have been around since the 1920s, so why the sudden popularity of bamboo?

The answer lies in how quickly and easily bamboo, which is technically a type of grass, renews itself in comparison to trees. Naked Sprout bamboo is harvested in FSC-certified forests in China, where expert farmers leave the bottom foot of growth every time they cut a stem. The bamboo will regrow quickly from that stem, so it doesn't need to be replanted. Plus, it thrives without chemical fertilisers or pesticides, in naturally growing forests that aren't monoculture plantations like the ones most commercially grown timber comes from. 

A bamboo forest

Why are traditional tissues a problem?

Globally, about 9 million trees are cut down each year to make paper products like tissues, toilet rolls, and paper kitchen towels. Trees can take decades to grow back in huge one-species plantation forests that are cultivated specifically for the purpose.

And traditional raw materials are often turned into tissue using traditional manufacturing methods. The standard way of producing tissue uses a lot of energy at the pulp-drying stage, not to mention harsh chemicals like chlorine or peroxide bleach. 

All in all, it’s a resource-intensive process that doesn't seem right for a product that's designed to be used once and thrown away.

A commercial logging operation

Why bamboo tissues are better for the environment

Using bamboo instead of standard tree pulp as a raw material for making tissues unlocks a list of eco-friendly benefits:

1. Bamboo grows super fast
Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant in the world, with some species shooting up by over a metre in just 24 hours. This makes it highly renewable; unlike trees, which can take decades to mature, bamboo can be harvested in as little as three to five years.

2. Bamboo needs less land
Bamboo needs less land to grow as it naturally flourishes in vast forests. In fact, one of the bamboo forests we source from for Naked Sprout covers 175,000 acres! This means bamboo requires no monoculture plantations or chemicals and pesticides to thrive, helping to preserve biodiversity.

3. Bamboo needs less water
One great thing about those natural forests that bamboo grows in is that they come with all the rain they need! Bamboo uses significantly less water to grow compared to trees, and its flood-resistant root networks can help prevent soil erosion and water runoff in the temperate areas where it grows.  

Naked Sprout founders Tom and Leila visit our bamboo forests

What makes Naked Sprout bamboo tissues different?

So if we're looking for a good material for facial tissues, bamboo is a great sustainable option. But how about aiming even higher? At Naked Sprout, we've challenged ourselves to go above and beyond to make everyday tissue products with less impact on the environment, whatever the raw materials.

Here’s how our bamboo facial tissues are different from others on the market.

Unbleached and free of harsh chemicals: We don’t use any bleach in our tissues; they come in the lovely soft brown shade of the bamboo itself. The glues we use in our products and packaging are vegan-friendly and all of our ingredients meet REACH certification, meaning they're essentially neutral in their environmental impact. 

Plastic-free packaging: Our packaging is plastic-free and 100% recyclable if you have cardboard recycling in your area. No plastic pocket packs, no waterproof pouches, nothing that’s difficult to sort or bin.

Ethical sourcing and living wage: We ensure our bamboo is sustainably and responsibly sourced, coming from two FSC-certified forests in China, with the full details of our bamboo supply chain available on our website. Everyone who works for us is paid at least a living wage, as certified by the Living Wage Foundation.

No fossil fuels in manufacture: We’ve bucked the standard in tissue making by planting our flag firmly in renewable energy manufacturing. The biggest drain on energy in traditional tissue production comes when tissue is dried into sheets, and the traditional way of generating the heat needed to do this is fossil fuels. But Naked Sprout products are made with renewable energy that’s generated locally at our factory, cutting out the biggest part of the standard climate footprint.

We have much more information about how we make our products right here on our blog, and all of the documentation supporting our credentials is live on our green credentials page. 

Unbleached bamboo tissues at home

Final thoughts

So, are bamboo tissues better for the environment? We can’t speak for every manufacturer, but we’re extremely proud of ours. From naturally renewable, fast-growing forests to soft sheets manufactured without plastic, harsh chemicals, or fossil fuels, Naked Sprout bamboo tissues are soft on the skin and gentle on the environment

Our happy customers speak for themselves. Our unbleached tissues are used to clean off makeup in London theatres, to catch sneezes in Montessori schools, and for everyday nose-blowing duty in homes up and down the UK. 

Fancy trying these soft squares of sustainability for yourself?

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