Last week we looked at to TP or not to TP. Now, I’ll introduce my toilet paper chart, in which I compare the eco-friendly and cheapo-friendly toilet paper options here in Denver, Colo. These are sorted by cost per square foot of toilet paper. Your mileage may vary.
| Cost | Quantity | Cost per roll | Sheets per roll | Cost per sheet | Square feet per roll | Cost per square foot | Notes | |
| Seventh Gen 1 ply - Amazon bulk |
$43.56 | 48 | $0.9075 | 1000 | $0.0009 | 117.1 | $0.0077 | |
| Seventh Gen 1 ply - Vitamin Cottage |
$0.99 | 1 | $0.9900 | 1000 | $0.0010 | 117.1 | $0.0085 | |
| Kirkland | $15.69 | 36 | $0.4358 | 425 | $0.0010 | 53.1 | $0.0082 | Bleached; individually wrapped in plastic |
| Seventh Gen - King Soopers w/ coupon |
$1.39 | 4 | $0.3475 | 260 | $0.0013 | 32.5 | $0.0107 | This became a great deal with online $1 coupon; can print 2 at a time |
| Natural Value - VC |
$1.59 | 4 | $0.3975 | 250 | $0.0016 | 31.3 | $0.0127 | |
| Seventh Gen 12 – Vitamin Cottage |
$9.65 | 12 | $0.8042 | 400 | $0.0020 | 50.0 | $0.0161 | |
| Seventh Gen 2 ply - Vitamin Cottage |
$0.99 | 1 | $0.9900 | 500 | $0.0020 | 58.5 | $0.0169 | |
| Whole Foods 365 – 24 pk |
$8.00 | 24 | $0.3333 | 180 | $0.0019 | 19.7 | $0.0169 | |
| Seventh Gen - Gaiam |
$96.95 | 96 | $1.0099 | 500 | $0.0020 | 58.6 | $0.0172 | Claims to have twice as many sheets per roll as regular TP |
| Seventh Gen 4 – Vitamin Cottage |
$3.49 | 4 | $0.8725 | 400 | $0.0022 | 50.0 | $0.0175 | |
| Green Forest - VC |
$1.75 | 4 | $0.4375 | 198 | $0.0022 | 24.8 | $0.0177 | |
| Seventh Gen - King Soopers |
$2.39 | 4 | $0.5975 | 260 | $0.0023 | 32.5 | $0.0184 | |
| Seventh Gen 2 ply – Amazon bulk |
$52.95 | 48 | $1.1031 | 500 | $0.0022 | 58.6 | $0.0188 | |
| Whole Foods 365 – 4 pk |
$3.00 | 4 | $0.7500 | 360 | $0.0021 | 39.3 | $0.0191 | |
| Seventh Gen - Whole Foods |
$12.00 | 12 | $1.0000 | 400 | $0.0025 | 50.0 | $0.0200 | |
| Cloth | $1.00 | 1 yd | $1.0000 | 35 | $0.0286 | 9.0 | $0.1111 | |
Cost per roll winner: Whole Foods 365.
Cost per sheet winner: If you can handle the single-ply paper, that’s by far the cheapest option — even beating out Costco/Kirkland pricing.
Cost per square foot winner: If you’re a two-ply snob, the deal I nabbed on Seventh Generation on sale with a coupon was very good. Next best is “Natural Value” paper from Vitamin Cottage. And from there the costs keep easing upward.
I was surprised to find that ordering in bulk from Amazon – 48 rolls at a time – was no dollar-saver. Even buying 96 rolls at a time from Gaiam costs more per roll and per square foot than picking up a roll when you need one from Vitamin Cottage.
The moral of the story is that yes, it costs more to go green for your tush, but better deals can be found. Shop around and you can save almost half the cost — even on recycled-content toilet paper. (Or use cloth bought on clearance – it’s going to shake out to be the very, very cheapest.)
Photo is lovingly borrowed from the Virtual Toilet Paper Museum. They seem to be even more fascinated by toilet accoutrements than I am.
Oh gosh, I’ve been meaning to do a post like this for a long time. I picked up several different brands of TP and did all these calculations. Never got around to posting, though. Thanks for taking care of it for me.
[...] I’ve been purchasing Seventh Generation toilet paper in single rolls because it comes in (fully recyclable) paper wrapping. In addition, the single-ply is the cheapest toilet-paper out there per sheet, according to my analysis last July. [...]
[...] In the case of my toilet paper, that would bring the roll price down to 85 cents per roll — significantly less than the $1.10 per roll it was last year when I put together my toilet paper cost comparison chart. [...]