Stock Up Shopping

Do you guys remember my post from last Saturday? It was all about toilet paper! Mom was having a hard time deciding which toilet paper brand to buy, how much, and from where. Can you believe that someone would spend that much time obsessing about toilet paper? Thankfully, Mom finally decided on a brand, an amount, and a store. She ordered it, along with some facial tissue, on Wednesday and it arrived yesterday.

That's a whole lotta toilet paper! 48 jumbo rolls to be exact. Seventh Generation was the winner and it contains 100% recycled content, with 80% of it post-consumer. These numbers didn't jive to me so I asked Mom to explain them to me.

Recycled content means pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled fiber. Post-consumer is more desirable but not always available or economically viable. Post-consumer is made from materials collected and recycled after they have reached their original end use, like the paper you put in your recycling container at home. Pre-consumer is made from scraps left over from the manufacture of paper products.
These 48 rolls came from amazon.com. They cost $49.55 and qualified for free shipping, plus no tax. The bottom line cost is a little over $1.03 per roll. The best part about buying them this way? There is no plastic! Even though each roll is wrapped individually in paper, this paper can (and will) be recycled. The cardboard tubes from each roll will be recycled, as will the box the rolls came in. The only waste from this box is the plastic on top of the box that held the packing list.

You guys remember Alice, don't you? She has been emailing Mom to purchase more Vaska laundry detergent for over a month now. Mom has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new Method laundry detergent (which hits the market this Monday), but Alice had a great deal on Vaska this month so Mom decided to place an order. While she was on the Alice site, she checked to see which brands of facial tissue were available. Can you guess which brand Mom ordered?

Seventh Generation won again! Like the toile paper, the facial tissue contains 100% recycled content, with 80% of it post-consumer. Mom order 10 boxes for $15.80 plus tax (7.6%). Alice never charges for shipping so the bottom line cost is $1.70 per box. The EarthAware packing material is made from recycled plastic and Mom will be reusing it when she has packages to send. The only waste from this box is the plastic at the top of each box of tissue. Mom will remove the plastic from each box, take the plastic to the plastic bag recycling center at the grocery store, and put the box itself in our reycling container.

Mom decided that I needed to help put all the stuff away. Me? I'm not going to use any of this stuff so why do I have to help? I should have kept my mouth shut because instead of helping, Mom put me on top of the toilet paper box. Potty mouth on top of potty paper. How appropriate!