You care about what you buy. You scour the packaging, read the fine print and research product questions — as any conscientious shopper would.
One of the questions we get asked most is about where Who Gives A Crap toilet rolls are made, and we love that you’re curious.
Sourcing bamboo from China for our 100% bamboo toilet paper is a decision that often draws inquiries from customers. The truth is, we’re incredibly proud of how we make our products, and we want you to feel proud to display our beautifully wrapped rolls on your bathroom shelves.
Allow us to take you on a journey — from the bamboo forests in China to your front door — to learn all about the Who Gives A Crap manufacturing process.
The journey begins: why we choose bamboo from China
Before we talk about the where, let's start with the why. We use bamboo to make toilet paper because it's a super plant that takes pressure off our ancient forests.
Bamboo grass grows incredibly fast, needs very little water and helps prevent soil erosion. We believe that using rapidly renewable resources like bamboo is key to stopping deforestation and lessening the toilet paper industry’s carbon footprint.
This brings us to the big question: where is Who Gives A Crap made? The short answer is that we partner with producers in China to make our rolls. Ensuring this process is done ethically and responsibly requires a longer answer.
Toilet paper made with care: ethical manufacturing
During Who Gives A Crap’s humble beginnings on the toilet, we realised that producers in China had unique capabilities. They’re supply chains for sustainable materials like bamboo and recycled paper were already in place. Plus, they could wrap our rolls in recycled paper instead of plastic. Western producers weren’t (and still aren’t) set up to meet these needs.
Specifically, the bamboo for Who Gives A Crap toilet paper comes from China’s Sichuan region. We partner with local farmers there who cultivate the supergrass on the outskirts of their small farms. Individual villages even have their own bamboo co-op and pulp factories for local processing. This is a big deal because villagers can earn extra income without the need for large, disruptive land clearing.
Ethical farming and manufacturing don’t just happen, of course. We take our responsibility to our partners and customers very seriously. Guardrails are in place to maintain the integrity of Who Gives A Crap products:
We keep a team on the ground.
We have a full-time team based in China that manages our relationships with our factory partners and oversees production.
We require independent audits.
All of our partners in China are independently audited and scored on a range of ethical practices. We’ve adopted the amfori BSCI Code of Conduct as our standard, which includes strict rules on workers' rights, fair pay, and absolutely no child or bonded labour.
We maintain our rigorous B Corp™ certification.
As a certified B Corp™, Who Gives A Crap is held to high standards of social and environmental performance. It’s a critical third party endorsement that speaks volumes about our ethical business practices.
Does all bamboo toilet paper come from China?
No, but ours does for a very important reason.
China is one of the few places in the world where bamboo flourishes naturally. Our manufacturing process allows us to grow our impact and scale our mission globally from a single, high-quality supply.
You’ll find that most bamboo toilet paper companies source their materials from China for the same reasons. If we tried to grow bamboo elsewhere, there’d be consequences like higher production costs to maintain a hospitable environment for the plant to grow.
The journey to you: Who Gives A Crap’s global supply chain
Once our rolls are ready for bum action, they begin their journey to your bathroom. Here’s how it works for each region.
For our customers in the United States
Our bamboo toilet paper is made in China, while our 100% recycled toilet paper is made in Malaysia. From there, we ship everything by sea freight to our warehouses on the East and West coasts for local distribution.
For our customers in Australia
Our partners in China manufacture the majority of our products sold in Australia. We then ship our stock to seven different ports across the country, which allows us to get it to our warehouses and out to you more efficiently.
For our customers in the United Kingdom and Europe
Most of our products for the UK are also made in China. We do have some products, like our forest-friendly tissues and kitchen rolls, that are made domestically in the UK. We ship our stock by sea freight to England, where it’s distributed from our local warehouses.
Making the journey sustainable with carbon neutral shipping
We know what you’re thinking — that’s a lot of travel! And you’re right. Shipping products across the world creates carbon emissions, which is why we’ve made sure our shipping is 100% carbon neutral.
We do this by calculating all the CO2 emissions from the factory to our warehouses and, finally, your front door. Then, we invest in high impact carbon offset projects, like reforestation and renewable energy, that remove or prevent the same amount of carbon from entering the atmosphere.
The big picture: why this process is better for the planet
When you look at the whole journey, our process is designed to have the lowest possible impact.
By sourcing bamboo where it grows naturally, we avoid clearing land for commercial plantations. By centralising production with ethical partners who can meet our plastic-free packaging needs, we operate more efficiently than shipping raw materials around the globe.
It’s a thoughtful system designed to combat the devastating effects of the traditional toilet paper industry and reduce its harmful impact on the environment.
Conclusion — Business transparency for a confident wipe
From a bamboo shoot in a rural Chinese village to the finished roll at your front door, it’s quite a journey.
We know that buying products that travel across the globe can raise questions, but hopefully, we’ve given you clarity and confidence in being a Who Gives A Crap customer. Every step we take is a deliberate choice designed to have the biggest positive impact and the smallest environmental footprint possible.
Every Who Gives A Crap purchase supports goodness for people and the planet. So wipe those bums confidently, knowing our ethical toilet roll has your back (and your front).