Imagine you are at an airport. A Frenchman at a cafe enjoying a coffee. A group of Spanish women drinking beer and laughing loudly at the bar. A family from New Delhi hurrying past towards their gate. A couple from Vietnam standing and checking out souvenirs in the shop. A South Korean has fallen asleep in a massage chair. An American couple sitting by the window, commenting on every plane that takes off, a little too loudly…
That’s roughly what your bathroom looks like – well, in product form. Not 15–30 people hanging around, but 15–30 products from all over the world doing just that.
On the sink, there’s soap from France, tampons from Spain are gathered in a small glass jar, cotton swabs and pads from India in a box in the bathroom drawer, tissues from Vietnam next to the tap, skincare from South Korea, and hairspray from the USA. On the toilet paper holder, there might also be a roll of toilet paper that has traveled all the way from China. Consumables that we use every day, several times a day, like toilet paper, soap, tampons, cotton swabs, tissues – are not one-off trips for the climate, but continuous, small transports that never end. When everything from the most intimate to the most obvious items in the bathroom are imported from all corners of the world, each product becomes expensive in terms of carbon emissions. Not because a single bottle of soap or a pack of tampons in itself is catastrophic, but because they are constantly replenished. Every refill is a new order to the transport chain, and as you may have heard before, "many a little makes a mickle".
This also means we have many small opportunities to make better choices:
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Buy everyday consumables, like toilet paper, that are locally produced. We have many factories and many different types of productions in Sweden; we must utilize and support them.
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Choose products where the producer openly reports their climate impact and energy consumption.
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Prioritize quality over overconsumption – rather fewer, well-thought-out products than shelves filled with "unnecessary extra products" from all over the world.
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Consider if you really need to try yet another product trending on social media.
The climate crisis won't be solved by a single roll, but every recurring decision becomes a piece in a larger pattern. When enough bathrooms shift from global to more local – then the curves will start moving in the right direction.
Many a little makes a mickle – in CO2
All these consumables – toilet paper, soap, tampons, cotton swabs, tissues – are things we use without a second thought. But they are not one-off trips for the climate. They are a constant flow: run out – buy new, run out – buy new, over and over again.
Each product has:
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its own supply chain
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its own energy mix
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its own packaging
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its own journey across the globe
Together, they create a daily routine where we “import” emissions without even seeing them. Not because a single soap bottle or a pack of tampons is a catastrophe – but because they are constantly replenished.
And as you know: many a little makes a mickle. A very large mickle.
Every product carries its own CO2 story
Behind every package lies a journey: raw materials extracted, factories consuming electricity, transportation by truck, train, boat, and sometimes plane. When we spread our consumption across Vietnam, China, the USA, France, and the rest of the world, we also spread our climate impact across the globe. It doesn't show on the receipt, but it shows in the atmosphere.
This is especially true for consumables. They are not like a durable towel you keep for ten years. They are used once – or a few times – and then they are gone. Only the need for the next product remains. New cotton pads. New soap. New tampons. New roll of toilet paper. In practice, this means a constant flow of products that must be manufactured and transported repeatedly, again and again. In a world where we are already struggling to keep temperature increases down, it is an unnecessarily expensive way to meet basic needs.
Why toilet paper is especially important to talk about
If we are to zoom in on one product that truly deserves to be in the climate spotlight, it is toilet paper. We use it several times a day, all year round, throughout our lives. There is no "off-season" for toilet paper, no trend that fades. It is perhaps the most democratic of all consumables – everyone needs it.
That is precisely why every small difference in climate footprint per sheet becomes important. A single sheet seems insignificant, but multiply it by the number of family members, the number of days in the year, and the number of households in the country, and you quickly realize that it involves enormous volumes. When large volumes are combined with long transports, it results in a carbon footprint that is anything but small.
Furthermore, when toilet paper is imported from far away – for example, from China – we add extra layers of emissions. First comes the impact from the production itself: the electricity that powers the paper mill, the energy used to dry the paper, chemicals, water, packaging. Then come the transports: from factory to port, across the oceans on container ships, further by truck to warehouses, and finally out to stores or to customers' homes. All this for a product that we literally flush out of our lives in a few seconds.
Locally produced toilet paper – a simple but powerful habit
The good news is that toilet paper is also one of the easiest products to make more climate-friendly. We need it anyway, but we can influence how far it travels and how it is produced. By choosing toilet paper produced close to us – in Sweden or the Nordics – we reduce long transports and thereby a significant part of the emissions associated with each roll.
When production is close to the consumer, there are better opportunities to use local, certified raw materials and a cleaner energy mix. It becomes easier to set requirements, follow up, and improve. And since we buy toilet paper so often, it also becomes a habit that quickly has an effect. Every time you choose a locally produced roll over a long-distance imported one, you make a small but concrete reduction in your personal CO2 budget.
From global bathroom to local choices
Your bathroom will probably always contain products from different countries, and that's okay. But the more we shift high-volume products – especially toilet paper – closer to home, the smarter we use the Earth's resources.
So next time you're in the store or scrolling through an online shop:
Pause for a second at the toilet paper, soap, or cotton swabs. Ask yourself:
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How far has this roll or box traveled?
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Is there a closer, kinder alternative?
It's in those small, recurring decisions – roll by roll – that we make our global bathroom a little more local. And at the same time, take another step towards a future where both the climate and your conscience feel a little better.
From one-off choice to habit
The great thing about consumables is that they create habits. Once you've switched to locally produced toilet paper that feels good both in your hand and on your conscience, it quickly becomes your new normal.
Every time you add a new package to your shopping cart, you are in effect choosing what kind of future you want to help build. One where everyday decisions are made on autopilot – or one where we let knowledge about climate, transport, and resources guide us towards better alternatives.
Every sheet counts. And every bathroom can become a little more climate-friendly, one roll at a time.
With doodop, you can buy or subscribe to toilet paper, making a climate-smart choice without even having to think about toilet paper again.
And our rolls have traveled no more than 25 miles with low-traffic planning. Very kind rolls.
