The Best and Worst Toilet Paper, Paper Towel, and Facial Tissue Brands

Tissue paper production is taking a devastating toll on forests. NRDC’s newest Issue with Tissue report can help you find earth-friendly brands.

Few people give much thought to how their toilet paper or other tissue products are made. So most of us probably don’t realize that the average American household uses more than 100 pounds of tissue paper annually—or that to make these paper products, companies are purchasing fiber that comes from trees logged in climate-critical forests. Our latest Issue with Tissue report and sustainability scorecard illuminate the serious environmental impacts that some of the most popular U.S. tissue brands are having on forests, as well as the steps consumers can take to make the most sustainable choices. Here’s where to start.

U.S. consumers need only look north to see the effects of paper production on our environment. The world’s largest intact forest, the Canadian boreal, is being cut down at an alarming rate—more than 1 million acres per year—in part to feed consumer demand for paper products. And much of that demand comes from the United States. In 2022, it accounted for 65 percent of all of Canada’s pulp and paper exports, which are then used by some of the biggest household brands for everything from paper towels to toilet paper.

Learn more: Forests & climate change

The Canadian boreal’s trees, soils, and peatlands store massive amounts of carbon—gases that get released into the atmosphere when trees are cut down. A recent report by NRDC and our partners found that logging is the third-highest-emitting sector in Canada, behind only oil and gas production and the transportation sector.

In addition to robbing the planet of one of its most important defenses against climate change, widespread industrial logging destroys and degrades wildlife habitat. In the boreal, it also threatens the lands and ways of life of more than 600 Indigenous communities.

Luckily, there are plenty of competitively priced varieties of tissue paper with minimal impact on forests. We’ve assigned grades to all the major U.S. brands of toilet paper, paper towels, and facial tissues. This includes house brands at leading supermarkets and brands that promote more sustainable practices, many of which were launched in only the past five years. Here’s what the highest scores mean for shoppers:

Of course, you also want to avoid the worst culprits. Here’s what a failing tissue paper grade means.

You may notice that the FSC certification label appears on some of these brands, a stamp of the Forest Stewardship Council. While the label does indicate the product was sourced from a more responsibly managed forest, there is no reason tissue products should be made from trees in the first place. There are plenty of affordable and sustainable alternatives.

Aside from making better brand choices, you can also work to reduce your overall consumption of tissue paper products. Here are a few simple ways.

And finally, you can help push for broader and more rigorous forest protections. Despite the steady degradation of forests like the boreal in Canada, leading tissue brands stubbornly maintain their unsustainable approach to tissue paper manufacturing and marketing. Bounty, Charmin, and other brands continue to be manufactured using methods that have changed little since the 20th century, still relying almost entirely on forest fiber. Meanwhile, they perpetuate misleading claims that their products support healthy forests. It doesn’t have to be this way: These businesses have vast research and development budgets that they could leverage to create soft, strong, and sustainable tissue products.

The good news is that as companies find themselves facing increasing scrutiny, they’re starting to make changes. Kimberly-Clark, owner of Kleenex, Cottonelle, and Scott, announced in 2024 that it is committing to become more sustainable across its supply chains. The company aims to eliminate natural forest fiber from its entire product line, meaning it would avoid sourcing from some of the most ecologically important parts of the boreal. It also set commitments to avoiding deforestation and reducing the impacts of natural forest degradation—significant steps from one of the largest U.S. tissue manufacturers.

Mobilized by environmental groups like NRDC, consumer advocacy played a big part in Kimberly-Clark’s pledge to do better, and the call for broader changes is growing louder. You can help us move the needle farther. Here’s how.

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Industrial logging for forest products is destroying more than 1 million acres of the boreal yearly.

Tell P&G President & CEO Jon Moeller that enough is enough.

Industrial clearcutting for forest products like P&G’s Charmin toilet paper is destroying more than one million acres of the boreal forest each year. Tell P&G President & CEO Jon Moeller enough is enough.