Brand review · United States
Who Gives
A Crap
Recycled and bamboo toilet paper sold by the box, with half of the profit routed to sanitation projects. Here is what the brand actually does, which households it fits, and where it sits next to the names already on the supermarket shelf.
01The brand in short
Toilet paper built around a stubborn premise: sanitation should not be a luxury good.
Who Gives A Crap started in Melbourne in 2012, built on a simple observation — that billions of people live without a safe toilet, while households in wealthy markets flush away trees and plastic every single day.
The product answer is deliberately plain: toilet paper made from 100% recycled paper or bamboo fibre, wrapped in paper, shipped in a cardboard box, sold on a subscription or as a one-off purchase. No scent, no dye, no plastic film.
The financial answer is the part most shoppers remember: the company commits 50% of profits to partners working on toilets and clean water, with WaterAid among the best-known recipients. The company reports having given away more than US$10 million since launch.
02Why households choose it
Six things that hold up once you look past the name.
No virgin wood pulp in either line
The everyday roll is made from recycled office and post-consumer paper; the premium line is 100% bamboo, a fast-renewing grass rather than a tree. For a product used several times a day in every bathroom, that changes the material story more than most packaging claims do.
Paper wrap, paper tape, no shrink film
Each roll arrives individually paper-wrapped inside a corrugated box. Even the core is recycled paper. For anyone who has watched a cupboard fill with plastic film from bulk packs, this is the practical, everyday advantage rather than the abstract one.
A donation tied to the product itself
Half of profits go to sanitation-focused partners. Because the pledge is written into the business model rather than offered as a seasonal campaign, the giving scales with sales — the more rolls move, the larger the contribution. The company publishes its cumulative figures, which makes the claim checkable rather than poetic.
Bulk delivery replaces the weekly supermarket run
Boxes are sized for real storage, with 24-roll and 48-roll options plus mixed boxes across the two paper types. A subscription can be paused, skipped or rescheduled, which matters for anyone whose consumption varies between a two-person apartment and a full house.
Pricing is stated per 100 sheets
Roll counts are a notoriously unhelpful comparison unit. Listing price per 100 sheets on the product pages makes it possible to weigh a box of bamboo against a supermarket multipack without doing mental arithmetic in the aisle.
Two routes to buy, not one
The brand's own site carries the full range, while Amazon and Target give US shoppers a lower-commitment entry point — a single box, no subscription, familiar returns policy. That combination removes the usual friction of switching to a direct-to-consumer brand.
03Where it sells
Channel presence, and the numbers behind the brand.
Direct-to-consumer carries the volume
The brand's own storefront is where the range, the subscription options and the donation messaging live. It is the natural entry point for households that intend to buy repeatedly, and it is where the largest box sizes and the mixed-recycled-and-bamboo packs are stocked.
Subscription behaviour tends to be sticky here: once a box schedule is set, replacement cycles run quietly in the background, which is exactly the kind of repeat purchase a paper product rewards.
Marketplaces and retail widen the door
Amazon listings give first-time buyers a single-box trial with Subscribe & Save options and Prime delivery. Target stores and Target.com add a physical shelf presence, letting shoppers pick up a box during a normal grocery trip — a meaningful step for anyone who will not commit to a subscription before touching the product.
The result is a channel mix that leans direct but is not dependent on it, which is unusual for a mission-led household brand at this scale.
Channel share is an editorial estimate built from public statements, retail announcements and typical direct-to-consumer brand patterns. It is intended to show relative weight, not audited figures.
04Against the alternatives
How it lines up with four familiar names.
| Brand | Fibre source | How you buy | Price positioning | Packaging |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who Gives A Crap | Recycled paper or bamboo | Subscription or single box; Amazon and Target as entry points | Mid-range per roll when bought by the box | Paper wrap, paper tape, recycled core |
| Charmin | Virgin wood pulp | Supermarket, big-box retail and online multipacks | Entry to mid-range, wide pack-size ladder | Mostly plastic film on multipacks |
| Cottonelle | Virgin wood pulp | Supermarket and online multipacks | Mid-range | Mostly plastic film |
| Bim Bam Boo | Bamboo | Brand site and Amazon, one-off or recurring | Higher per roll | Paper-based |
| Cloud Paper | Bamboo | Subscription-first, marketplace secondary | Higher per roll | Paper-based |
Positioning reflects typical US retail pricing at the time of writing and general market behaviour. Pack sizes differ between brands, so price per 100 sheets is a fairer comparison than price per pack.
05Who each brand actually serves
The audiences overlap less than the shelf suggests.
Subscription-friendly households, renters and owners alike, who already separate waste or buy in bulk and want one less decision each month. Skews younger than the paper aisle average, but the strongest cohort is really "people who plan" — families with storage, shared apartments splitting a box, and buyers who care about plastic waste as much as tree pulp.
Mainstream US households with strong habits around softness and brand familiarity. The purchase is made in the aisle, on impulse or habit, often with coupons. This audience tends to weigh comfort first and treats material sourcing as secondary to how the roll feels.
Similar to Charmin but with a stronger emphasis on cleaning and comfort features, and a broader line of flushable wipes. Buyers here are typically supermarket regulars who pick a pack while shopping and are not looking for a delivery relationship.
Material-first shoppers who have already decided to move away from virgin pulp and are willing to pay more for bamboo. Often researchers — they read fibre specifications, compare sheet counts and choose on product detail rather than on a mission statement.
Minimalist subscription buyers who want the plastic question solved and prefer a small, focused range over a large catalogue. Frequently urban, frequently younger, and comfortable managing recurring orders online.
06Honest strengths and trade-offs
What it does well, and where it asks for patience.
Reasons it earns a place
- A giving model that scales with sales rather than running as a campaign.
- Two fibre options — recycled and bamboo — so there is a route off virgin pulp either way.
- Paper-only packaging means no growing pile of plastic film at home.
- Box sizes and a flexible subscription make bulk buying manageable.
- Clear per-sheet pricing makes comparison with supermarket multipacks straightforward.
- Available through Amazon and Target, so trying it does not require a subscription first.
Where it may not suit you
- No scented or lotion-infused options — that is a deliberate omission, not an oversight.
- Recycled paper feels different from plush virgin-pulp brands; bamboo is closer but still distinct.
- Minimum box sizes are a real spend for a single-person household.
- Bulk delivery needs somewhere to store the box.
- Delivery speed will not match walking to the corner store on a Sunday evening.
- Some specialist or low-traffic retailers may not carry the full range.
07Where it fits in daily life
Six settings where the box model makes sense.
- 01Family bathrooms in multi-person households, where a 48-roll box covers a long stretch without a reorder.
- 02Guest bathrooms, where a paper-wrapped roll on the holder reads as considered rather than improvised.
- 03Short-term rentals and guest houses — consistent stock, no branded plastic packaging on display.
- 04Small apartments, where one box replaces several awkward multipacks in a hallway cupboard.
- 05Suburban homes with a garage or utility room, where bulk delivery genuinely reduces shopping trips.
- 06Studios, offices and café washrooms, buying on a schedule with a single recurring order.
08Verdict
A sensible switch for US households that already buy in bulk.
In the American market, the choice in toilet paper is rarely about quality — most mainstream rolls are perfectly serviceable. The decision is about what the roll is made from, what comes with it in the package, and whether buying it means a weekly trip or a quarterly delivery.
Who Gives A Crap answers those three questions cleanly. It replaces virgin pulp with recycled paper or bamboo, removes plastic film from the package, and turns a repetitive purchase into a scheduled one. The donation pledge is public and quantified, which is more than most shelf rivals offer. The compromises are honest ones: a different hand feel, no scent options, and a minimum spend that rewards bigger households.
If you already buy paper goods in bulk, the switch costs you little more than a first order.
For a single-person apartment that buys a four-pack at a time, the case is weaker on convenience and stronger on material values. For a family, a shared house or a short-term rental, the box model fits almost immediately — and the fact that it is stocked on Amazon and Target shelves means the trial can happen before any subscription decision is made.