FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS


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Learn more about how we make our sustainable supplies and what drives our passion behind supporting an end to deforestation. Discover what sets us apart and the answer to some pressing questions you may have about how we manufacture our products.

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1Why did we start Honest Supplies?
Myself and my partner took part in our first Plastic Free July a few years ago and noticed just how unsustainable we were living. The amount of single use plastic waste we were throwing away each month shocked us so much we decided to take immediate action and change how we live, to make the planet a cleaner place for the future generation, as we cannot leave our problems for them to solve. We looked at sustainable alternatives for our weekly shop, and noticed a lot of bamboo alternatives. Whilst it's a good alternative, it still has to be cut down which destroys natural habitats, and has to travel half way around the world to get to us. We wanted there to be a UK made alternative that didn't destroy the natural resources of the planet. This was where Honest Supplies was born, a company with sustainability at its heart and at the core of every decision we make. A company that values fairness, equality, dignity & respect. We've done the research so you don't have to!
2What is our toilet paper and centrefeed made from?
All of our tissue is made from 100% post consumer recycled material from the UK. So all of the cardboard packaging, bits of paper & even your toilet roll tubes that you recycle, get turned into our toilet roll and centrefeed! Nothing is ever cut down for our tissue. No single animal has been removed from its home to make our products.
3Why our toilet roll is not bleached white
Standard supermarket toilet roll has many chemicals added to it to make it bright white. We want our toilet roll to be kind to your skin so have removed chlorine from the manufacturing process. It means our toilet roll is a slight off white colour.
4Why is our centrefeed is brown?
Our centrefeed or blue roll is brown because we have removed all non essential chemicals from the production. It makes it much more environmentally friendly!
5Why do we use recycled paper and not bamboo?
Its absolutely heartbreaking to know that 27,000 trees are cut down every single day to make toilet roll, a single use product. Deforestation causes more CO2e emissions globally then every car, lorry, plane, and ship combined. So we've decided to use what is already widely available. Bamboo is grown mainly in China and manufactured there, with some hardwood forests cut down to make way for bamboo forests. There is still a great deal of uncertainty of how this bamboo cultivation impacts the local wildlife, ecosystems and the welfare of the people who make it.
6How our products are packaged
Our products are completely plastic free. They will be delivered in a recycled cardboard box, and sealed with paper tape.
7How have we gone carbon negative?
We have partnered with Ecologi to help make Honest Supplies as sustainable as possible. We've worked super hard to reduce as many CO2e emissions as possible, but there will always be some emissions we cannot prevent. When this happens, we support gold standard global projects to offset these emissions. Using a carbon calculator, we've worked out the emissions per sheet of tissue and then offset double that amount each month, making us 200% carbon negative.
8How do we plant our forest?
With every tonne of tissue that we sell, or CO2e emissions we cannot avoid, we also plant trees to help re-forest the planet. We only work with gold standard partners with the highest level of care for the trees that are planted. We spoke with one of our partners Eden Reforestation Projects to ask them how they plant the tree we support: - We work carefully with all levels of government to secure written agreements designating the restoration sites as protected in perpetuity. - We hire local villagers to plant the trees. In this way, we alleviate extreme poverty within the impacted community. The villagers now have an economic incentive to ensure the wellbeing of the restoration project. They also have a sense of “ownership” over the trees and restored forest and they protect it with great care. - A minimum of 10% of the trees to be planted are agroforestry species (fruit, fodder and construction species designed to provide food security and benefit legitimate human needs). Over time these trees become a source of sustainable income. - We do all possible to supply the local villagers with alternative fuel sources (fuel efficient dry wood stoves and solar parabolic stoves), which reduces and or eliminates their dependence on charcoal. - We also hire forest guards as part of the labor force. Forest guards are part of the overall budget. - Most significantly, we have seen the villagers fall in love with THEIR forest. They also recognize and benefit from the restored forest through increase in fisheries, improved farming, cleaner water and the formation of micro enterprises.
9What does carbon neutral and carbon negative mean?
There are a lot of 'eco' terms and its hard to understand what they all mean. Luckily we've written a small blog which explains all the different terms and how they can apply. You can read it here. Carbon Neutral - This term is arguably the most commonly used term among businesses and organisations who are on their own sustainability journey. Once a businesses monthly or yearly average CO2e emission has been calculated, they can then purchase Carbon Offset projects to the same amount of emissions they have created and effectively they will be carbon neutral. It is important to mention here though, that a company doesn’t have to try to reduce their CO2e emissions in any way. Our products are all carbon neutral, with our toilet paper being carbon negative. As we have calculated the emissions produced in their manufacture and balanced that, and going further we are starting our own Net Zero journey. Negative Emissions/Carbon Negative - Going a little further than carbon neutral is negative emissions, or carbon negative. Here a business or organisation has again calculated their monthly or yearly CO2e emissions and negated them, they then continue to remove further CO2e emissions from the atmosphere above the ones they have generated.
10Why we believe plastic free is important
Around 8 million pieces of plastic enter our oceans every single day. Its ended up in places it really shouldn't be and causing a massive pollution issue, and its because it's durable, and cheap to produce, so used on almost everything. A plastic bottle can last for around 450 years in water and will slowly breakdown into smaller and smaller pieces becoming microplastics. Every piece we have ever produced is still with us. For marine life such as fish, dolphins, seals and sea birds, they often mistake these pieces of plastic for food and end up with stomachs full of plastic and unfortunately end up dying. As hard as we all try to recycled the plastic we do use, only 11% of it is actually recycled. The majority, around 47%, is burnt, and the rest is buried or exported. Its so important that we try to reduce our dependency on plastic and find alternatives.
11How are we different from supermarket brands?
Unlike supermarket brands, our toilet paper is completely plastic free, prevents deforestation, and makes the planet cleaner with every purchase. Our rolls are also super long, almost twice as long as a traditional roll. We've squeezed in as many sheets as we can to every roll to make them ultra sustainable. With our 24 2ply boxes you the equivalent of 42 rolls, and our 24 3ply boxes you get the equivalent of 40 rolls. We care about the environment, and want to leave the planet a cleaner place for the next generation.
12Why do we need to stop deforestation?
Forests are the lifeblood of our planet. They convert CO2 into the oxygen we need to breath, they help keep the planet cool, and filter water and protect homes from rising water levels. They are vital in protecting the millions of plant and animal species that live in those forests, many of which have helped develop human medicine to keep us healthy. If you want to read more, check out our blog on illegal deforestation.
13Do we supply businesses?
Yes of course! We love to help businesses become more environmentally friendly. Please contact us to find out how we can help you and your business be more sustainable. Here are some of the bulk items you can order.
14What is CHSA & FSC on our products?
FSC - Forest Stewardship Council - defining force for improved forest management and market transformation, shifting the global forest trend toward sustainable use, conservation, restoration, and respect for all. CHSA - Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association - every member has successfully passed a tough auditing process to secure its status as either an Accredited Manufacturer or an Accredited Distributor. Combined with a rigorous Code of Practice, the Schemes guarantee members trade ethically and sustainability; provide quality, fit for purpose products; and make sure what’s on the box is what’s in the box.
15Is our centrefeed food safe?
Yes, our centrefeed has been certified as Food Contact Materials. This means its suitable for food preparation environments.
16I have a subscription but cannot access my account, what can I do?
Please get in contact with us if you are having trouble accessing your subscription account, and we will be able to help you.
17How do we secure your card payments?
Every transaction is PCI compliant by default. We cover the 6 PCI standard categories: Maintain a secure network during checkout Protect cardholder data Maintain a vulnerability management program Implement strong access control measures Regularly monitor and test networks Maintain an information security policy
18Can I cancel or change my subscription?
Yes you can. Just log into your account and you can pause, change, cancel, or extend your subscription.