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Wipe for Wildlife
You can help protect local wildlife. Make the switch to toilet paper made from recycled paper today!
Make your school or workplace a Wipe for Wildlife zone. It's easy and no one will notice, except for the wombats.
- Email wipe@zoo.org.au and we'll show you how easy it is!
- Download and print our A4 poster and stick it on the toilet door as a great reminder.
Regular toilet paper is made from virgin fibers, whereas recycled toilet paper is from 100% post consumer waste (textbooks and office paper). Recycled toilet paper keeps trees in the ground to absorb emissions created from other daily human activities.
All trees have an ecological value, some provide habitat for wildlife,they protect soil from erosion and they keep our air clean. Our environment is healthier with trees in the ground rather than down the toilet.
Recycled toilet paper is as silky as regular toilet paper, make the switch today and see if your family notices the difference.
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FAQs
Question
Why is Zoos Victoria running this campaign?
Answer
- As a zoo-based conservation organisation we are committed to wildlife conservation.
- Millions of trees are flushed down Australian toilets each year, which doesn’t make sense considering the threats already facing Australia’s biodiversity, including climate change.
- The majority of Australians don’t use recycled toilet paper[1]. A recent survey conducted by Monash University discovered that less than half of our visitors use recycled toilet paper – and that’s a portion of the community that love wildlife!
- With more than 1.7 million visitors through the gates of Zoos Victoria each year, we have a unique opportunity to engage the community in conservation actions.
Question
What do you hope to achieve?
Answer
The Wipe for Wildlife campaign aims to:
- shift at least 30,000 households towards recycled toilet paper in one year
- raise the profile of selected native species and the power of conservation-sensitive consumers.
Question
What sorts of trees are used in the production of non-recycled toilet paper in Australia?
Answer
Most of the raw material used to make toilet paper in Australia is from softwood (wood from a conifer tree) – most likely pinus radiata or other plantation-grown softwood.
A proportion of toilet paper in Australia uses a blend of softwood and hardwood woodchip fibres (such as eucalyptus).
Softwoods are generally used for toilet paper production because they have longer fibres than hardwoods, which have small short fibres and are better used for high quality printing paper.
Question
Most toilet paper in Australia is made from plantation timber anyway. Is this an anti-forestry campaign?
Answer
- This is in no way an anti-forestry campaign. We simply believe that there are better uses for trees than to wipe our bums. We support the use of timber from plantations to produce materials of high value that can be recycled further, unlike toilet paper.
- All trees have ecological value. Some provide habitat for wildlife, protect soil from erosion, clean our air and absorb carbon. Trees help tackle climate change and we shouldn’t waste this natural resource. Our environment is healthier with trees in the ground, rather than down our toilets.
Question
Why does your campaign only focus on toilet paper? What about the many forms of other recycled paper available?
Answer
- Toilet paper cannot be recycled, where as most other papers can. Therefore it seems a waste to destroy trees solely for it’s production.
- We know that the community responds best to our call to actions when they are specific and targetted.
- By calling on Australians to make the switch to recycled toilet paper, we will be infiltrating household discussions and growing the number of people giving consideration to conservation initiatives in the future.
- We advocate the use of other recycled papers wherever appropriate.
Question
Do you really think you can convince people to switch to recycled toilet paper, when non-recycled toilet paper is so much softer to use?
Answer
- Yes. There not as much difference in softness as you might think. Recycled toilet paper does the job and does it comfortably.
- Recycled toilet paper is competitively priced.
- We are asking people to change the way they look at toilet paper. As consumers, we have been convinced that softness is the most important thing to consider when making toilet paper choices. We want consumers to think about the impact their everyday choices can make and the environment.
Question
What things should I look out for when choosing a recycled toilet paper that is best for the environment?
Answer
Things to look out for in a good recycled toilet paper product are:
- manufactured from 100% post-consumer waster
- uses no harsh chemicals.
Question
What does ‘post-consumer waste’ mean?
Answer
Post consumer waste is paper that has already been used for its final and intended purpose.
Question
What sort of toilet paper is used onsite at Zoos Victoria?
Answer
- Healesville Sanctuary uses 100% Recycled toilet paper (recovered after papermaking process).
- Our toilet paper has no added pigments, inks, dyes or fragrances and has not been bleached using chlorine or any of its derivatives.
[1] Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Choice (consumer association).
Did you know?
- Wombutts have killer bums! They have been known to use their incredibly hard bums to ‘butt-slam' predators' heads against the sides of their burrows.
- Wombats and Koalas are very closely related, with many similarities like backward facing pouches and hard bum plates.
- The male Willy Wag Tail knows how to shake his booty! He performs his very own ‘bum dance' to attract females, and to distract predators from his family.
- Before the invention of toilet paper in around 1880, humans used everything from grass and leaves to animal fur and corn cobs to wipe their bums.
- These days recycled toilet paper is just as soft as the others, and costs the same.
- Recycled toilet paper is mostly made from materials such as clean used office paper.