THE BIRDS AND THE BEES.
"Mom, where does toilet paper come from anyway?" It's time for the talk. Because where would we be without good education?
Regular toilet paper is made from freshly cut wood, while recycled toilet paper comes from 100% post-consumer waste paper such as books and used paper. Recycled toilet paper keeps trees where they belong: in the ground. As a result, trees can do what they do best: keep our air clean! All trees have value. They provide habitat for wildlife, they protect the soil from erosion and they keep our air clean. There is more than enough paper waste worldwide that we can use for our toilet moments. Trees should be happy and proud in the earth, not flushed down our toilet.
So wipe with the recycled paper from The Good Roll, good for your bottom and good for the planet!
THE PROBLEM WE CARE ABOUT.
Imagine living without a toilet and having to go out in the dark at night to find a private place.
Those who do not have a toilet have to go to the bathroom in unsanitary conditions; in the bushes, behind huts or walls, or above open water. This is the daily reality for 2.4 billion people.
One third of the world's population has to go to the bathroom in the open air, because there are no safe toilets. This is not only uncomfortable, it also carries enormous health risks. More than 525,000 children under the age of 5 die every year from diarrhoea alone (source: World Health Organization). An additional danger is that girls and women who have to relieve themselves in the open field run an increased risk of being attacked.
The risks are almost unimaginable to us, but above all they are unacceptable.
WATER AS A CHANGE-MAKER.
When you buy toilet paper from The Good Roll, you support our mission: safe and clean toilets for everyone.
We invest 50% of The Good Roll's net profit in the construction of safe toilets in Africa. After all, access to a safe toilet is not only important in your own home. To improve basic health, safe toilets must also be available in public places, such as at schools. With the construction of these toilets and the dissemination of knowledge about hygiene, life-threatening diseases are prevented and children can go to school safely. This way the children can develop and break out of the vicious circle of poverty.
In 2018 we founded The Good Roll Foundation. Our Foundation is there to make the best possible use of the money we raise from the sale of our toilet rolls to build sanitation, without making a profit. The Good Roll Foundation has only goal: to make sustainable sanitary facilities available for everyone.
Together with our Foundation and our partners, we have now built several hundred toilets. The Good Toilets! Prior to the start of our projects, hygiene and access to toilets were particularly poor. Together with our local partners, we encourage local communities to build their own toilets and sinks. We provide information about hygiene and train villagers to become maintenance technicians. In this way we ensure a sustainable result together.
For more information, take a look at our Foundation website.
WASH AND LEARN.
In addition to toilet construction through our own foundation, we support the "WASH and Learn" projects of the Simavi Foundation in Africa.
From the moment we sold our first toilet paper, we started working with them and a local partner (HEWASA) in the Kabarole district in Uganda. Here we built safe toilets at St John's Nsongya Primary School. For more information about the Wash and Learn projects, take a look at the website here.
