Virgin forests provide habitat for endangered species, hold some of the most biodiverse treasures left on the planet and store massive amounts of carbon dioxide to help reduce climate change impacts… if you believe in that last part 🙂

Right now, these ecosystems—surviving since the dinosaurs stomped around—are transforming into common paper products. The seemingly innocent pack of extra soft toilet paper probably came from old-growth trees. Since we’re the buyers though, we contain the power to change this bad habit. 

The Tree Saving Kit helps save thousands of trees in just one household. The forest-friendly bag and its contents are unique—artist-designed and inspired by iconic ancient trees with a story to tell. It’s made from the most sustainable materials we could get. We use organic cotton to reduce harmful chemicals in the environment—from Earth’s soils to the fruits and veggies you dry off in the kitchen. For the cleaning cloths, we find upcycled material to give clothing and other fabrics a second life, reducing toxic landfill waste.

This is a seed anyone can plant in the movement to leave old-growth trees out of our everyday products.

The Tree Saving Kit includes:

• Napkins
• Swedish dishcloths
• Dish towel
• Cleaning cloths
• Bamboo toilet paper
• Non-paper towels
• A market bag

Tree Saving Kit List

Containing some of the most important things we can each do every day to protect forests, the Tree Saving Kit is a simple solution to this complex problem. And soon, the kit could be yours.  

Here’s what’s in it.

Napkins + Small Bag

Turns out, the way grandma did things is the most hip, eco-friendly way to do it. At least when it comes to napkins (and many other sustainability hacks actually). While well-paid PR teams try to campaign the paper napkin back into popularity, the reality is whether we’re using a paper towel as a mealtime necessity or buying paper napkins separately, they’re both contributing to deforestation. To make our cloth napkins special, we hand-sew them (and in the future hope to print and sew custom forest-themed designs on this classic item. Let’s inspire all generations to respect the elders and do like our grandparents did. 

Specifics: Your kit will include a set of two organic cotton napkins, in either sage green or blue fern print with white background. Approximately 9×9 in, GOTS certified organic and hand sewn with a double draw string on-the-go bag.

Swedish Dishcloths 

Sweden apparently has tree saving in the eco-friendly bag. Leave it to the Northern Europeans to develop a paper towel replacement with darling designs that add visual flavor to your kitchen. They’re made of 70 percent cellulose and 30 percent cotton, replace 17 rolls of paper towels and can be cleaned in the washer or dishwasher to be reused dozens of times. While these biodegradable sponge-like sheets have been around for decades, their popularity is just now catching on in the States. 

Specifics: Bark print with with heart in polaroid-inspired print. You’ll get one 8×7 in, long-lasting, biodegradable Swedish dishcloth, a spongey texture with many uses (may be washed in dishwasher or washer).

Dish Towel 

These are a fan favorite so far and we’re excited about the design possibilities. Dish towels are a baking essential and mainstay for hand and dish drying. They’re also great for soaking up extra water after rinsing leafy greens, fruits and veggies… or just adding flare to your kitchen decor. We started with a single design to get the first batch out in the world. We have many more handmade designs coming for these classic tea towels! 

Specifics: One organic cotton dish towel, comes in extra large or hand-sewn medium, with artist-designed print (kid staring up at Big Lonely Doug) and is GOTS certified organic cotton.

Cleaning Cloths

Cleaning is the gateway drug to sustainability for many people who begin their awareness journey by aiming to create a toxic-free household. So it makes sense to take the next step and consider the chemical components of paper towels as well, which still rely on out-dated manufacturing practices from the paper mill. Using upcycled t-shirts solve a few problems at once: breathing a second-life into a product before it hits the landfill and keeping more trees standing in the process.

Specifics: Two matching, upcycled cloths for cleaning in t-shirt material with various sizes (from 5×5 to 8×8 in) and eye-catching colors/prints, made with repurposed material, with absorbency and sustainability in mind.

Toilet Paper 

The tissue issue is pretty much what narrowed down our whole project focus— finding out old-growth forests are still being turned into toilet paper. The tragedy of wiping our butts with ancient trees is… well, tragic. (Stay tuned for our upcoming article that dives into the dirty details). The good news is there are plenty of effective replacements, even if you want the soft stuff. We included our favorite brand in the kit, Save Trees.

Specifics: Each bag contains two samples of Save Tree’s (formerly Cloud Paper) premium toilet paper rolls. Soft, strong and sustainable in 100 percent bamboo. Toxin-free: No PFAs, no added scents and no pesticides; 3-ply, 300 sheets per roll (similar to “jumbo” or “mega” rolls). Responsibly-sourced, FSC-certified bamboo and elementally chlorine-free bleaching process.

Paper Towels

We get that it’s tough to totally stop using paper towels all together (especially for kid and pet messes and avoiding cross-contamination). So, in the hopes of weening off them and still having an easy option for extreme spills, this “paper” towel replacement is your next best friend. They’re made of bamboo and a sugarcane byproduct that would otherwise be processing waste, another solution from Save Trees.

Specifics: Includes one paper towel sample roll with 100 percent FSC-certified, eco-friendly, bamboo paper towels. Each roll has 150 sheets, perforated in half-sizes for less waste. Rolls are bleached elementally chlorine-free

While the movement to eliminate plastic is extremely important, if it is just being replaced with paper we will still have a problem to solve. Bringing your own bag can go beyond just the grocery store, to retail shopping trips, farmers market runs and even to-go orders from restaurants. These market bags are large, can fit odd sized items, and contain a small pocket for organization. The large, wide strap helps ensure comfort over the shoulder with heavier items. The unique design includes Big Lonely Doug and tells a story of what happens when a seemingly small decision by one individual can have a big impact on the rest of the world.

Specifics: Certified 100 percent organic cotton fiber, artist-designed Big Lonely Doug on front. A large 9 oz. canvas bag (14” w x 13.5″ h x 3″ d) with pocket and extra long fabric strap (43” l x 2.75″ w). Made in a SEDEX SMETA audited factory.

In the end

If these kits succeed, we hope to use the profits to further raise awareness about the importance of protecting ancient forests and to the groups that are effectively stopping deforestation on the ground. If you got this far in the article maybe you’re interested in having a kit of your own. If so, sign up for our newsletter here and follow us on Instagram here to be the first to know when the next batch of tree saving kits come out. 

Note: Product is in Proof of Concept phase and offered at introductory price. Items within kit may vary between kits, in color, print and size. Hand-sewn items may be delicate and should hang dry to wash (napkins, medium dish towel and Swedisg dishcloth).