MTE reviews: Scott Naturals Tube-Free Bath Tissue

*** Congrats to (Not) Maud for winning a pack of Tube-Free TP!***

Okay, I'll be up front right at the beginning.  It's toilet paper, and I didn't imagine that there would be a whole lot to say about toilet paper when I was first approached about this product.  It's just toilet paper after all!

But then I began to think about it.  What products are necessary purchases by everyone?  I'm sure it's a short list, but toilet paper is definitely at the top of it.  So, I received a sample of the new Scott Naturals Tube-Free Bath Tissue, and we began to use it right away.  Then hubby and I started to read the literature on it, and I'm happy to say that we were both quickly convinced that something we've taken for granted for over three decades has suddenly been declared useless.  Yup, I'm talking about that tube.

First, let's get the immediate questions I think anyone would ask when talking about toilet paper.  How does it feel?  Does it do the job?  For those top questions, let me reassure you that it's super-soft on your delicate parts and it's as effective as good toilet paper should be.  I'm pleased with it on all the user-end issues.  (Ha ha!)

Okay, with those questions out of the way, let's talk about the whole tube-free aspect.  Can I just say, cool cool cool!  Have you ever thought about that cardboard tube in the middle of your TP?  Discounting the occasional little kid art project, what good does that little tube do you?  I never even thought about it, because I just assumed that it was a necessity for the whole hold-the-toilet-paper-together-on-the-roll thing, and now I can't believe that this wasn't developed sooner!

Here are some stats from the literature that Scott's sent with my sample:

"Today, U.S. households dispose of an estimated 17 billion bath tissue tubes annually, equal to:

Over 160 million pounds of trash:

• Enough material to fill more than 250 Boeing 747 airliners
• Enough material to fill the Empire State Building twice
• Equivalent to the weight of more than 350 Statues of Liberty

Over 1 million miles long (lined end-to-end):

• Circling the earth's equator over 45 times
• Traveling from the earth's surface to the moon... more than twice"

Can you believe that?!  While the cardboard tubes are recyclable, according to Scott's survey respondents, only 37% of them said that they frequently recycle the tubes.  I have to admit that I'm pretty sure I usually just chuck in the bathroom trash when changing the roll, especially if I'm doing it while in the middle of my business.  I don't think about it, and we're usually pretty good about recycling, too.  Shame.  But with this product, there's no guilt over the little tube, which is making a far greater impact on the environment than I could have ever imagined. 

Check out this short video for the company's roll-out of the product.  (Oh, the unfunny puns are piling up, here!)

Now for my assessment.  The product that I received doesn't have as big an opening in the middle of the roll as what's shown in the video.  Here's a pic of mine:

With two of the three TP holders in our house, this is no problem at all.  One of ours is more traditionally-sized, and it's a little challenging to get the roll on, but it's doable.  Honestly, I'd work even harder just for the positive effects of not littering the world with that useless piece of cardboard!

The one thing that I really wondered about when we first started using the roll, and the question that I've been asked by friends who I told about the product was, But how will it stay on the roll when it's near the end?  The answer...

MAGIC.

No, really, I have no idea how it works, but it just does.  Here are two pics from when one roll was near the end:

See?  It just stays together- somehow- until you pull the last strip off, just like in the video.  Pretty cool, right?

So, I may never expected to be blogging about toilet paper, but there you have it.  It's a product that we all use on a regular basis, and Scott's has developed it to another level that functions effectively and takes away an unnecessary problem caused by traditional tubed bath tissue!  Win, win!

GIVEAWAY ALERT:
Yes, it's my first ever giveaway on MTE Reviews, and yes, you totally want to enter this, because who doesn't need toilet paper?  And aren't you convinced yet that the tube is just a piece of trash waiting to litter a body of water near you?  The coolest thing is that this product is not available nationwide yet, so you just might be the first person on your block to give this TP a go!  I have a 12-pack of the Scott Naturals Tube-Free Bath Tissue for one lucky reader.  (U.S. addresses only, please.)

Since it's my first giveaway, let's just make it simple.  Leave a comment to be entered, but I would absolutely love for you to spread the word!  Using random.org, I'll draw a winner one week from now- on the evening of 1/25- and I'll email the lucky person who will get to see what going tube-free is like!

(This giveaway, my first ever!, is now closed.  Thanks to you four kind souls for entering.)

Thanks to Kimberly-Clark for the product sample.

Surprisingly excited to blog about toilet paper,