By Julie Chen, Founder and CEO at Cheeky Panda

I've built this business on the belief that companies have a duty to reduce their environmental footprint. But I've also learned that sustainability only matters, and only drives meaningful change, if it's honest, rooted in transparency, actual evidence, and a genuine commitment to doing better and continuously improving. Otherwise, it's just marketing noise.

At Cheeky Panda, we make information from our product carbon footprint assessments available because we believe transparency drives progress. The purpose is not to create scorecards or compare ourselves against others. It is to understand where our emissions occur and what we can do better.

Since we launched, that approach has helped us identify opportunities for improvement. We have continued to engage with manufacturing partners on energy use, while several suppliers have installed or expanded rooftop solar generation at their production sites.

When we undertake future carbon assessments, we hope those actions will be reflected in improved results. That is how sustainability should work. Not as a competition. Not a race to make the boldest claim. But as a continuous process of measuring, learning and improving. Because ultimately, sustainability is a journey that, when done right, benefits everyone in the end.

With that in mind, here are three things consumers should consider when evaluating environmental claims.

1. Don't Judge Sustainability by Colour

Brown toilet paper is often perceived as more environmentally friendly than white toilet paper. Natural colours can signal sustainability, but in reality, appearance alone tells us very little about a product's actual environmental impact.

The first thing consumers should check is what the product is actually made from.

In 2024, consumer organisation Which? commissioned independent fibre-composition testing on leading bamboo toilet paper brands. The investigation found that while some products (like Cheeky Panda) contained the bamboo content claimed on pack, others contained very low levels of bamboo fibre, with some samples containing as little as 3-4% bamboo-like fibres while the majority of the material was virgin soft or hardwood fibre.

The lesson is simple: sustainability should be judged by evidence, not appearance.

When assessing a product, you should look beyond its colour and ask:

  • What materials is it actually made from?
  • Is credible testing or certification available to support the material claim?
  • Is the company transparent about sourcing?
  • Is there credible certification supporting the claim?

A product's environmental impact depends on its materials, supply chain and manufacturing processes, not on whether it is brown or white.

2. Carbon Footprint Comparisons Between Brands Can Be Misleading

Carbon footprint reporting is a valuable tool, but comparing footprints between brands is often far more complicated than many people realise.

That’s because a carbon footprint is not a universal number.

Every assessment involves choices about:

  • Methodology
  • Assumptions
  • Data sources
  • Lifecycle boundaries

For example, one study may be cradle-to-gate, measuring emissions only up to the point a product leaves the factory. Another may be cradle-to-grave, which includes transportation, distribution, consumer use and end-of-life disposal. If one brand measures on a cradle-to-gate basis, and another on a cradle-to-grave basis, these studies cannot be treated as a direct like-for-like comparison without appropriate methodological alignment.

Our Carbon Footprint Ltd product carbon footprint assessments use a cradle-to-grave boundary, covering raw materials, manufacturing, relevant transport and disposal. We believe the scope and methodology should always be understood before headline figures are compared.

3. Sustainability Claims Should Show the Whole Picture

Another common issue is selective disclosure.

A claim may be factually accurate while still failing to provide the full context. For example, a business may promote a manufacturing process as being "fossil fuel free" or "fossil oil free", but unless they tell you specifically, there is no way of knowing whether that’s for a specific stage of production, or the whole journey.

The latter is much more unlikely, because most products have large supply chains, with multiple steps taking place, including:

  • Raw material cultivation
  • Processing
  • Packaging
  • Transport
  • International shipping
  • Warehousing and distribution

Fossil-fuel use may occur at several stages of a product’s supply chain, which is why claims limited to one manufacturing facility should not be interpreted as applying automatically to the product’s full lifecycle.

So once again, the important question is not simply whether a statement is true. It is whether a brand is showing you the complete picture, or whether important information about the wider lifecycle has been omitted. You deserve to be told what is included, what is excluded and where improvements are still needed.

Sustainability Is a Journey, Not a Marketing Advantage

Publishing environmental data should help businesses improve. It should help identify hotspots. It should encourage investment in cleaner technologies. It should create accountability.

At Cheeky Panda, our carbon reports have helped us pinpoint where to focus our efforts, so improvements can deliver the greatest impact. As a result, we have worked with manufacturing partners to install solar energy and reduce dependence on fossil-fuel-based energy sources within production. We are also beginning to see encouraging progress further upstream in our supply chain.

When we complete our next carbon footprint assessment, we hope those improvements will be visible in the results.

That is the purpose of measurement. Not to prove who is greener. Not to win comparisons. But to understand where we are today and how we can do better tomorrow.

Because sustainability is a journey. The real goal is not to gain a marketing advantage. The goal is to reduce environmental impact for everyone.

If you want to learn more about green claims and assessments, or dig deeper into toilet paper composition in the UK, we invite to explore the following sources:

Carbon footprints and environmental claims

Bamboo toilet paper fibre composition