Paper Household Essentials Delivery or Pickup

Paper household essentials with FSC certification are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Certified products are made per the organization's standards on responsible forest management. Paper household essentials with FSC certification have a "checkmark-and-tree" logo on their packaging. There are three separate types of FSC certification:

Paper household essentials with PEFC certification are certified by the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification. These products must be manufactured to a high environmental, social, and ethical standard. There are two PEFC certifications:

Household paper essentials marked "elemental chlorine-free bleaching," or "EFC bleaching," use a less toxic whitening process. Elemental chlorine gas makes dioxins that can harm the environment and our health. EFC paper products aren't necessarily made without chlorine. However, if they use chlorine for bleaching, they use chlorine dioxide, which doesn't emit harmful chemicals. If you're concerned about the impact of bleaching, you can also look for unbleached paper products on Instacart.

You should dispose of your used wet wipes in the trash rather than the toilet. Traditional wet wipes can block toilet pipes and cause plumbing problems later on. Some companies market flushable wet wipes, but experts insist these may cause similar blockages. Studies show that even flushable wet wipes don't break down as toilet paper does, so they could potentially cause blockages as easily as traditional wet wipes do. Keeping a small trash can in your bathroom can prevent the temptation to flush any wet wipes.

While paper is usually recyclable, household paper essentials are not recyclable. Household paper essentials become contaminated when they contact foods, beverages, oils, and waste products. These substances can actually contaminate a whole batch of recycled paper, so it's best to simply trash them.

Many household paper essentials, such as paper towels and napkins, are already made from recycled paper. After each recycling process, paper fibers become shorter. Typically, once these fibers are used for paper towels or napkins, they're too short to be usable after another recycling process.

If you use unbleached paper towels and napkins and they're not greasy, you can keep them out of the landfill by composting them. Bury these paper products in your compost, and they should break down over time. Avoid composting thicker paper products, such as paper plates and wet wipes, which will not break down as easily.