Marcal Small Steps Review and Giveaway

Happy Earth Day, everyone! People seem to talk a lot about making small steps to reduce our impact on the planet, and here's another small step that can make a big impact -- if a family of four switched to paper products made from 100% recycled materials, they could save two trees a year. Imagine what a whole nation could do!

One of the drawbacks to "green" products has been the cost: many times "green" products are priced at a premium. But I was recently introduced to a company that has managed to keep their products green and low-cost: Marcal Small Steps. They sent me a Small Steps starter kit containing everything from toilet paper to tissues to paper napkins and paper towels, and I thought they'd be a great company to feature on Earth Day:

The Basics
Marcal makes toilet paper, napkins and paper towels from 100% premium recycled paper, not trees. They are available at Walgreens and other retailers, and typically sell for equal to or less than traditional paper goods because Marcal doesn't use expensive dyes or fragrances in their products.

Here's how Marcal describes their products:
Our 100% premium recycled eco friendly products are hypoallergenic, virtually lint free, and whitened without chlorine bleaching. Small Steps® bath tissue, towels, napkins and facial tissue contain just the right combination of strength, absorbency and softness to handle every job.


The Bongga
Here are some things I love about Marcal's product line:

* The paper looks clean and white, even though they do not use chlorine bleaching.

* The paper towels are nice and absorbent.

* I'm glad they haven't added any dyes or fragrances because I hate perfumed products.

* I love how the paper napkins come in a plastic bag that has a drawstring, so you can seal it up to protect the napkins that are still in the bag.

* Usually, when you're talking about paper products, the phrases "feel good" and "gentler" refer to your skin, but in this case I feel good when I use this product because I know it's gentler on the environment. I'm not going to pretend that the paper is as soft as most of the regular brands on US supermarket shelves, but frankly it's a costly luxury so I'm not holding it against Marcal, or any recycled-paper product. It takes a lot of trees to get all that softness, and it might be time to break that habit. Hey, if the Europeans and Latin Americans can live with rougher toilet paper for the sake of the earth, so can we!


The Blah
I wish they made jumbo toilet paper rolls so we wouldn't have to keep changing rolls every few days! Their 2-ply bathroom tissue rolls come in rolls of 168 sheets per roll, whereas conventional brands have mega-rolls with 250, 300 and more sheets per roll. Think of the number of toilet roll centers you could save by putting more sheets per roll! Also, I'm curious as to why they didn't package their paper products in more recycled paper instead of plastic?


The Bottom Line
Switching to recycled paper products is one small step anyone can make to help save the planet. Marcal Small Steps paper products makes it easy and cost-effective to do so!


Win a Month's Supply of Marcal Small Steps Paper Products
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a Marcal Small Steps starter kit. It's good for about a month's supply of paper products , is worth $25, and contains everything you see in the photo below (except the boy holding the loo roll):

* 1 roll of Marcal Small Steps Giant Towel Roll
* 4 rolls of Marcal Small Steps 2-ply bathroom tissue rolls
* 4 rolls of Marcal Small Steps 1-ply bathroom tissue rolls
* 1 box of Marcal Small Steps 2-ply tissues
* 1 pack of Marcal Small Steps paper napkins


Required Entry
Leave a comment on this post and tell us one small step you would like to make to reduce your carbon footprint.

Extra Entries
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following, (you can only do each extra entry once; please leave a separate comment for each extra entry):

1) Write this on Marcal's Facebook Fan Page wall (leave a comment here with your FB id):

I entered your giveaway for a Marcal Small Steps starter pack on Bonggamom Finds! http://ow.ly/1C0vm

2) Write this on the Bonggamom Finds Facebook Fan Page wall (leave a comment with your FB id):

I entered the giveaway for a Marcal Small Steps starter pack! http://ow.ly/1C0vm

3) Follow Bonggamom Finds on Networked Blogs (leave a comment with your FB id).

4) Follow Bonggamom Finds on Blogger(leave a comment with your Blogger profile name).

5) Leave a comment on any of my blog posts on Finding Bonggamom (leave a comment here with the link to the post that you commented on).

6) Tweet this giveaway (leave a comment with a link to your tweet). Here is a sample tweet you can copy and paste:

Take small steps to save the earth! You could win Marcal Small Steps paper products fr @marcalsmallstep on @bonggafinds http://ow.ly/1C0vm


The Rules
Maximum of 7 entries per person. This giveaway ends at midnight PST on May 7, 2010; I will draw a winner at random on May 8 and post the winner's name after the winner confirms acceptance. For additional giveaway rules, click here. Good luck!

Disclosure: I received product samples, but was not paid to review the product or give my opinions. Unless clearly stated, the views and opinions expressed here are my own.