We're a 70-year-old company in New South Wales, which my grandfather started. He began manufacturing clothes in Australia and was one of the first to go into Korea and then into China some 30 years ago. That was a very big move for us back then, so I've been travelling to China for many years," he says.

It was during a trip to China last year that Scarf, aware of the growth of public green sentiment, investigated the options for replacing the plastic bags used in his stores. "I thought while I was over in China checking on my shirt and tie production I'd have a look and see if we could produce paper bags, so I went to a paper bag factory where they were making very nice paper bag products out of bamboo.

"They weren't killing any trees that take 40-odd years to grow to make them, so I asked what else they could make. And they said they could make anything and I thought: 'How about toilet paper?'

"They had patented technology to turn bamboo into paper fibre but needed money for more research and development, so we organised that, which is how we got that first roll of toilet paper. I took it to Woolworths and said, 'This has actually got no trees in it. What would you say if I could make this into nice toilet paper?'."

The supermarket giant was interested but only if it didn't feel like sandpaper.

The result was Green Soft, the world's first toilet paper made not from trees, but bamboo.

"We ended up getting orders from Woolworths and almost overnight became one of the most successful non-advertised lines that had ever hit the shelves.

"My Chinese partners are Elvis fans and they wanted me to call it Love Tree Tender and I had to go to great lengths to talk them out of it," he says, smiling.

Scarf has researched the traditional paper industry and makes his case for bamboo. "Three hundred thousand trees are logged daily to satisfy toilet paper needs around the world. The American soft paper industry does more harm to the environment than the automotive industry so there are some dramatic, compelling statements that go with this industry. We've matched the other brands on price, we're premium three-ply quality and we're good for the environment."

Scarf says he was drawn to toilet paper because he noticed while walking around the shopping malls where his clothing stores were located that chemists, supermarkets and discount shops always used toilet paper as a drawcard.

"A buyer for Coles told me that its highest turnover line is toilet paper and the second is two-minute noodles, so toilet paper is the most commonly used household item," he says.

"We're also now producing kitchen hand towels and one of the most impressive products we're bringing out are coffee cups. We've got cups being produced for Starbucks in America which are 100 per cent bamboo.

"Starbucks has given us an order for two billion coffee cups. It sounds like a lot - and it is - but it's a very small-margin business. Gloria Jean's is now sampling our product and they'll probably come on next so we're the first company in the world to come out with a non-wood coffee cup."

The next product will be disposable bamboo plates, then egg cartons.

"Bamboo is the toughest of fibres so we'll produce a much tougher carton that won't allow any eggs to break," he explains.

Scarf and his partners are newly returned from the World Trade Paper Fair in Amsterdam, where he says they were swamped with orders.

His next step is to produce toilet paper in Queensland. "China would have to be one of the hardest places to bring toilet paper out of and it's probably the only thing that costs more to make in China than Australia because of the freight costs.

"You pay by cubic weight and you can't fit enough product in a shipping container to justify it so freight is almost 60 per cent of our cost."

His plan is to bring in giant rolls of manufactured bamboo paper and then slice and dice it into rolls. "There's great opportunities here in Queensland so it's very likely it will be our manufacturing and distribution centre. We'll employ 300 people," he says.

Toilet paper, says Scarf, is the great social equaliser. "Whether you're rich or poor, you can afford the good stuff. That's why Australians, Americans and New Zealanders steer towards the premium market. Eighty per cent of toilet paper sold is premium. Only 20 per cent of people buy the one-ply, nasty stuff," he says.

He has been targeted by critics who claim he is using panda bear food and has a ready reply: "We have our own bamboo plantation adjoining the factory and while we add cotton in the manufacturing process, we don't produce or harvest cotton to make toilet paper. We buy the offcuts from the textile industry, which would normally be burnt. So the amount of pollution we save is quite large."

Scarf has not turned his back on clothing but sees his future in bamboo.

"I was born into the rag trade but the paper industry now is certainly the most exciting thing in my life."

Source: http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/starting-at-the-bottom/story-e6frerex-1225883066189