Pampering our backsides with so-called ‘luxury brand’ toilet tissue is causing more environmental devastation than gas-guzzling cars or fast food, according to green campaigners.
Making toilet paper has a significant impact on the environment because of cutting down trees (virgin and managed forests) for the raw material and the chemicals used in pulp production.
“Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age. Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution.” Allen Hershkowitz, NRDC
More than 98% of the toilet roll sold in America comes from virgin wood. In Europe and Latin America, up to 40% of toilet paper comes from recycled products.
Environmental costs
A campaign by Greenpeace aims to raise awareness among Americans about the environmental costs of their toilet habits and counter an aggressive push by the paper industry giants to market so-called ‘luxury brands’.
To launch the campaign Greenpeace have produced a handy guide to the ecological ranking of toilet paper products, using product labelling and direct verification of claims by the companies.
Expensive habit
The New York Times reported a 40% rise in sales of ‘luxury brands’ of toilet paper in 2008. Paper companies are anxious to keep those percentages up, even as the recession bites.
Americans already consume vastly more paper than any other country – about 3x more per person than the average European, and 100x more than the average person in China.
Barely a third of the paper products sold in America are from recycled sources – most of it comes from virgin wood and the environmental cost is huge.
What can you do?
The above story appeared in The Guardian, highlighting the American habit for ‘luxury brand’ toilet paper but it applies to everyone. The idea of using virgin wood for the purpose is outrageous!
We’ve been using recyled paper products at Green Pepper for as long as we can remember, and urge everyone to do likewise. Buying recyled paper products will send a message to the manufacturers that using virgin wood (from managed forests or not) for disposable products is unacceptable.
You can download the Greenpeace guide to the ecological ranking of toilet paper products (US products only) and take action by contacting Kimberly-Clark about their products, via the Greenpeace website.
6 comments… read them below or add yours now
……..Until Kimberly-Clark and other tissue paper manufacturers end their dependence on virgin fiber, North America’s most ecologically rich forests will continue to be destroyed for paper throwaways.
I agree entirely. That said, I would personally baulk at the notion of them ever reintroducing that stuff they always used to have back when I was at school, you know, that hideous tracing-paper stuff that, um, just didn’t do the, er, job! :-)
OMG! I remember those little “sheets”! I hope they never bring that back.
Yikes! Yet another example of the little things we take for granted having such a huge impact on the planet. I didn’t know how extreme the issue of toilet paper was until I read this. Great post.
@JoAnn: Welcome to Green Pepper and thanks for sharing your views with us. It’s so wrong to use virgin wood for the pupose. Let’s hope people are finally waking up to the facts.
@Andy aka Spicy Cauldron: Yeah, I remember that stuff! If my memory serves me correctly, I believe is was made by, or called, Izal – and as far as I know it’s still available in shops today (not sure if it’s still used in schools or other institutions though, hopefully not). I don’t think that it’s recycled. That’s part of the problem, people (wrongly) perceive recycled toilet paper to be rough and unpleasant and opt for the so-called ‘luxury’ brands instead, whereas those who use it know the recycled stuff is perfectly acceptable (and probably half the price).
@Tom: Indeed! The toilet tissue issue is one we need to raise awareness of – not the easiest topic to tackle but crucial in terms of sustainability. Thanks for joining the discussion ;-)
A simple ,affordable, hygienic and environmentally friendly solution to this problem of using Toilet paper is the adoption of “Attachable Bidets” in our Toilet culture. These use 100 cc of water per wash, are hands free and germs free ( unlike TP ) and there are no itchy patches, rashes and other complications that TP induces.
We save trees,harmful chemicals and millions of gallons of water that are are required to produce TP.
Visit http://www.mansha-enterprises.com to see some of the products under HYGICLEAN “Attachable Bidets”.