Toilet paper: Soft on you, hard on forests

February

Seems like the softer toilet papers, while easy on you, are bad news for forests. As this New York Times article points out, only standing trees can be turned into the plush TP. Apparently, the “r” in recycled toilet paper can also stand for “rough” toilet paper. Who knew . . .

But fluffiness comes at a price: millions of trees harvested in North America and in Latin American countries, including some percentage of trees from rare old-growth forests in Canada. Although toilet tissue can be made at similar cost from recycled material, it is the fiber taken from standing trees that help give it that plush feel, and most large manufacturers rely on them.

Customers “demand soft and comfortable,” said James Malone, a spokesman for Georgia Pacific, the maker of Quilted Northern. “Recycled fiber cannot do it.”

The country’s soft-tissue habit — call it the Charmin effect — has not escaped the notice of environmentalists, who are increasingly making toilet tissue manufacturers the targets of campaigns. Greenpeace on Monday for the first time issued a national guide for American consumers that rates toilet tissue brands on their environmental soundness. With the recession pushing the price for recycled paper down and Americans showing more willingness to repurpose everything from clothing to tires, environmental groups want more people to switch to recycled toilet tissue.

Here’s a shopper’s guide to buying tissues, paper towels, napkins and toilet paper. As you’ll notice, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the guide’s author, gives Charmin and Cottonelle a thumbs-down.

(Photo of four-seater outhouse by TJN photographer Stuart Bayer.)

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 4:40 pm by Mike Risinit.
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One Response to “Toilet paper: Soft on you, hard on forests”

Kearns March 4th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Have you ever used the “environmentally-sensitive” recycled toilet paper at Port Authority?

Sorry, this is just one concession I will not be willing to make.

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