Photo credit:
brokenarts. SXC
Americans have tender tushies, and prefer wiping their bums with soft fluffy paper. Too bad said soft fluffy paper is made primarily from old growth forests. That's right, your love for quilted three-ply Charmin is hurting the planet more than all the Hummers on Earth. Yipes. Er, wipes.
98% of the toilet paper used on American bottoms comes from second-growth and virgin forests, compared to 40%-virgin European and Latin American TP. Cutting down virgin forests destroys valuable ecosystems, while second-growth forests serve as important absorbers of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas linked to global warming. Deforestation is a huge problem around the world, and Americans use more—way more—toilet paper than anyone else on Earth: three times more than the average European, and 100 times more than the average Chinese. Couldn't we use less?
Greenpeace has created a toilet paper guide that lets you rank your wiper in three areas: percentage of recycled material, percentage of post-consumer recycled material, and use of harmful chlorine bleaches. Look for the green for your next paper purchase (brands to look for: Green Forest, 365, Earth Friendly, Natural Value, Seventh Generation, and Trader Joe's). (Greenpeace also recommends using hankies instead of paper, even for kids.)
Need more green-in-the-bathroom tips? Try here. And here. Feeling extra close to (the call of) nature? There's always the comm-hando technique. Your local ancient boreal forest will thank you. Uh, no need to shake our hand, thanks.
Bottom line? Buy recycled (80% post-consumer, 100% overall) toilet paper. End of story.
How to green your detergent usage
Comments (2)Add a Comment
Inappropriate or promotional comments may be removed.
Save money and the Earth and be clean at the same time! Get serious and add Bathroom Bidet Sprayers to all your bathrooms. I think Dr. Oz on Oprah said it best: "if you had pee or poop on your hand, you wouldn't wipe it off with paper, would you? You'd wash it off" Available at www.bathroomsprayers.com with these you won't even need toilet paper any more, just a towel to dry off! Don't worry, you can still leave some out for guests and can even make it the soft stuff without felling guilty. It's cheap and can be installed without a plumber; and runs off the same water line to your toilet. You'll probably pay for it in a few months of toilet paper savings. And after using one of these you won't know how you lasted all those years with wadded up handfuls of toilet paper. Now we're talking green and helping the environment without any pain.
Actually, this isn't accurate at all.
No one is destroying Giant Redwoods or Mighty Sequoia for t.p. The "old growth" trees in question are Western Hemlock and Douglas Fir. They are used for boards, not t.p. Unless they use the sawdust for t.p., which is... RECYCLING.
While you're at it, why not do something to make a difference, and stop peeing in your drinking water? Put your doo back into the life cycle by using sawdust or other forms of composting toilets.
Do your research, and don't accept everything you're told hook, line, and sinker.