WWF-Kurt Prinz
We hear it in the news, we see it everywhere, forests are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Most of us are aware that deforestation is one of the most serious problems of the century, but we continue to flush old growth forests down our toilets.
Most people are extremely surprised when they learn that the two largest manufacturers of tissue products in the world still use virgin fiber from old growth forest to make toilet paper. It seems like a bad nightmare, but it’s a reality!
Kimberly-Clark (Kleenex, Scott, Scottex and Cottonelle) and Procter & Gamble (Bounty) sell millions of tons of tissue products in over 150 countries annually, making each over 14 billion US dollars of profit every year.
Their toilet papers are made with virgin fiber that comes from old growth boreal forests located in Canada, Russia and the Balkans. They also use virgin pulp from tropical forests located in Asia and Latin America.
WWF published in a recent report that “Every day, about 270,000 trees are flushed down the drain or end up as garbage all over the world”.
This is clearly unnecessary and it needs to stop!
You as the consumer have the power. Buying 100% post-consumer recycled toilet paper is a very easy way to protect some of the last old growth forest left in the world.
Yes, recycled toilet paper is not as soft , but it’s a very small sacrifice that can save millions of trees!
And anyways, how soft do you really need your toilet paper to be? You only use it a few seconds a day!
According to the NRDC, “ If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees”.
There are tons of recycled toilet paper alternatives out there, these are just a few…
In the US: Seventh Generation, 365 (Whole Foods), Earth First and Green Forest . And Naturelle, Ecotopia and Essential in Europe among others.
Also note that the whiter the tissue, the more likely it is to contain high levels of virgin fibers and huge amounts of bleaching, which also has very negative impacts in the environment.
So from now on try to buy recycled toilet paper, and if your supermarket doesn’t carry it ask for it!
The consumer has the power. Vote with your money!
You can also ask Kimberly-Clark to stop using old growth forest here.
Sources:
EcoToaD 
always informative in an understandable manner
thank you for keeping us informed ecotoad!!!!