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By Solvie Karlstrom | All Posts

Save a Tree, or Two or Three

10:42 am - November 14, 2006

Photo: Save a Tree, or Two or Three

If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one chained to it, should you still use it to blow your nose? The average American uses 50 pounds of tissue paper per year, and that equals a lot of felled trees if every pound comes from virgin pulp. That statistic has been a bee in Greenpeace's bonnet for months, and last week, the activist group blockaded Kimberly-Clark's regional office in Italy, demanding the company stop clearcutting Canada's ancient, old-growth Boreal forest to make its disposable tissue products.

Now, you don't have to make a special trip to Italy to demand action, but we should all be paying a little more attention to what's flushing through our pipes. While paper recycling facilities really don't want your used tissues or toilet paper, you can still seek out recycled-content paper products. Look for the highest content of "post-consumer waste," or PCW, since "pre-consumer waste" doesn't do much to stem the flow of paper entering landfills.

Marcal products are entirely recycled, and although they have a relatively low PCW content, that brand is the one most commonly found in conventional grocery and drug stores. Natural food stores will provide you with a greater selection of products with a higher PCW content, offering brands like Seventh Generation, EarthFirst, and--at Whole Foods only--365. If you're really dedicated to the cause, online retailer Green Earth Office Supply (www.greenearthofficesupply.com) sells a Finnish brand of toilet paper called Heron's, which is 100 percent PCW and even comes without the pesky, albeit recyclable, cardboard roll.

For a complete list of recycled-content (and chlorine-free) paper products, download our Paper Product's Smart Shopper's Card.

© The Green Guide, 2008

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ReCycled Paper Products
posted by rsharad on 2006-11-15 16:47:28  

I've learned to use recycle TP and had been using recycled facial tissue. I recently had a long and intense cold and decided that tearing a hole in my upper lip was not worth the philosophical sastifaction of continued use of recycled facial tissue. Why can't recycled tissue be softer? Sensitive skin.

Re: ReCycled Paper Products
posted by emain on 2006-11-16 11:46:23  

I used to think the same thing, until I switched to Marcal facial tissue. It's much softer, and actually has a higher PCW content, than other recycled brands. I will admit that it's not as soft as, say, Puffs Plus, but I haven't had a raw nose since I started using them.

You can also do as another reader suggested to us in an e-mail, and use handkerchiefs, which she said are gentler on the nose than paper tissues.

Best,
Emily Main, Green Guide associate editor

You forgot Cascades
posted by Dalis on 2006-11-18 15:00:00  

Cascades has been a recycled paper and environmental leader for years. They offer all kinds of tissue paper for consumer and commercial use. We have found the toilet paper better than other recycled alternatives. Cascades is the 4th largest producer in North America but their products may only be available in Canada! Go here for more info: http://www.ctgebiz.cascades.com/home.aspx?LanId=2 (Read Greenpeace interview with CEO here: http://kleercut.net/en/node/647)


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