Ancient Trees for Toilet Paper
posted by: Angel Flinn 249 days ago
A recent AlterNet article revealed an alarming situation surrounding the popularity of 'ultra-soft' toilet paper. In order to obtain the soft, fluffy, quilted texture that has become preferable to many consumers, manufacturers use fiber from standing trees, rather than recycled material. The facts are quite disturbing: toilet paper is made from ancient forests, old growth forests, virgin forests, second growth forests, natural forests, high conservation value forests, temperate forests, tropical and sub-tropical forests and boreal forests.
The New York Times reports: "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… Although brands differ, 25 percent to 50 percent of the pulp used to make toilet paper in this country comes from tree farms in South America and the United States. The rest, environmental groups say, comes mostly from old, second-growth forests that serve as important absorbers of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas linked to global warming. In addition, some of the pulp comes from the last virgin North American forests… Greenpeace, the international conservation organization, contends that Kimberly Clark, the maker of two popular brands, Cottonelle and Scott, has gotten as much as 22 percent of its pulp from producers who cut trees in Canadian boreal forests where some trees are 200 years old."
Personally, I am quite happy to use recycled toilet paper, which I find to be perfectly soft and not at all objectionable. In fact, the recycled paper is so similar to regular paper that I don't understand why any toilet paper is still made of new fiber at all. There are vast stacks of post-consumer paper sitting in warehouses waiting to be recycled, due to the fact that the market for all recyclables has dropped dramatically since the economic downturn. It seems to me that a worthy government program would be to put resources towards turning all of that into useable paper, including toilet paper.
Sure, I've been in homes where they have the luxurious, soft, colored, fluffy toilet paper, and I'll readily admit that using it does make you feel like a member of wealthy society. But frankly, knowing what it requires to make the paper feel that way makes it clear to me that it simply isn't worth it.
In the 1990s, I was a part of an environmental campaign in New Zealand which succeeded in putting an end to government-sponsored logging of ancient, virgin Beech forests. At the time, New Zealanders already opposed the logging of native forests, but the logging company had hired a PR firm to lobby government on their behalf. Many regular New Zealanders didn't even know that the logging was going on, let alone the extent of the damage it was doing to the last remaining forests in a country that was once over 80% covered in forest.
What made this forest massacre even worse in my eyes, was that there wasn't even a market for the timber that came from these trees, which were often 400-600 years old. They weren't using it for furniture or building (not that I would have condoned that either, since these forests are so old they are known by British botanist David Bellamy as 'The Dinosaur Forests'.) No, these beautiful, ancient trees were being milled and sold as woodchips and sawdust, and frequently being turned into toilet paper for the overseas market.
I remember thinking at the time that this was completely obscene, and was such a striking offense against the magnificence of Nature, that created these majestic trees, who were not only a great joy to behold and walk amongst, but they also provided homes to such an extraordinary collection of remarkable creatures, many of whom are threatened or endangered due to the devastation of their habitat.
Destruction of virgin forests for any reason is a great crime against the planet. But to cut down these ancient trees to turn them into toilet paper…? It's really quite difficult to express just how obscene that is. I wonder how the manufacturers of these products defend such a harmful practice. I imagine they don't give it too much thought, as long as people are buying the fluffy TP. But they’ll certainly give it some thought if we stop buying it, and especially if people start voicing their complaints.
I believe that this only goes on because the majority of people don’t know about it. If people knew that ancient trees were being turned into toilet paper, I hope that we would all reject it in favor of more sustainable options. I am sure that with the technology we have available to us today, we are quite capable of making soft toilet paper out of any one of a number of sustainable materials.
What we, as consumers, need to do, is to generate demand for ethically produced goods, by buying only recycled toilet paper and encouraging others to do the same. Greenpeace has a guide for ethical toilet paper options. If you feel incensed or passionate about this issue, then consider channeling your anger into a phone call, e-mail or letter to the companies that are carrying out this massacre of ancient trees. When business realizes that consumers are showing an increased degree of responsibility about their purchases, they will respond with products that are aligned with our values of sustainability.
As a good friend of mine remarked when he heard these facts: "If they can put a man on the moon, they can create soft toilet paper without cutting down trees."
The New York Times reports: "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… Although brands differ, 25 percent to 50 percent of the pulp used to make toilet paper in this country comes from tree farms in South America and the United States. The rest, environmental groups say, comes mostly from old, second-growth forests that serve as important absorbers of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas linked to global warming. In addition, some of the pulp comes from the last virgin North American forests… Greenpeace, the international conservation organization, contends that Kimberly Clark, the maker of two popular brands, Cottonelle and Scott, has gotten as much as 22 percent of its pulp from producers who cut trees in Canadian boreal forests where some trees are 200 years old."
Personally, I am quite happy to use recycled toilet paper, which I find to be perfectly soft and not at all objectionable. In fact, the recycled paper is so similar to regular paper that I don't understand why any toilet paper is still made of new fiber at all. There are vast stacks of post-consumer paper sitting in warehouses waiting to be recycled, due to the fact that the market for all recyclables has dropped dramatically since the economic downturn. It seems to me that a worthy government program would be to put resources towards turning all of that into useable paper, including toilet paper.
Sure, I've been in homes where they have the luxurious, soft, colored, fluffy toilet paper, and I'll readily admit that using it does make you feel like a member of wealthy society. But frankly, knowing what it requires to make the paper feel that way makes it clear to me that it simply isn't worth it.
In the 1990s, I was a part of an environmental campaign in New Zealand which succeeded in putting an end to government-sponsored logging of ancient, virgin Beech forests. At the time, New Zealanders already opposed the logging of native forests, but the logging company had hired a PR firm to lobby government on their behalf. Many regular New Zealanders didn't even know that the logging was going on, let alone the extent of the damage it was doing to the last remaining forests in a country that was once over 80% covered in forest.
What made this forest massacre even worse in my eyes, was that there wasn't even a market for the timber that came from these trees, which were often 400-600 years old. They weren't using it for furniture or building (not that I would have condoned that either, since these forests are so old they are known by British botanist David Bellamy as 'The Dinosaur Forests'.) No, these beautiful, ancient trees were being milled and sold as woodchips and sawdust, and frequently being turned into toilet paper for the overseas market.
I remember thinking at the time that this was completely obscene, and was such a striking offense against the magnificence of Nature, that created these majestic trees, who were not only a great joy to behold and walk amongst, but they also provided homes to such an extraordinary collection of remarkable creatures, many of whom are threatened or endangered due to the devastation of their habitat.
Destruction of virgin forests for any reason is a great crime against the planet. But to cut down these ancient trees to turn them into toilet paper…? It's really quite difficult to express just how obscene that is. I wonder how the manufacturers of these products defend such a harmful practice. I imagine they don't give it too much thought, as long as people are buying the fluffy TP. But they’ll certainly give it some thought if we stop buying it, and especially if people start voicing their complaints.
I believe that this only goes on because the majority of people don’t know about it. If people knew that ancient trees were being turned into toilet paper, I hope that we would all reject it in favor of more sustainable options. I am sure that with the technology we have available to us today, we are quite capable of making soft toilet paper out of any one of a number of sustainable materials.
What we, as consumers, need to do, is to generate demand for ethically produced goods, by buying only recycled toilet paper and encouraging others to do the same. Greenpeace has a guide for ethical toilet paper options. If you feel incensed or passionate about this issue, then consider channeling your anger into a phone call, e-mail or letter to the companies that are carrying out this massacre of ancient trees. When business realizes that consumers are showing an increased degree of responsibility about their purchases, they will respond with products that are aligned with our values of sustainability.
As a good friend of mine remarked when he heard these facts: "If they can put a man on the moon, they can create soft toilet paper without cutting down trees."
Read more: forests, sustainability, consumers, global warming, green living, environment & wildlife, native trees
comments
I had no idea this was happening, and like you I believe most people would stop buying it if they did know. I've bought the soft stuff before, as I'm sure most of us have at some time and my only complaint was that is was too dear. Well, never again. What's wrong with recycled paper anyway? Bring this to the attention of the general public and I'm sure they will stand up and unite in this cause.
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"I believe that this only goes on because the majority of people don’t know about it. If people knew that ancient trees were being turned into toilet paper, I hope that we would all reject it in favor of more sustainable options." I agree completely!
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"I believe that this only goes on because the majority of people don’t know about it. If people knew that ancient trees were being turned into toilet paper, I hope that we would all reject it in favor of more sustainable options"... I agree completely !
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You can't flush newspaper -- it only works if you are using a composting toilet.
However, nobody has to use any paper in the bathroom. You can use cloth wipes, and wash and reuse them. Just use borax along with tea tree oil and/or grapefruit seed extract in the wash and vinegar in the rinse to sanitize them (drying them in the sun will even further sterilize them).
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Of course, we could all just keep our daily paper in the bathroom. This is what people used to do.
Start wiping your ass with the business news while you read the world news.
When you've finished wiping with the business news, move on to using the fashion columns for your backside, while reading the domestic news.
Read the births, marriages and deaths and wipe with the ads for the cars you don't want to buy.
Just make sure you never, EVER, wipe your bottom with a crossword that is not completed.
This is what people used to do, it didn't hurt them. It didn't stain their underwear, and the whole recycling loop avoided having huge trucks taking the paper away in gas-guzzling vehicles to a recycling plant.
Just a thought....
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I am green everywhere.....but when the skin erupts from recycled paper, the only alternative is to use ( and re-use ewww ) cloths (rags) or to buy the non-recycled stuff. I prefer to use rags and then burn them. AS long as the rags are cotton and not some plastic fiber that is.
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my bum love go green.as many of my friends agree. go green!
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i cant believe anyone would rather destroy our home for supersoft toilet paper.ive been using recycled for years and my arse is still beautiful and functioning normally!
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buy recycled only, for the sake of ALL trees, save our Earth!
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On the Fox News interview Greenpeace has posted online, the news anchor was arrogant, selfish, and stupid enough to suggest that we shouldn't be expected to change our ways by saying, "I don't want to be an environmentalist in the bathroom." Let's get one thing straight. Our survival does depend on the vast, biodiverse rain forests in South America, Africa, and Asia. We need clean air, rain, something to trap our constantly growing CO2 supply in the air, and no technology will ever be able to do these things for us. Our survival does not depend on cushy toilet paper. So shameful.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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