Toilet Paper: Latin America 1, USA 0

by Teo Ballvé

Mar 03, 2009


According to the Guardian, every time U.S. consumers wipe their undersides they are devastating ancient forests. How long does it take to grow a box of Kleenex®? Ninety years, says Greenpeace – the environmental group cleverly calls the process "Kleercut." 

A Natural Resource Defense Council scientist tells the Guardian that because of U.S. consumers' preference for cushy paper, the average U.S. toilet paper roll is made from 98 percent virgin forest.

In Latin America and Europe, toilet paper comes from as much as 40 percent recycled products. People sometimes equate the recycled stuff to sandpaper, but Greenpeace insists this is a "myth." At my grandma's house in Buenos Aires, I think it was more like 95 percent recycled, and for some reason the roll was a pale pinkish color.

Greenpeace makes a sensible suggestion: t;Recycled tissue products help protect ancient forests, clean water, and wildlife habitat. It's easier on the Earth to make tissues from paper instead of trees."

Luckily, for those green-shoppers out there Greenpeace has published a downloadable ecological ranking guide on toilet paper, tissues, paper towel, and paper napkins.

(Hat Tip: Social Design Notes)

 



photos

  • TP

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